Cont: Global warming discussion V

[The Atheist]

No prizes for guessing how they split on that.

 

[dann]

Yes, probably. However, they can no longer be unaware that the times they are a-changin' and that there may be a reckoning in the not-too-distant future. Some of them may consider that going full fascist won'tt be as profitable to them as it seemed to be just a year ago.

 

[dann]

Zack Polanski on bsky, Aug 16, 2026
It’s time we sorted out the press.
Constant misinformation to protect their donors and fossil fuels is destroying lives and our planet.
The Government must step up and stop being cowardly.

 

[The Atheist]

On point:

 

[dann]

:
Vandet langs Danmarks kyster stiger: Vi skal beslutte, om vi vil kæmpe eller flygte (Videnskab.dk, Aug 19, 2026)
The waters at the coasts of Denmark are rising. We have to make up or minds: fight or flight?

With a map of the dikes that have to be built to protect Copenhagen from flooding. People living in the municipality of Dragør, the southeastern part of the lowland island of Amager (much of it land reclaimed from the sea), will have to come up with a way to protect themselves, i.e. build their own dikes.

 

[dann]

From the underground, i.e. 27 UNIHTED:

27 UNIHTED / NIH Vigils Newsletter 8/16/26
Science Interrupted
What We’ve Lost: Climate-and-Health Research

In Trump 2.0, extensive changes to the U.S. stance on climate change are impeding our ability to respond. Recent progress is being undone, and U.S. emissions are projected to be up to 18% higher by 2035. Among the losses:

• The United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement and 65 other international climate and environmental organizations.
• The Environmental Protection Agency rescinded the Endangerment Finding and eliminated federal greenhouse-gas standards for motor vehicles and engines.
• The One Big Beautiful Bill Act rolled back major clean-energy investments from the Inflation Reduction Act.
• More than 98% of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awards with climate elements were terminated—147 awards worth $2.1 billion—eliminating programs that supported climate adaptation, disaster preparedness, and resilience around the world.
• More than 4,300 employees separated from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in FY2025, exacerbating longstanding workforce shortages and putting FEMA's mission at risk.
• Climate-science funding has been cut across NIH, National Science Foundation (NSF), EPA, Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Department of Energy (DOE), alongside restrictions on climate-related terminology.

Who We Are
Our team is composed of 70+ off-duty and former NIH staff, supported by community allies. Many of us are Bethesda Declaration organizers, and along with bringing this experience to our work we bring our scientific expertise, knowledge of government operations, and understanding of the academic research ecosystem.

 

[dann]

Bob Park’s What’s New (Brad Roth on Substack, Aug 21, 2026)
3. LIKE A CAT, THE CAMPBELL POWER PLANT HAS NINE LIVES
Last Friday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright signed an emergency order to keep Michigan’s Campbell coal-burning power plant open for another three months. This is the sixth time such an order has been used to prevent the aging plant from being shut down. The cost to keep Campbell up and operational is more than $600,000 each day.

If (like me) you need a reminder when there's a new edition of Brad Roth's weekly science news, follow him on X.
It's also where I heard about 27 UNIHTED.

 

[dann]

The World Just Hit 3 Terawatts of Solar — And Almost Nobody Noticed (The Electric Viking, Aug 23, 2026 – min.)
0:35–> The silicon solar cell was invented back in 1954. It took the world nearly 70 years to install the first terawatt of solar which we finally hit in 2022. 1 terawatt, by the way, is roughly enough to meet the entire peak electricity demand of the United States.
The second terawatt took less than 3 years arriving in 2024.
And the third terawatt took less than 2 years. Bloomberg reported the milestone was crossed in early 2026. And the exact date is actually being debated among analysts because solar is now being installed so fast that databases can't even agree on when we passed it.
Think about that. We're adding roughly a gigawatt of new solar capacity every 12 hours.

5:15–> Bloomberg NEF expects the world to hit 9 terawatts by 2036.

By the way, The Electric Viking isn't Nordic. He's .

