In this newsletter:
1) John Lewis stops insuring electric cars over repair cost fears
The Daily Telegraph, 30 September 2023
2) Electric car owners may face shocking 1000% rise in insurance premiums
Daily Express, 30 September 2023
3) Are EVs affordable? Only if you’re a luxury buyer
The Detroit Bureau, 28 September 2023
4) European heat pump lobby calls for more subsidies as heat pump sales decline
Cooling Post, 28 September 2023
5) Kemi Badenoch says reaching net zero 2050 target must not 'bankrupt the country'
Sky News, 30 September 2023
6) Liz Truss urges Rishi Sunak to give fracking the green light and cut taxes
7) Rolls-Royce among six firms shortlisted for British small nuclear plants
Reuters, 2 October 2023
Reuters, 2 October 2023
8) David Whitehouse: No climate signal in heatwave deaths
Net Zero Watch, 2 October 2023
9) Douglas MacKinnon: Climate extremists are afraid to debate. Maybe they should be
Fox News, 29 September 2023
Fox News, 29 September 2023
10) Allysia Finley: How ‘preapproved narratives’ corrupt science
The Wall Street Journal, 1 October 2023
The Wall Street Journal, 1 October 2023
Full details:
1) John Lewis stops insuring electric cars over repair cost fears
The Daily Telegraph, 30 September 2023
The Daily Telegraph, 30 September 2023
John Lewis has stopped offering insurance to electric car drivers amid fears over the cost of repairs.
The department store’s lending business John Lewis Financial Services has put a temporary pause on customers taking out cover or renewing existing policies on battery-power vehicles while its underwriter, Covéa, analyses risks and costs.
Insurers are facing rising costs for vehicle repairs, which are eating into profits. According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), vehicle repair costs rose 33pc over the first quarter of 2023 compared to 2022, helping to push annual premiums to record highs.
Electric cars can be particularly expensive to repair, costing around a quarter more to fix on average, compared to a petrol or diesel vehicle, according to Thatcham Research, the motor industry’s research centre.
Particular worries surround the batteries, which are commonly mounted on the floor of the vehicle. This placement can make it more likely that it will be damaged even in a minor accident such as mounting a kerb.
According to Copart, an auction platform, around half the low-mileage electric vehicles it has salvaged have suffered minor battery damage.
The battery is also generally the most expensive part of an electric car and can account for as much as 50pc of the vehicle’s value, costing between £14,200 and £29,500.
Experts also say there is a shortage of technicians with the skills to carry out repairs.
According to the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), 39,000 UK mechanics are now qualified to work on electric cars. However, the IMI said there could be a shortage of around 16,000 qualified mechanics by 2032 as electric vehicle numbers rise.
Full story
2) Electric car owners may face shocking 1000% rise in insurance premiums
Daily Express, 30 September 2023
The department store’s lending business John Lewis Financial Services has put a temporary pause on customers taking out cover or renewing existing policies on battery-power vehicles while its underwriter, Covéa, analyses risks and costs.
Insurers are facing rising costs for vehicle repairs, which are eating into profits. According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), vehicle repair costs rose 33pc over the first quarter of 2023 compared to 2022, helping to push annual premiums to record highs.
Electric cars can be particularly expensive to repair, costing around a quarter more to fix on average, compared to a petrol or diesel vehicle, according to Thatcham Research, the motor industry’s research centre.
Particular worries surround the batteries, which are commonly mounted on the floor of the vehicle. This placement can make it more likely that it will be damaged even in a minor accident such as mounting a kerb.
According to Copart, an auction platform, around half the low-mileage electric vehicles it has salvaged have suffered minor battery damage.
The battery is also generally the most expensive part of an electric car and can account for as much as 50pc of the vehicle’s value, costing between £14,200 and £29,500.
Experts also say there is a shortage of technicians with the skills to carry out repairs.
According to the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), 39,000 UK mechanics are now qualified to work on electric cars. However, the IMI said there could be a shortage of around 16,000 qualified mechanics by 2032 as electric vehicle numbers rise.
Full story
2) Electric car owners may face shocking 1000% rise in insurance premiums
Daily Express, 30 September 2023
Electric car owners are facing close to 1000 percent rises in their insurance premiums during a cost of living crisis, reports show.
Some owners have seen their premiums spike by over £4,000 compared to last year in a move which has baffled owners and left them out of pocket ahead of winter.
