Fracking for shale gas will start before the end of the year at a North Yorkshire site, the firm behind plans has said.

Confirmation came as around 100 people protested outside a meeting organised by Third Energy to update residents.

It was granted planning permission for the site at Kirby Misperton, between Malton and Pickering in 2016.

The firm still requires final approval from government and protesters said they will continue to try to stop it.

John Dewar, operations manager, said: “We have developed a hydraulic fracture plan and that has gone to the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) and the Environment Agency and we need their approval.”

After that he said the company would need the government to sign off before moving forward.

When asked directly whether the company would begin hydraulic fracturing before the end of the year, Mr Dewar replied: “Definitely”.

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September 2, 2017 at 03:04AM

The title of Mr Abbott’s ­address will be “Daring to doubt”.

The invitation-only lecture will be held at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in Birdcage Walk, London, on October 9. Mr Abbott will follow John Howard who addressed the foundation’s lecture in 2013 with a speech “One religion is enough”.

The foundation is chaired by former Thatcher government treasurer Lord Nigel Lawson.

The foundation is one of the world’s most active groups promoting debate about the state of climate change science.

It republishes articles and mat­erial both supportive and against the mainstream science view and commissions research on climate change-related issues.

The foundation is funded by private donations and does not accept gifts from energy companies or anyone with a significant interest in an energy company.

Mr Abbott’s spokeswoman said the trip would be privately funded by the foundation.

The Australian, 2 September 2017

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September 2, 2017 at 03:04AM

Guest essay by Eric Worrall A Californian judge ruled that President Trump’s administration acted illegally in suspending Obama era royalty hikes against resource projects on government land. But given the rules will shortly be abolished, the rules will not be re-instated. Court says feds broke the law when delaying new royalty rule By Laura Paskus … Continue reading War on Coal: California and New Mexico Celebrate Meaningless “Win”

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September 2, 2017 at 02:46AM

“Global warming has no influence – we have had major impact hurricanes in the past when it was cooler – it is all cyclical.”

Way back in February, Global Weather Oscillations (GWO) veteran meteorologist David Dilley predicted that the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season would be “the most dangerous and costliest in 12 years for the United States.”

Photo: David Dilley, GWO

In the wake of Harvey, and with an eye on the now growing threat posed by Irma, that prediction is emerging to be spot on.

Irma takes aim. Chart source (1 Sept 2017 9:00 CET): earth.nullschool.net/.

Dilley, a 40-year veteran and a former NOAA meteorologist, said the season would be influenced by a Climate Pulse Hurricane Enhancement Cycle – which is characterized by the lack of El Niño or La Niña conditions. Recently the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has been hovering near neutral territory.

Ideal oceanic conditions

Dilley based his February prediction on natural cyclic factors, namely on the fact that ocean water temperatures would “continue to run warmer than normal across most of the Atlantic Basin and especially in the Caribbean region and the Atlantic near the United States” this year, which would “make conditions conducive for tropical storms and/or hurricanes forming and/or strengthening close to the United States“.

So far that too has been spot on as well. This scenario has also been supported by Joe Bastardi of Weatherbell Analytics. Bastardi, also a 40-year veteran meteorologist, points to similarities with hurricane patterns of the mid 20th century.

120-year trend clearly downward

Hurricane activity as a whole has been on a downward decline over the past 120 years, according to the NOAA – something that often gets no mention in the media.

Dilley also predicted that the Bermuda-Azores High Pressure Center would be weaker this summer, and thus would allow “more named storms to maintain strength – or strengthen as they move from east to west across the Atlantic toward the United States” – a pattern that Irma is following to a tee.

In his February forecast he wrote that the United States would have the potential for 6 named storms making landfall, the most most since 2005.

“Global warming has no influence”

In an e-mail response to NoTricksZone on whether hurricane Harvey’s intensity was related to global warming,  Dilley wrote:

Global warming has no influence – we have had major impact hurricanes in the past when it was cooler – it is all cyclical.

Dilley also said that Harvey will with very high likelihood not be the last to strike the USA, saying that a number of hurricane zones need to prepare for the worst this season.

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September 2, 2017 at 02:34AM