 

[dann]

T. Ryan Gregory on bsky, Aug 24, 2026
189. Stop acting like global demand for fossil fuels is insatiable.
China's Oil Demand 'Very Likely' Peaked Last Year, Sinopec Says (Bloomberg, Aug 24, 2026)
China's oil demand probably peaked last year, earlier than previous estimates, according to the head of the nation's top refiner.

 

[dann]

Nisreen Alwan on bsky, Aug 24, 2026
Why were people asked which one to prioritise air con or reducing emissions?
Why pitch this as either or?
This is a good example of how designing your survey question can reveal the predetermined direction of the results reporting.
Air conditioning push favoured over emissions cuts in six European nations, survey finds (TheGuardian, Aug 24, 2026)
Poll also finds sizable majorities who believe it should be easier to install air con in homes

aecides.bsky.social, Aug 24, 2026
This is like asking children "Would you rather have fun or do your homework?" and then concluding from the answers that there's little public support for education.

 

[dann]

Trump’s oil and gas stocks gained up to $15.5 million amid Iran war, congressional Democrats say (CNBC, Aug 24, 2026)

• President Donald Trump’s disclosed oil and gas holdings increased about 39% this year, potentially adding as much as $15.5 million to his wealth, according to Democratic staff on Congress’ Joint Economic Committee.
• Trump reported holding between $12.5 million and $45.6 million in oil and gas stocks in 2025. The committee estimated those holdings were worth as much as $61.1 million by Aug. 17.
• The Trump Organization has said Trump does not direct individual trades, and that independent financial institutions have sole authority over investment decisions.

TRUMP GAINS $15.5 MILLION FROM OIL & GAS STOCKS AFTER HIS IRAN WAR GIVES BIG OIL SKY-HIGH PROFITS (Joint Economic Committee Democrats, Aug 24, 2026)
The U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee - Minority released a new analysis today which finds that, at the end of 2025,President Donald Trump held as much as $45.6 million in oil and gas stocks, a portfolio that is now worth up to $61.1 million given the sky-high oil and gas profits and stock prices tied to Trump’s war in Iran. And in just the first three months of 2026 – a period that covers both the U.S. operation in Venezuela and the start of the Iran War – the Committee found that Trump bought as much as $3.6 million in additional oil and gas stocks.

As gas prices spike from the Iran war, Trump is making a killing from Big Oil (MS NOW, Aug 24, 2026)
House Democrats are spotlighting recent financial disclosure forms showing that the president’s brokers made massive investments in the oil and gas industry.

Because of course he is, and of course they did!

The USA is a petrocracy (Wikipedia)

A petrostate, oil state or petrocracy is a polity whose economy is heavily dependent on the extraction and export of oil or natural gas. Petrostates are conventionally independent nations; however writers like Samuel Weston and Andrew Nikiforuk describe major oil-producing subnational entities like Wyoming,[1] Alberta and Louisiana as also petrostates.[2] A petromonarchy or oil monarchy is a petrostate run by a dynastic absolute monarch;[3] one run by another type of autocrat is a petro-dictatorship

 

[dann]

Bernie addressing anthropogenic global warming

We’re winning. Keep fighting. (Bernie Sanders on YouTube, Aug 27, 2026 – 12:18 min.)
0:00 The times we are living in
3:45 WHERE we're winning
5:37 WHY we're winning
10:24 It's all because of YOU
11:17 What comes next

8:12–> Progressives understand that climate change is a threat not only to America but to the entire uh, planet uh, and that we need to tra take on the fossil fuel industry and all their billions of dollars in their campaign contributions, transform our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy. And that when we do that, we can create millions of good paying union jobs.
And progressives also understand that AI and robotics developed and pushed by the wealthiest people on earth that these are the most transformational technologies in the history of humanity that can impact every man, woman, and child in ourcountry. And if we don't aggressively intervene, these technologies will likely lead to the loss of many millions of jobs. They will eviscerate our privacy rights, undermine our democracy, and negatively impact the health and well-being of our kids. And by the way, by the way, if AI ever becomes independent of human control, and we have in the last month seen examples of that, it could threaten the very existence and well-being of humanity.

 

[dann]

Two of my favorite YouTube channels, Climate Town and Not Just Bikes, joined forces for this one:
America Hates Bikes (Climate Town and Not Just Bikes on YouTube, Aug 26, 2026 – 31 min.)