Tesla owners have shared their stories in a Facebook group where they have told others about the horror premiums they now have to pay.
One owner said Aviva refused to insure him and his Tesla Model Y when his insurance came up for renewal and that other brands had turned him away.
Their experiences come just weeks after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak changed Government policy on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars after manufacturers invested millions in the UK’s electric car market.
Tesla driver David told the Guardian: “My insurer was Aviva from July 2022 to July 2023, but when it was coming up for renewal, I received a letter stating that they would not be covering the Tesla Model Y anymore.
“I am a member of a Tesla UK owners forum, and lots of other people seem to be having the same issue.
“I spent weeks on every comparison site as well as trying individual insurers and specialist brokers, but either they wouldn’t cover the car or the quotes were £5,000 or more.”
David said the best quote he got was £4,500 from Direct Line, a number that surpassed £5,000 once the monthly interest was added. What’s more, David isn’t the only electric car driver affected.
Full story
3) Are EVs affordable? Only if you’re a luxury buyer
The Detroit Bureau, 28 September 2023
Some owners have seen their premiums spike by over £4,000 compared to last year in a move which has baffled owners and left them out of pocket ahead of winter.
Tesla owners have shared their stories in a Facebook group where they have told others about the horror premiums they now have to pay.
One owner said Aviva refused to insure him and his Tesla Model Y when his insurance came up for renewal and that other brands had turned him away.
Their experiences come just weeks after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak changed Government policy on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars after manufacturers invested millions in the UK’s electric car market.
Tesla driver David told the Guardian: “My insurer was Aviva from July 2022 to July 2023, but when it was coming up for renewal, I received a letter stating that they would not be covering the Tesla Model Y anymore.
“I am a member of a Tesla UK owners forum, and lots of other people seem to be having the same issue.
“I spent weeks on every comparison site as well as trying individual insurers and specialist brokers, but either they wouldn’t cover the car or the quotes were £5,000 or more.”
David said the best quote he got was £4,500 from Direct Line, a number that surpassed £5,000 once the monthly interest was added. What’s more, David isn’t the only electric car driver affected.
Full story
3) Are EVs affordable? Only if you’re a luxury buyer
The Detroit Bureau, 28 September 2023
New study suggests EVs are very much a plaything of the wealthy
Mainstream EV buyers are being priced out of the market, according to a new study by J.D. Power. While electric vehicles (EVs) now account for 8.4% of the retail new-vehicle market, 76% of sales come from the luxury market.
The study states that while the difference between internal combustion engine (ICE) and EVs are negligible in the premium market, they’re far more substantial in the mass market.
Consider the five-year total cost of ownership of a compact SUV, the largest retail sales segment in the United States. The average premium EV brand buyer is spending $71,707, a mere $287 or 0.4% more than a comparable compact ICE SUV. In contrast, buying an EV costs the typical mass-market brand consumer $60,736, which is $9,259 or 18% more than an ICE vehicle.
A costly choice
Leasing a Mercedes-Benz EQB is cheaper than leasing a Ford Mustang Mach-E before federal tax credits, according to J.D. Power.
“The rapidly growing markets for luxury and mass market EVs are shaping up to be incredibly different places with distinct consumer profiles,” the report states. “As those markets continue to grow, some stark differences are starting to emerge when it comes to relative affordability. Surprisingly, that dynamic is playing out in favor of the premium brand buyer.”
Full story
BELGIUM: The European heat pump industry has called for more consistent government support after initial sales figures for 2023 show a worrying decline.
The European Heat Pump Association has warned that without stronger and more consistent policies, EU energy goals of 60 million more heat pumps by 2030 may not be met.
After outstanding sales in 2022, first sales figures for 2023 are said to show a worrying decline, indicative of a larger trend.
In Italy, for example, sales between the first halves of 2022 and of 2023 fell by 34%. In Finland, the drop was 17%. In Poland, it was 6% but the current trend, after the second quarter, takes the decline in sales as high as 20-30% compared to 2022.
The sales data collected refers to heat pumps sold to installers and distributors, not to the amount received by end users. In some cases, heat pumps ordered last year by distributors – which were counted as sales in 2022 – are now stocked in warehouses waiting for end user orders.
