{"id":291,"date":"2022-01-01T23:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-01T23:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/australianclimatesceptics.com\/?p=291"},"modified":"2021-12-29T23:37:27","modified_gmt":"2021-12-29T23:37:27","slug":"climate-news-january-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/australianclimatesceptics.com\/?p=291","title":{"rendered":"Climate News – January 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Alan Moran<\/strong>
January 2022

A review and commentary on topical matters concerning the science,\u00a0economics, and governance associated with climate change developments.<\/em>

Politics, economics and climate change<\/strong>
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Topping off a year when climate insanity reached new heights, with no indication of human-induced climate danger, we are seeing energy price escalations and western deindustrialisation as a consequence of the assault on hydrocarbons.\u00a0
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Though the US infrastructure\u00a0bill had measures including\u00a0electric charging stations and tree equity<\/a>, it also included hard infrastructure but Biden\u2019s \u201cBuild Back Better\u201d proposals, now rejected in the\u00a0Senate<\/a>, had none of this; its failure prevents the US meeting its Glasgow climate pledges.\u00a0
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The\u00a0US Government<\/a>\u00a0has ostensibly reversed course on attacking oil producers. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is urging producers to \u201chire workers, get your rig count up”, claiming the Biden administration approved drilling permits on federal land at a faster pace than the Trump administration.\u00a0Others<\/a>\u00a0however blame the Administration and financiers like BlackRock for creating energy supply shortfalls and consequent price increases.\u00a0
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Fightback<\/a>? Republican officials overseeing state finances are pushing back against the growing\u00a0Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)\u00a0trend in the banking industry to shun funding for the fossil fuel industry. 15 states are considering discriminating against banks that discriminate against fossil fuel developments.
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The new\u00a0German coalition<\/a>\u00a0government\u2019s Green Vice-Chancellor says meeting the target of an 80 per cent share of renewables in the electricity sector by 2030 will be an \u201cimposition\u201d for many people. He said construction of new installations will need to quadruple and natural gas could drop out of the country\u2019s power mix in the 2030s.\u00a0 In 2021 renewables were 41 per cent of German electricity production, including wind\/solar at 29 per cent.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The German government’s plans to more than double power production from renewable sources by 2030, is a \u201cgigantic task\u201d,\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Chancellor Olaf Scholz, but he\u2019s \u201cfirmly convinced that we will succeed.\u201d An alternative view is that shutting down baseload-critical nuclear power facilities and replacing them with intermittent renewable energy leaves\u00a0Germany<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and the entire European Union \u2013 vulnerable. Compounding this is an attack on natural gas \u2013 the remaining option for reliable power, with coal ruled out. The Opposition\u00a0Christian Democrats<\/a>\u00a0have recently elected a new leader with similar views. German electricity prices are illustrated below with\u00a0similar prices<\/a>\u00a0seen throughout the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The\u00a0EU<\/a>\u00a0Commission, however, facing record electricity prices is set to redefine gas and nuclear as \u201crenewable energy\u201d.\u00a0 The\u00a0Netherlands<\/a>\u00a0is set to keep its nuclear plants and build two new ones in contrast to Germany closing\u00a0two nuclear plants<\/a>.\u00a0 There is speculation that\u00a0France<\/a>\u00a0may insulate itself from price rises by constraining electricity exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UK has seen 26 energy retailers collapse in the pincer of cost increases due to government bans on coal and gas development and fixed prices.  More retailer departures are expected<\/a> and price increases<\/a>of 56 per cent (\u00a32,000-a-year) are forecast during 2022.  The UK government, bowing to green pressures, is rejecting<\/a> new North Sea gas and oil production plans. But a recent survey, indicates nearly 60 per cent<\/a> of people reject a climate change energy levy.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Japan, under new leaders within the ruling party did not re-affirm its climate and energy goals at the Glasgow meeting and now is reportedly<\/a> abandoning them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China<\/a> appears to be turning away from its Glasgow CO2 pollution reduction claims with senior officials quoted as saying they \u201cwere complex and long-term tasks that required full consideration of the country\u2019s energy and industrial structure\u201d. Russia<\/a> is also powering ahead with new coal mines expecting to increase output by at least 10 per cent and perhaps as much as 50 per cent by 2035. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AIA Group Ltd<\/a>, Asia\u2019s largest insurer and shirt sponsor of Tottenham Hotspur, has sold off almost $10 billion of investments in coal mining and coal-fired power businesses as the firm integrates \u201cenvironmental, social and governance metrics into its strategy\u201d.  Other insurance companies, some under activist pressure, also refuse to cover coal resulting in businesses self-insuring, which the renewables lobby fears will threaten an “orderly coal exit<\/a>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Labor\u2019s Powering Australia<\/a> climate policy according to \u201cindependent\u201d modelling will create 604,000 new jobs by 2030, and reduce emissions by 43 per cent (cf. the government\u2019s 28 per cent target and 35 per cent expectation), the policy would lift the share of renewables to 82% by 2030 (currently the share including hydro is about 28 per cent). It involves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n