“Change in average spring temperature, 1970 to 2024” What are the fastest-warming cities in the US during spring “Colder Winters Held Dawn of New Ice Age” Scientists See Ice Age In the Future The Washington Post, Jan 11, 1970 Front … Continue reading →
via Real Climate Science
March 14, 2025 at 06:04PM
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By Jo Nova
As the Opposition point out the Labor government went to the last election telling us 97 times how they would make our electricity $275 cheaper, but with the latest rise, it’ll cost more like $1,300 more than it did before the Labor party were elected. Prices look set to rise about two or three times faster than inflation. But coming after big blockbuster rises two years in a row, even a 5 or 10% rise is nasty.
The Australian Energy Regulator (AER). Being part of The Blob, diplomatically and uselessly blame nearly every part of the system, as though this is just bad luck, even though they must know exactly which single dominant factor has changed in the last 30 years.
Average wholesale market spot prices increased across 2024, impacted by factors such as high demand, coal generator and network outages, and low solar and wind output that drove high price events across DMO regions. These high price events have also affected the price of wholesale electricity contracts for 2025–26.
Meanwhile Minister Chris Bowen, Mr Blackout himself, blames coal and the Russians:
Energy Minister Chris Bowen defended the government’s energy policy, insisting that the unreliability of coal was responsible for the rise.
“Not a day in the last two years have we had a coal-fired power station not break down somewhere in Australia,” he said. “Not talking about planned maintenance, I’m talking about unexpected breakdowns which then see energy prices spike. The government wants to replace that power with “more reliable, cleaner, cheaper renewable energy”, he said.
“What we have seen is substantial world movements in energy prices as a direct result of the long tail of Covid and supply-chain issues, but also of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” the Prime Minister said on Thursday.
As for the failures of coal plants, it’s like being gas-lit. If electricity costs more when we have less coal, what happens when we have no coal?
No one is buying the pandemic-war-excuse anymore. The price of oil is the same as what it was before Covid and the Ukrainian war, so is the price of coal, and LNG. In any case, Australia is one the top three exporters of coal and gas in the world, and so if we’re short, it’s because we screwed up.
The real problem with the “old” coal plants is that we are running them full tilt, treating them like dirt and giving them away to corporations for $1 (Vale Liddell!) Many of the companies that own coal plants also own a suite of competing generators and happen to benefit when some coal breaks down because they earn more off the price spikes. In a fake free market, AGL paid $1 for Liddell, but wouldn’t sell it for $250 million a few years later because it was worth more dead than it was as a functioning plant.
The auction rules for the Australian electricity market means that the highest winning bid that was needed by the market operator is paid to every single player who successful bid (even though they may have offered a lower price). So removing a low bidder shifts the winning bid “up” a layer to the next highest bidder in the stack. Effectively, nearly every big player benefits when one low cost asset is disabled or removed.
The top accepted bid sets the price for all the players.
If we had of used rune stones and chicken entrails to design our national energy policy it wouldn’t be this embarrassing.
Will any journalist pin that Minister down with some basic questions? Does he realize coal plants can be maintained for 50 to 70 years? If we delay “Net Zero” targets by ten years, or even a hundred, would any Australian notice? How many degrees of cooling will we achieve and at what cost? What are the interest payments costing us on our global weather control…
The leader of the opposition has called for the Energy Minister to be sacked. The mystery is why he was put there in the first place.
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via JoNova
March 14, 2025 at 05:08PM
There was a global heatwave and drought in 1934 which has been erased by governments all over the world, including New Zealand
NASA and NOAA had good reason to make the heat of 1934 disappear. The heat and drought was global, the Arctic was dissolving, England was going to drown, and the whole world had “freak weather.” If people knew about that, it would wreck their global warming scam.
03 Feb 1934 – “WORLD HEATING UP.” – Trove
1934 and 1936 were unprecedented years for heat and drought in US. But the extreme weather wasn’t just in the US – it was global. Click on the 1934 LA Times below to see it full sized.
30 Dec 1934, Page 13 – The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com
During 1934, the world experienced unprecedented drought and heat.
22 Jun 1934, Page 3 – Hartford Courant at Newspapers.com
22 Jun 1934 – EARTH GROWING WARMER – Trove
04 Jun 1934 – WORLD DROUGHT – Trove
19 Jul 1934 – DROUGHT IN ENGLAND. – Trove
03 Jan 1934 – GRIPPED BY DROUGHT – Trove
25 May 1934 – DROUGHT IN S.A. – Trove
31 May 1934 – CROP FAILURES IN RUSSIA – Trove
07 Jun 1934 – LONDON’S WORST DROUGHT IN 180 YEARS – Trove
31 May 1934 – [?] WAVE. WHOLE WORLD AFFECTED. – Trove
07 Jun 1934 – ANTARCTIC HEAT WAVE. – Trove
The Southeast Missourian – Google News Archive Search
Gettysburg Times – Google News Archive Search
12 May 1934, 13 – The Guardian at Newspapers.com
19 Jan 1934, Page 10 – The Sydney Morning Herald at Newspapers.com
05 Jun 1934, Page 5 – The News-Chronicle at Newspapers.com
via Real Climate Science
March 14, 2025 at 04:59PM
Ireland Owens
Contributor
A climate group started by billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is reportedly slashing some of its workforce in part due to Republicans winning back power.
The green energy group, Breakthrough Energy, has laid off multiple workers and is also planning to eliminate its U.S. policy side, an anonymous source told Politico’s E&E News. Another anonymous source told the outlet that Breakthrough Energy’s policy team’s last day of work would be Friday.
Several staffers on Breakthrough Energy’s philanthropic side were also laid off, one anonymous source told the outlet. Relatedly, The New York Times reported Wednesday that “dozens” of Breakthrough Energy staffers were laid off, including the group’s entire U.S.-based team working on policy issues, most of its employees working on partnerships with other climate organizations, as well as its European unit.
Gates’ decision to slash Breakthrough Energy’s U.S. policy team was in part caused by him anticipating that the team was unlikely to have a significant impact in Washington, D.C. following the Republican Party’s victories in November, winning control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, anonymous sources told the NYT.
“Bill Gates remains as committed as ever to advancing the clean energy innovations needed to address climate change,” a spokesperson for Gates told the NYT in a statement when asked about the cuts. “His work in this area will continue and is focused on helping drive reliable affordable, clean energy solutions that will enable people everywhere to thrive.”
In February, Breakthrough Energy told its partners that it would slash its climate grantmaking budget this year, Heatmap News reported.
Breakthrough Energy was founded by Gates in 2015, and the group aims to “inspire the world to develop and scale the critical solutions we need to reach net-zero emissions—so everyone can enjoy affordable, abundant clean energy,” according to its website. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: GOP Rep Unveils Bill To Block Future Presidents From Launching An ‘Assault On Domestic Energy’)
Notably, Gates has backed various clean energy initiatives over the past several years, including investing in green energy startups and climate change research.
President Donald Trump has been overseeing a sweeping effort to revitalize America’s energy sector and “unleash” American energy as part of his broader “energy dominance” agenda. While on the campaign trail, Trump vowed to overturn various green energy policies and regulations put into place by the previous presidential administration.
Breakthrough Energy did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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via Watts Up With That?
March 14, 2025 at 04:02PM