The EHPA blames the impact of governments changing policies, particularly on subsidies and support for heat pump purchases. Gas prices have also fallen again while electricity prices stay high. “The price ratio between electricity and gas must come down,” the EHPA said.
Full story
5) Kemi Badenoch says reaching net zero 2050 target must not 'bankrupt the country'
Sky News, 30 September 2023
If experts want to know why so many Americans don’t trust “science,” they have their answer. Too many scientists no longer care about science.
Scientists were aghast last month when Patrick Brown, climate director at the Breakthrough Institute in Berkeley, Calif., acknowledged that he’d censored one of his studies to increase his odds of getting published. Credit to him for being honest about something his peers also do but are loath to admit.
In an essay for the Free Press, Mr. Brown explained that he omitted “key aspects other than climate change” from a paper on California wildfires because such details would “dilute the story that prestigious journals like Nature and its rival, Science, want to tell.” Editors of scientific journals, he wrote, “have made it abundantly clear, both by what they publish and what they reject, that they want climate papers that support certain preapproved narratives.”
Nature’s editor, Magdalena Skipper, denied that the journal has “a preferred narrative.” No doubt the editors at the New York Times and ProPublica would say the same of their own pages.
Mr. Brown’s criticisms aren’t new. In 2005 Stanford epidemiologist John Ioannidis wrote an essay titled “Why Most Published Research Findings Are False.” He contended that scientists “may be prejudiced purely because of their belief in a scientific theory or commitment to their own findings.”
“The greater the financial and other interests and prejudices in a scientific field, the less likely the research findings are to be true,” Dr. Ioannidis argued. “Many otherwise seemingly independent, university-based studies may be conducted for no other reason than to give physicians and researchers qualifications for promotion or tenure.”
In addition, many scientists use the peer-review process to suppress findings that challenge their own beliefs, which perpetuates “false dogma.” As Dr. Ioannidis explained, the more scientists there are in a field, the more competition there is to get published and the more likely they are to produce “impressive ‘positive’ results” and “extreme research claims.”
The same dynamic applies to Covid research. A July study in the Journal of the American Medical Association purported to find higher rates of excess deaths among Republican voters in Florida and Ohio after vaccines had been rolled out. Differences in partisan vaccination attitude, the study concluded, may have contributed to the “severity and trajectory of the pandemic.”
But the study lacked information on individuals’ vaccination and cause of death. It also didn’t adjust for confounding variables, such as underlying health conditions and behaviors. Charts buried in the study’s appendix showed excess deaths among older Republicans started to exceed Democrats in mid-2020—well before vaccines were available.
Despite these flaws, the study was published and pumped by left-wing journalists because it promoted their preferred narrative. The peer-review process is supposed to flag problems in studies that get submitted to journals. But as Dr. Ioannidis explained in a Sept. 22 JAMA editorial, the process is failing: “Many stakeholders try to profit from or influence the scientific literature in ways that do not necessarily serve science or enhance its benefits to society.” Those “stakeholders” include the scientific journals themselves, which he notes have among the highest profit margins of any industry—by some estimates, about 40%.
Journals often don’t compensate peer reviewers, which can result in perfunctory work. The bigger problem is that reviewers often disregard a study’s flaws when its conclusions reinforce their own biases. One result is that “a large share of what is published may not be replicable or is obviously false,” Dr. Ioannidis notes. “Even outright fraud may be becoming more common.”
As scientists struggle to publish against-the-grain research, many are turning to preprint servers—online academic repositories—to debunk studies in mainstream journals. Yet even some of those sites, such as the Social Science Research Network, are blocking studies that don’t fit preapproved narratives.
In January 2022, Johns Hopkins University economist Steve H. Hanke reported that Covid lockdowns had little effect on deaths. When he attempted to publish the findings on SSRN, the site turned him down. “Given the need to be cautious about posting medical content, SSRN is selective on the papers we post,” a rejection notice informed Mr. Hanke.
That’s the same response the site gave University of California, San Francisco epidemiologist Vinay Prasad when rejecting his studies debunking widely cited Covid studies, such as one claiming Boston schools’ mask mandate reduced cases. SSRN is run by the company Elsevier, which also publishes prominent medical journals that uniformly promote Covid orthodoxy.
Scientific journals and preprint servers aren’t selective about research quality. They’re selective about the conclusions. If experts want to know why so many Americans don’t trust “science,” they have their answer. Too many scientists no longer care about science.