By the way, I hadn't noticed that Climate Town's YouTube shorts aren't simply excerpts from the longer videos but often clips from the Climate Town guy's stand-up comedy shows.
I love this one about the way Big Oil's advertising has changed over the years:
Gas Ads Have Changed, Man

 

[dann]

Where do fossil-fuel advocates pick up their arguments?


And that actually was actually the case with "many right-leaning users (including fossil fuel advocates, oil executives and a US senator)":

How dare they challenge our favourite TV series! There's woke cancel culture for ya!

It didn't take long for 'Bonchie' to stop responding to comments - like the comment posting a link to this:

I love the short-version debunking of the Billy Bob Thornton character's BS:
You're Surrounded By Wind Turbines! (Climate Town on YouTube, May 11, 2025 – 1:30 min.)

 

[Stout]

Meanwhile in China, it's Dig Baby Dig!

China’s coal power rebounds as record clean energy goes to waste​

Climate Home News, archive link.

But hey, they have those cute goats eating the grass under the solar panels

 

[dann]

I wouldn't trust Stout's link, so I asked Google instead:

China's green energy capacity crossed 4.01 billion kW by mid-2026, with renewables making up 62% of total capacity, though deployment pace has moderated as the focus shifts to grid integration and storage. [1, 2]

Key 2026 Trends & Milestones

• • Capacity Growth: Green energy reached 2.49 billion kW (62% of China's total power capacity) by May 2026, helping the country hit major global solar milestones. [1, 2]
  • Policy Shifts: China's new 2026–2030 energy plans under the 15th Five-Year Plan target 5.4 billion kW of total capacity by 2030, shifting away from raw speed toward consolidation and grid optimization. [1, 2, 3]
  • Curtailment Challenges: Rapid growth outpaced the grid, resulting in high levels of wasted wind and solar (curtailment hitting roughly 360 TWh in H1 2026) and pushing a stronger regulatory focus on storage and transmission infrastructure. [1, 2, 3]
  • Storage & Infrastructure: Plans include expanding battery and pumped hydro storage, backed by massive investments in ultra-high-voltage transmission networks. [1, 2]

Coal capacity is projected to lose its long-held crown this year, despite a pivot from raw solar panel expansion to quality (South China Morning Post, July 30, 2026)
Solar is poised to overtake coal as China’s largest source of installed power capacity this year, as Beijing steps up its green transition with a renewed emphasis on efficiency, quality and orderly growth over sheer scale.
Total installed solar capacity reached 1.27 billion kilowatts (kW) by the end of June and was projected to surpass coal before the end of the year, state-run People’s Daily reported on Wednesday, citing the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA).

 

[Roger Ramjets]

Meanwhile in China, it's Dig Baby Dig!

China’s coal power rebounds as record clean energy goes to waste​

Climate Home News, archive link.

But hey, they have those cute goats eating the grass under the solar panels

This was totally expected. However the article seems to be a bit confused.

The coal expansion stems from a surge in power plant approvals that followed power shortages caused primarily by high coal prices in 2021, when blackouts and factory shutdowns hit roughly 20 Chinese provinces. Local governments responded by fast-tracking new coal projects as insurance against future outages.

Why would more plants fix a problem caused by high coal prices? It doesn't make sense. Unless perhaps the new pants are more efficient and burn less coal.

 

[a_unique_person]

I wouldn't trust Stout's link, so I asked Google instead:

He has a way of finding them.

 

[Stout]

I wouldn't trust Stout's link, so I asked Google instead:

Very well, here's the same story in the blocked-in-China. South China Morning Post

 

[Stout]

Why would more plants fix a problem caused by high coal prices? It doesn't make sense. Unless perhaps the new pants are more efficient and burn less coal.

One would hope that new technology is more efficient than old technology.

Ah yes, 2021. The whole world was in turmoil over the pandemic, Thunberg was raging that somebody has to do something, she didn't state what that actually was but "our house is on fire" so it better be drastic. Fun fact: 2020/2021 was the only time that CO2 emissions experienced a significant drop.

Trump likes coal, China likes coal. Popular stuff it is.