NC Media Watch

Gov's budget cost to Nevada County over $2.5 million.

Russ Steele

The Sacramento Bee has put a calculator on line so you can see how much the Governor's latest budget is going to cost you. The state's new budget calls for borrowing $2 billion from cities and counties, and takes another $1.7 billion from local redevelopment agencies this fiscal year. 

Nevada County: $2,563,062 or $26.00 per person.

Truckee: $893,553 or $55.00 per person

City of Grass Valley: $391,101 or $31.00 per person

City of Nevada City: $122,841 or $40.00 per person

Truckee Redevelopment Agency: $623,123

Grass Valley Redevelopment Agency: $617,487

You can see what other communities are paying here.

See for yourself the climate models are flawed

Russ Steele

Climate models are complex and not easy for the average person with just six grade math skills to understand how they are flawed. Ron House has written wonder explanation that even a six grader can understand. If your are confused by climate modeling check out Ron's article here.

How to see for yourself the 'Global Warming' climate models are false, by Ron House

When I started looking into the claims of dangerous warming due to carbon dioxide, I was completely baffled, buried in details of climate models, puzzled by energy balance diagrams, and so forth. Was there a "greenhouse" blanketing the Earth, slowly frazzling us to death? The truth could have been anything. If you've followed this path too, you'll know what I mean. But one thing, one single piece of the jigsaw, cut through all the fog and answered the question. I want to show you the thing that absolutely clinched the global warming question for me. I have postgraduate training in physics, which helped, but the basic point is understandable by anyone, and in this article I want to explain what seems to me the key, conclusive fact in everyday terms.

Read the rest here, I think you will enjoy the experience.

Support for Policies to Curb Warming Slips as Economy Takes Toll

Russ Steele

The title above is the headline in the press release for the latest Public Policy Institute of California Statewide Survey: Californians and the Environment. I will be doing some more detailed analysis on this survey this weekend. As we know sometimes it is not question, but is how the question is asked that counts.

Most Residents Still Favor Action on Climate Change but Partisan Split Widens

SAN FRANCISCO, California, July 29, 2009—Solid majorities of Californians favor state policies to curb global warming, according to a survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) with support from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. But in a year that has seen both a worsening recession and state budget crisis, residents’ support for urgent action on climate change has slipped and a partisan divide on the issue has widened.

Most residents (66%) support the 2006 California law (AB 32) that requires greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020. Support has declined 7 points from July 2008 (73%) and 12 points from 2007 (78%). The decline is sharpest among Republicans (57% 2008, 43% today).

Dalton Minimum now possible according to NASA

Russ Steele

In December 2006 I wrote a paper published on the SESF Website that forecast the return of a Dalton Minimum climate pattern.  Details here, at the bottom of the page. 

Cooler Temps - Dalton Minimum Returns?

Global warming hype could be masking a more immediate climate problem. A problem that could have a larger impact on our lives than global warming over the next 20 years. Solar scientists have predicted the return of the Dalton Minimum, which was the result of two low intensity sunspot cycles lasting over 28 years. During the early 1800s the average temperatures in the Mid West were 2-4 degrees cooler than the 20th Century average. In many areas it was much dryer than average, especially along the California coast. We have already started to see some ocean cooling as we leave sunspot cycle 23 and enter sunspot cycle 24, the first of the two predicted minimum cycles.

See the latest post at my blog the Dalton Minimum Returns. NASA is now saying that a Dalton Minimum repeat is possible according to David Archibald in a guest post at Watts Up With That

NASA’s David Hathaway has adjusted his expectations of Solar Cycle 24 downwards. He is quoted in the New York Times here Specifically, he said:

” Still, something like the Dalton Minimum — two solar cycles in the early 1800s that peaked at about an average of 50 sunspots — lies in the realm of the possible.”

Details at the  Dalton Minimum Returns.

As Nevada County struggles to go green we need a reality check

Russ Steele

It is time for a Nevada County going green reality check. Consider this article in the Commerce Business Daily by Paul Driessen: Unable To See Wind's Deficiencies For Forests Of Concrete And Steel

T. Boone Pickens, Nacel Energy, Vestas Iberia and others are extolling the virtues of wind as an affordable, sustainable energy resource. What's taking hold, however, is renewable reality.