Mainstream EV buyers are being priced out of the market, according to a new study by J.D. Power. While electric vehicles (EVs) now account for 8.4% of the retail new-vehicle market, 76% of sales come from the luxury market.
The study states that while the difference between internal combustion engine (ICE) and EVs are negligible in the premium market, they’re far more substantial in the mass market.
Consider the five-year total cost of ownership of a compact SUV, the largest retail sales segment in the United States. The average premium EV brand buyer is spending $71,707, a mere $287 or 0.4% more than a comparable compact ICE SUV. In contrast, buying an EV costs the typical mass-market brand consumer $60,736, which is $9,259 or 18% more than an ICE vehicle.
A costly choice
Leasing a Mercedes-Benz EQB is cheaper than leasing a Ford Mustang Mach-E before federal tax credits, according to J.D. Power.
“The rapidly growing markets for luxury and mass market EVs are shaping up to be incredibly different places with distinct consumer profiles,” the report states. “As those markets continue to grow, some stark differences are starting to emerge when it comes to relative affordability. Surprisingly, that dynamic is playing out in favor of the premium brand buyer.”
Full story
4) European heat pump lobby calls for more subsidies as heat pump sales decline
Cooling Post, 28 September 2023
Cooling Post, 28 September 2023
The European Heat Pump Association has warned that without stronger and more consistent policies, EU energy goals of 60 million more heat pumps by 2030 may not be met.
After outstanding sales in 2022, first sales figures for 2023 are said to show a worrying decline, indicative of a larger trend.
In Italy, for example, sales between the first halves of 2022 and of 2023 fell by 34%. In Finland, the drop was 17%. In Poland, it was 6% but the current trend, after the second quarter, takes the decline in sales as high as 20-30% compared to 2022.
The sales data collected refers to heat pumps sold to installers and distributors, not to the amount received by end users. In some cases, heat pumps ordered last year by distributors – which were counted as sales in 2022 – are now stocked in warehouses waiting for end user orders.
The EHPA blames the impact of governments changing policies, particularly on subsidies and support for heat pump purchases. Gas prices have also fallen again while electricity prices stay high. “The price ratio between electricity and gas must come down,” the EHPA said.
Full story
5) Kemi Badenoch says reaching net zero 2050 target must not 'bankrupt the country'
Sky News, 30 September 2023
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has suggested she would be in favour of watering down the UK's commitment to reach net zero by 2050.
It comes just over a week after Rishi Sunak diluted another set of green policies - including pushing back the ban on selling new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035.
Ms Badenoch - who broke through a crowded field to finish fourth in last year's Conservative leadership contest - was vocal in defending Mr Sunak's decision last week.
Reaching net zero by 2050 was passed into law in 2019 by the Conservatives under Theresa May. Mr Sunak recommitted to the target last week.
But speaking tonight to The Sunday Times, Ms Badenoch said: "We still have the ambition to get to net zero by 2050, but we have to remember that we are only 1% of world emissions.
"If we bankrupt ourselves trying to get there, we won't achieve net zero. We will also be in a worse position in terms of tackling climate change.
"So the target helps us focus - but actually it's looking at how we're doing so in a sustainable way that is so critical."
Full story
7) Rolls-Royce among six firms shortlisted for British small nuclear plants
Reuters, 2 October 2023
8) David Whitehouse: No climate signal in heatwave deaths
Net Zero Watch, 2 October 2023
It comes just over a week after Rishi Sunak diluted another set of green policies - including pushing back the ban on selling new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035.
Ms Badenoch - who broke through a crowded field to finish fourth in last year's Conservative leadership contest - was vocal in defending Mr Sunak's decision last week.
Reaching net zero by 2050 was passed into law in 2019 by the Conservatives under Theresa May. Mr Sunak recommitted to the target last week.
But speaking tonight to The Sunday Times, Ms Badenoch said: "We still have the ambition to get to net zero by 2050, but we have to remember that we are only 1% of world emissions.
"If we bankrupt ourselves trying to get there, we won't achieve net zero. We will also be in a worse position in terms of tackling climate change.
"So the target helps us focus - but actually it's looking at how we're doing so in a sustainable way that is so critical."
Full story
6) Liz Truss urges Rishi Sunak to give fracking the green light and cut taxes
Huffington Post, 1 October 2023
Liz Truss will today urge Rishi Sunak to give his support for fracking and commit to slashing business taxes before the next election.
