"Carbon dioxide is not a control knob that can fine tune climate" - Judith Curry, Atmospheric Scientist, Georgia Tech
NEI’s climate policies will put Albertans at risk of heat-or-eat poverty and blackouts. Temperatures plunge to -40°C/F here in winter. We need affordable, reliable coal power
Calgary, Alberta, Canada (PRWEB) August 18, 2016
Friends of Science Society recently posted an Open Letter to NEI Investments and their clients on August 8, 2016, in which they challenge the investment group’s climate change stance and their level of disclosure on uncertainties on climate and the low-carbon economy. According to the NEI Investments document, “Transitioning to a Low-Carbon Energy System” their climate change position dates back to 2001, and they hold a catastrophic view of climate change.
Friends of Science Society points out that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported a 15-year hiatus in global mean surface warming in the Working Group I Physical Sciences AR5 report of September 2013 (page 769 Chapter 9) which was not predicted by any climate model.
In the IPCC Working Group 1 AR5 report, the Technical Summary includes two pages of “Key Uncertainties” (pg. 114, 115) which indicate the actual scientists do not foresee imminent climate crisis nor are there any dire predictions.
“These uncertainties and changing evidence on climate are not reflected in NEI Investments documents,” says Michelle Stirling, Communications Manager for Friends of Science Society. “That appears to conflict with the obligation for continuous disclosure and reporting of uncertainties in the securities industry.”
Friends of Science Society note that numerous benevolent charities, including the Church of Sweden, are named as signatories to Submission 107 to the Alberta Climate Panel, and that the NEI Investments documents appear to closely parallel the Alberta Climate Plan.
“It’s almost a cut-and-paste,” says Stirling. “Why are religious charities, founded on brotherhood and goodwill, bearing false witness against Canadian industries, specifically Alberta’s coal industry which has extremely high standards of performance and low emissions.”
“Wind and solar farms are made with tons of coal, manufactured with barrels of oil and natural gas by-products and advanced materials. High density fossil fuels are turned into intermittent, low density renewables. There is little reduction in ‘carbon.’ This is not made clear in NEI’s documents,” says Stirling, referring to an IEEE Spectrum article of Feb. 29, 2016 by Vaclav Smil, entitled "To Get Wind Power You Need Oil."
A recent report from The Ludwig Maximillians CESIFO Institute of June 2016 reveals that of 27,000 wind turbines in Germany “While the overall capacity installed was 35.92 GW, the average production was 5.85 GW, just 16.3% of capacity, and the secured production which was available in 99.5% of the hours, was 0.13 GW, or just 4 per mille of capacity. [Regarding] German solar power. At 37.34 GW the average installed capacity was nearly the same as in the case of wind power. However, at 3.7 GW, the average production was only 9.9% of capacity and, of course, secured production was zero."
LINK: http://www.hanswernersinn.de/dcs/cesifo1_wp5950.pdf
Stirling says: “NEI’s climate policies will put Albertans at risk of heat-or-eat poverty and blackouts. Temperatures plunge to -40°C/F here in winter. We need affordable, reliable coal power.”
Friends of Science Society also questions the ethics of tax-funded charities pushing climate policies that will put some 7,000 taxpaying coal workers out of jobs and destroy 30 communities, as reported by the Edmonton Journal, Nov. 13, 2015.
Friends of Science Society holds the position that the sun is the main driver of climate change, not carbon dioxide from human activity.
About
Friends of Science has spent a decade reviewing a broad spectrum of literature on climate change and have concluded the sun is the main driver of climate change, not carbon dioxide (CO2). Friends of Science is made up of a growing group of earth, atmospheric and solar scientists, engineers, and citizens.
Friends of Science Society
P.O. Box 23167, Mission P.O.
Calgary, Alberta
Canada T2S 3B1
Toll-free Telephone: 1-888-789-9597
Web: friendsofscience.org
E-mail: contact(at)friendsofscience(dot) org