Spain increased its installed wind-power capacity to 10% of its total electricity, although actual energy output is 10% to 30% of this, or 1% to 3% of total electricity, because the wind is intermittent and unreliable.

Still, Spain spent $3.7 billion on the program in 2007 alone, King Juan Carlos University economics professor Gabriel Calzada determined. It created 50,000 jobs, mostly installing wind turbines, at $73,000 in annual subsidies per job — and 10,000 of these jobs have already been terminated. Spain's economic problems put the remaining 40,000 jobs at risk.
Meanwhile, soaring electricity prices forced other businesses to cut 2.2 jobs for every "green" job created, says Calzada. Spain's unemployment rate is now 17% and rising.

Appeals to authority can backfire

Russ Steele

In our climate change discussion on this blog and on NCFocus Anna's often based her argument on an appeal to authority, listing a long collection of Societies that supported the notion that humans were responsible for climate change. But, one of the dangers of using an appeal to authority argument is the cited authority may change it's position and leave appealer hung out to dry.

 Lubos Motl at the Reference Frame has a post this morning that the  American Physical Society (APS) is reviewing its previous position on climate change.  Lubos Motl writes:

Climate alarmism is a particularly embarrassing attitude for professional institutions that should represent disciplines with very high intellectual standards because climate alarmism is associated with extremely poor intellectual (and ethical) standards, besides other negative characteristics.

The American Physical Society (APS) was therefore embarrassed on November 18th, 2007 when its bodies approved an alarmist statement that was much more constructive and issue-oriented than the statements of many institutions outside physics but it was still a scientists' variation of the same blinded, biased, irrational hysteria.

Details leading up to the change can be found here. Nature just published a letter from six members that informs reader that the APS is currently reviewing its 2007 position on climate change.

On 1 May 2009, the APS Council decided to review its current statement via a high-level subcommittee of respected senior scientists. We applaud this decision. It is the first such reappraisal by a major scientific professional society that we are aware of, and we hope it will lead to meaningful change that reflects a more balanced view of climate-change issues.

I expect more of scientific societies to be reversing their positon as the weight of the evidence for human caused global warming declines, and evidence for sun and cloud interaction becomes much clearer.  Anna is going to need a new argument.

The other side of Waxman-Markey

Russ Steele

Senator Inhofe’s gave a prepared a speech on Waxman-Markey exposing the other side of the issue:
 
Sen. James Inhofe on July 27, 2009, on  Waxman-Markey Exposed.

It’s safe to say that at 3:09 am on June 26th, most of America was asleep.  While they slept, Democratic leaders in the House were creating a nightmare: in the early morning hours, Speaker Pelosi and her deputies were pushing the largest tax increase in American history. 
 
In the dead of night, with no one watching, they engaged in full-scale arm twisting, backroom dealing, and outright pork-barreling to garner support for a massive bill, which few even read or understood.
 
When America awoke, they found Democrats talking about “green jobs” and the “new clean energy economy.”  They spoke of free-markets and innovation and energy independence.  All of it sounded so appealing, yet none of it was true.
 
That’s because Waxman-Markey is full of regulations, mandates, bureaucracy, and big government programs.   Waxman-Markey is, to quote John Dingell, “a tax, and a great big one,” on small businesses, families, and consumers.
 

Finally(updated)

Russ Steele

The Nevada City Advocate finally has their web site up and running. When I checked last week it was still under construction.  From the article posting dates it looks like the webs site was turned on Saturday, the 25th.  This will be an interesting experiment, as many newspapers across the nation are struggling to survive. One had to wonder if Pat Butler and his partner knew what they were doing in launching Advocate which is only published once an week. Could they really have new news, or would it be just warmed over old news. An an active web site will help keep things fresh, especially if they can link an interactive web site with the weekly newspaper.  No online ads yet.  We will be following the Nevada City Advocate's progress at NC Media Watch. Stay Tuned.  

Update #1: I could not find any way to submit a news tip, or an editorial comment, or even a story for consideration by the editor.  Did I over look something? I am hoping this was not by design, restricting interaction with the reader. In my opinion a bad move if this is the case.  There is not even a e-mail address to ask the question. Hummmm.

3,000 Low Temp Records Set This July!

 Russ Steele

It is only weather, not climate change, but interesting just the same. The Weather Matrix Blog has all the details. 

Oh my, this is not good for hope and change.

Russ Steele