The former prime minister will tell her former Tory leadership rival that both policies are necessary to grow the British economy.
Truss has angered many in the party by deciding to appear at this year’s Conservative conference in Manchester less than a year after she was humiliatingly forced to resign as PM.
She will appear alongside the likes of Priti Patel and Jacob Rees-Mogg at a “Great British Growth” rally on the fringes of the annual gathering.
Truss will use her appearance to push for the government to support two of the policies she tried and failed to implement during her seven weeks in No.10 - shale gas exploration and cutting corporation tax from 25p to 19p in the pound.
She will say: “By the end of this decade, if we don’t get fracking for shale, the UK is set to import over two thirds of the gas we need – from places over which we have no control.
“That puts our security at risk, it’s expensive, and it’s worse for the planet – you have to burn petroleum to get it here. I’ve never understood why environmental activists prefer importing gas from abroad instead of producing it here at home.”
“Fracking here in the UK – as they do in the US – could cut family gas bills by as much as half.”
Full story
Huffington Post, 1 October 2023
Liz Truss will today urge Rishi Sunak to give his support for fracking and commit to slashing business taxes before the next election.
The former prime minister will tell her former Tory leadership rival that both policies are necessary to grow the British economy.
Truss has angered many in the party by deciding to appear at this year’s Conservative conference in Manchester less than a year after she was humiliatingly forced to resign as PM.
She will appear alongside the likes of Priti Patel and Jacob Rees-Mogg at a “Great British Growth” rally on the fringes of the annual gathering.
Truss will use her appearance to push for the government to support two of the policies she tried and failed to implement during her seven weeks in No.10 - shale gas exploration and cutting corporation tax from 25p to 19p in the pound.
She will say: “By the end of this decade, if we don’t get fracking for shale, the UK is set to import over two thirds of the gas we need – from places over which we have no control.
“That puts our security at risk, it’s expensive, and it’s worse for the planet – you have to burn petroleum to get it here. I’ve never understood why environmental activists prefer importing gas from abroad instead of producing it here at home.”
“Fracking here in the UK – as they do in the US – could cut family gas bills by as much as half.”
Full story
7) Rolls-Royce among six firms shortlisted for British small nuclear plants
Reuters, 2 October 2023
LONDON (Reuters) -Rolls-Royce and five other firms have passed the first stage of Britain's competition to select developers of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), the government said on Monday.
Britain is seeking increase its nuclear power capacity to 24 gigawatts (GW) by 2050 as part of efforts to meet climate targets and boost energy security, representing about a quarter of projected electricity demand versus about 14% today.
Large new nuclear projects with high upfront costs have struggled to attract financing and the government hopes some older plants could be replaced by a fleet of SMRs that can be made in factories with lower costs and faster construction.
The government in July opened a competition to help develop the technology with the aim of deploying projects in the 2030s.
EDF, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy International, Holtec Britain, NuScale Power, and Westinghouse Electric Company UK were the other companies chosen for the next stage of the process.
Rolls-Royce, whose main business is making engines for large passenger jets, is the only company whose SMR technology is under review by European regulators.
Full story
Britain is seeking increase its nuclear power capacity to 24 gigawatts (GW) by 2050 as part of efforts to meet climate targets and boost energy security, representing about a quarter of projected electricity demand versus about 14% today.
Large new nuclear projects with high upfront costs have struggled to attract financing and the government hopes some older plants could be replaced by a fleet of SMRs that can be made in factories with lower costs and faster construction.
The government in July opened a competition to help develop the technology with the aim of deploying projects in the 2030s.
EDF, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy International, Holtec Britain, NuScale Power, and Westinghouse Electric Company UK were the other companies chosen for the next stage of the process.
Rolls-Royce, whose main business is making engines for large passenger jets, is the only company whose SMR technology is under review by European regulators.
Full story
Net Zero Watch, 2 October 2023
Dr David Whitehouse, Science Editor
Judging by the news reports about the latest release of deaths due to excess heat and cold by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) you could be forgiven in thinking that the heatwave of 2022 signalled a climate-induced turn for the worse. According to some alarmist claims, last year’s heat-related deaths are a “stark warning” of the effects of climate change. But looking a little closer at the data shows just how misleading this interpretation is.
Judging by the news reports about the latest release of deaths due to excess heat and cold by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) you could be forgiven in thinking that the heatwave of 2022 signalled a climate-induced turn for the worse. According to some alarmist claims, last year’s heat-related deaths are a “stark warning” of the effects of climate change. But looking a little closer at the data shows just how misleading this interpretation is.
Sky News looked at the data for 2018-2022 concluding that London had the highest mortality risk from hot weather of above 29°C. They pointed out that the figures overall showed a dramatic increase in 2022 on the previous year saying that the number of temperature-related deaths on hot days more than doubled from 1990-2022 (2022 – 2,866, 1990 – 1,417).
Only further down the report do you come to the salient point of the recent data, “Despite last year’s steep rise, the overall increase in deaths since 1988 has almost remained static so far, when population growth is taken into consideration.”
The lack of an overall change in death rate per unit of population doesn’t stop some from being alarmist with the unsupportive data. Reacting to the ONS report the head of the World Health Organisation’s Climate Change and Health Unit, Dr Diarmid Campbell-tendon said it was “extremely concerning.”
The BBC also reported the story and said that heat-related deaths had increased in recent years, which is true for 2022 but is far from the complete story. The BBC went on to say that the data suggests that 3,000 more over-65s died than usual in England and Wales last summer. They also did the same as Sky News in finding someone who clearly hadn’t looked too closely at the data. According to Holly Holden of the Centre for Ageing Better “Climate change isn’t something that is happening in the Antarctic or very hot countries, it is impacting lives, and taking lives, here in the UK,” she said.
The Guardian’s coverage was no different misleadingly saying that the number of heat deaths has been increasing over recent years. Those who only read headlines will have seen, “Heat-related deaths in 2022 hit highest level on record in England,” which is an incomplete summary of the statistics.
Only further down the report do you come to the salient point of the recent data, “Despite last year’s steep rise, the overall increase in deaths since 1988 has almost remained static so far, when population growth is taken into consideration.”
The lack of an overall change in death rate per unit of population doesn’t stop some from being alarmist with the unsupportive data. Reacting to the ONS report the head of the World Health Organisation’s Climate Change and Health Unit, Dr Diarmid Campbell-tendon said it was “extremely concerning.”
The BBC also reported the story and said that heat-related deaths had increased in recent years, which is true for 2022 but is far from the complete story. The BBC went on to say that the data suggests that 3,000 more over-65s died than usual in England and Wales last summer. They also did the same as Sky News in finding someone who clearly hadn’t looked too closely at the data. According to Holly Holden of the Centre for Ageing Better “Climate change isn’t something that is happening in the Antarctic or very hot countries, it is impacting lives, and taking lives, here in the UK,” she said.
The Guardian’s coverage was no different misleadingly saying that the number of heat deaths has been increasing over recent years. Those who only read headlines will have seen, “Heat-related deaths in 2022 hit highest level on record in England,” which is an incomplete summary of the statistics.
Deaths due to Cold (blue) and Heat (Red) in England and Wales.
As well as the lack of change in normalised extreme weather deaths it is clear that there was an increase in 2022 over 2021, but it is similar to the increase seen between 1993-5. The deaths from cold, which greatly exceed heat deaths, in 2010 are a clear outlier.
Given that there is no significant trend in total (hot and cold) deaths seen in the past third of a century in England and Wales, where is the story, and where is the climate signal?
Feedback: david.whitehouse@netzerowatch.com
As well as the lack of change in normalised extreme weather deaths it is clear that there was an increase in 2022 over 2021, but it is similar to the increase seen between 1993-5. The deaths from cold, which greatly exceed heat deaths, in 2010 are a clear outlier.
Given that there is no significant trend in total (hot and cold) deaths seen in the past third of a century in England and Wales, where is the story, and where is the climate signal?
Feedback: david.whitehouse@netzerowatch.com
9) Douglas MacKinnon: Climate extremists are afraid to debate. Maybe they should be
Fox News, 29 September 2023
Fox News, 29 September 2023
Over 1,600 scientists declare there is no climate change emergency
For billions of human beings on the planet Earth, the "Just Stop Oil" and "Just Stop Fossil Fuels" movements really do equate to: just stop life. No matter what the seemingly entitled, rich-kid protesters may pretend to believe, the reality is billions of people the world over depend upon fossil fuels for their very survival. Period.
Sadly — and quite dangerously — "climate change" has morphed from science to a religion for many on the left. Anyone questioning any aspect of the tenets of that newfound faith are branded heretics and excommunicated by the high priests of "green" energy.
With the onset of COVID-19, we continually heard that "the science is settled" with regard to the virus, lockdowns, masking, school closures and mandated vaccines. Anyone daring to ask seemingly commonsense questions was labeled "anti-science" or an "anti-vaxxer." Even doctors in the field and parents simply worried about the welfare of their children.
Now, as "climate change" is being used as a catch-all explanation for a growing number of issues on earth, some on the left are calling scientists who question the "evidence" and computer models — remember them as the drivers of the panic over COVID — "climate dissidents," "climate deniers" or worse.
Last month, as recently reported in Real Clear Investigations, more than 1,600 scientists, among them two Nobel physics laureates, Drs. John F. Clauser and Ivar Giaever of Norway, signed a declaration stating that there is no climate emergency, and that climate advocacy has devolved into mass hysteria.
The skeptics say the radical transformation of entire societies is marching forth without a full debate, based on dubious scientific claims amplified by knee-jerk journalism.
But for the high priests of Climate Change Religion, the education and real-world experience of these scientists seemingly does not matter. Much like the 1939 movie "The Wizard of Oz," many on the left are screaming: "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, pulling the levers that control the voice of the Great Oz. Listen only to the Great Oz."
Today, the "Great Oz of Climate Change" does threaten to make life on earth dramatically worse for billions of people and no one is allowed to question his policies.
German climate activists spray paint Brandenburg Gate in BerlinVideo
Why? What are the "green energy" zealots so afraid of? The truth?
Full post
For billions of human beings on the planet Earth, the "Just Stop Oil" and "Just Stop Fossil Fuels" movements really do equate to: just stop life. No matter what the seemingly entitled, rich-kid protesters may pretend to believe, the reality is billions of people the world over depend upon fossil fuels for their very survival. Period.
Sadly — and quite dangerously — "climate change" has morphed from science to a religion for many on the left. Anyone questioning any aspect of the tenets of that newfound faith are branded heretics and excommunicated by the high priests of "green" energy.
With the onset of COVID-19, we continually heard that "the science is settled" with regard to the virus, lockdowns, masking, school closures and mandated vaccines. Anyone daring to ask seemingly commonsense questions was labeled "anti-science" or an "anti-vaxxer." Even doctors in the field and parents simply worried about the welfare of their children.
Now, as "climate change" is being used as a catch-all explanation for a growing number of issues on earth, some on the left are calling scientists who question the "evidence" and computer models — remember them as the drivers of the panic over COVID — "climate dissidents," "climate deniers" or worse.
Last month, as recently reported in Real Clear Investigations, more than 1,600 scientists, among them two Nobel physics laureates, Drs. John F. Clauser and Ivar Giaever of Norway, signed a declaration stating that there is no climate emergency, and that climate advocacy has devolved into mass hysteria.
The skeptics say the radical transformation of entire societies is marching forth without a full debate, based on dubious scientific claims amplified by knee-jerk journalism.
But for the high priests of Climate Change Religion, the education and real-world experience of these scientists seemingly does not matter. Much like the 1939 movie "The Wizard of Oz," many on the left are screaming: "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, pulling the levers that control the voice of the Great Oz. Listen only to the Great Oz."
Today, the "Great Oz of Climate Change" does threaten to make life on earth dramatically worse for billions of people and no one is allowed to question his policies.
German climate activists spray paint Brandenburg Gate in BerlinVideo
Why? What are the "green energy" zealots so afraid of? The truth?
Full post
10) Allysia Finley: How ‘preapproved narratives’ corrupt science
The Wall Street Journal, 1 October 2023
The Wall Street Journal, 1 October 2023
Scientists were aghast last month when Patrick Brown, climate director at the Breakthrough Institute in Berkeley, Calif., acknowledged that he’d censored one of his studies to increase his odds of getting published. Credit to him for being honest about something his peers also do but are loath to admit.
In an essay for the Free Press, Mr. Brown explained that he omitted “key aspects other than climate change” from a paper on California wildfires because such details would “dilute the story that prestigious journals like Nature and its rival, Science, want to tell.” Editors of scientific journals, he wrote, “have made it abundantly clear, both by what they publish and what they reject, that they want climate papers that support certain preapproved narratives.”
Nature’s editor, Magdalena Skipper, denied that the journal has “a preferred narrative.” No doubt the editors at the New York Times and ProPublica would say the same of their own pages.
Mr. Brown’s criticisms aren’t new. In 2005 Stanford epidemiologist John Ioannidis wrote an essay titled “Why Most Published Research Findings Are False.” He contended that scientists “may be prejudiced purely because of their belief in a scientific theory or commitment to their own findings.”
“The greater the financial and other interests and prejudices in a scientific field, the less likely the research findings are to be true,” Dr. Ioannidis argued. “Many otherwise seemingly independent, university-based studies may be conducted for no other reason than to give physicians and researchers qualifications for promotion or tenure.”
In addition, many scientists use the peer-review process to suppress findings that challenge their own beliefs, which perpetuates “false dogma.” As Dr. Ioannidis explained, the more scientists there are in a field, the more competition there is to get published and the more likely they are to produce “impressive ‘positive’ results” and “extreme research claims.”
The same dynamic applies to Covid research. A July study in the Journal of the American Medical Association purported to find higher rates of excess deaths among Republican voters in Florida and Ohio after vaccines had been rolled out. Differences in partisan vaccination attitude, the study concluded, may have contributed to the “severity and trajectory of the pandemic.”
But the study lacked information on individuals’ vaccination and cause of death. It also didn’t adjust for confounding variables, such as underlying health conditions and behaviors. Charts buried in the study’s appendix showed excess deaths among older Republicans started to exceed Democrats in mid-2020—well before vaccines were available.
Despite these flaws, the study was published and pumped by left-wing journalists because it promoted their preferred narrative. The peer-review process is supposed to flag problems in studies that get submitted to journals. But as Dr. Ioannidis explained in a Sept. 22 JAMA editorial, the process is failing: “Many stakeholders try to profit from or influence the scientific literature in ways that do not necessarily serve science or enhance its benefits to society.” Those “stakeholders” include the scientific journals themselves, which he notes have among the highest profit margins of any industry—by some estimates, about 40%.
Journals often don’t compensate peer reviewers, which can result in perfunctory work. The bigger problem is that reviewers often disregard a study’s flaws when its conclusions reinforce their own biases. One result is that “a large share of what is published may not be replicable or is obviously false,” Dr. Ioannidis notes. “Even outright fraud may be becoming more common.”
As scientists struggle to publish against-the-grain research, many are turning to preprint servers—online academic repositories—to debunk studies in mainstream journals. Yet even some of those sites, such as the Social Science Research Network, are blocking studies that don’t fit preapproved narratives.
In January 2022, Johns Hopkins University economist Steve H. Hanke reported that Covid lockdowns had little effect on deaths. When he attempted to publish the findings on SSRN, the site turned him down. “Given the need to be cautious about posting medical content, SSRN is selective on the papers we post,” a rejection notice informed Mr. Hanke.
That’s the same response the site gave University of California, San Francisco epidemiologist Vinay Prasad when rejecting his studies debunking widely cited Covid studies, such as one claiming Boston schools’ mask mandate reduced cases. SSRN is run by the company Elsevier, which also publishes prominent medical journals that uniformly promote Covid orthodoxy.
Scientific journals and preprint servers aren’t selective about research quality. They’re selective about the conclusions. If experts want to know why so many Americans don’t trust “science,” they have their answer. Too many scientists no longer care about science.
The London-based Net Zero Watch is a campaign group set up to highlight and discuss the serious implications of expensive and poorly considered climate change policies. The Net Zero Watch newsletter is prepared by Director Dr Benny Peiser - for more information, please visit the website at www.netzerowatch.com.
2 comments:
'Not-ESG Friendly': New Panasonic EV Battery Plant In Kansas To Be Powered By Coal.
The plant will demand approximately 200 to 250 megawatts (or the equivalent of a small city)
Still think this 'green washing' is not a psy-op?
I would not insure EVs. Owners will become so frustrated by fear of stranding on trips, effort spent planning use sequences, delays at chargers etc they likely to drive the cars into the sea/river in frustration. (I recall years ago a chap was fined for pushing his Morris Minor off a wharf. He told the judge he just wanted to hear it go "glug glug")
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