Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Don’t mention Climate Science, said Melania to the President

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In his inauguration speech, on becoming the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump stated very categorically that there are only two genders: male and female.   In making this statement, he seemed to have no problems offending the transgender community.

Trump made no such bold, or counter cultural pronouncements about climate change.  He avoided the issue while at the same time announcing an energy emergency. He used the word ‘energy’ three times – energy prices, energy emergency and American energy – but he did not mention ‘climate’, not once in his inaugural address.    He didn’t mention the word ‘environment’ either.

Of course, the energy emergency – assuming it does indeed exist – is a consequence of concerns about climate change and the environment.  The Paris Agreement, which the President subsequently announced he would be withdrawing the United States from, has as its main goal keeping global temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) specifically by dramatically reducing the use of coal, oil and gas.   It is ostensibly about saving the environment – something never mentioned in Trump’s inaugural address.

While claiming an energy emergency, in the first week of his presidency Trump also announced he will halt the leasing of federal waters for offshore wind farms.   He wants to solve the energy crisis, not with American wind, but with American oil and gas.

Trump specifically said:

The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices, and that is why today I will also declare a national emergency.  We will drill baby, drill.

America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have — the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on earth — and we are going to use it.  We’ll use it.

We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again right to the top, and export American energy all over the world.

This puts Trump at odds with the King of England, Charles III, and so many others of the ruling class who have been making a fortune out of the energy transition that, according to Trump, has unsustainably forced up prices.

While Trump wants to contain the spread of wind farms, earnings from King Charles’s sovereign’s public estate have more than doubled as a direct result of planned new offshore wind farms along the British coastline.

More specifically, profits at the King’s property group more than doubled to £1.1billion in the 12 months to the end of March 2024, up from £443million in the previous financial year.  Most of the £658million increase in profits came from the extra fees paid by the developers who won the rights to build six new offshore wind farms — in the North Sea and off the coasts of Cumbria, Lancashire and north Wales.  In total, the in the fourth round of seabed leasing in January 2023 banked just over £1billion for the Crown Estate.

For sure, the policies of Trump as they relate to energy production do not appear consistent with King Charles III who rules over the Commonwealth including Australia.  But neither Charles nor Donald is commenting on this – for the moment.

The chatter is that Trump has great respect for the monarch, and that his wife Melania is a pen pal of King Charles, both sharing a concern for the environment and specifically climate change – that was also not mentioned at the inauguration.

Australian conservatives meanwhile are reaffirming support for the King, with the leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, indicating that should he win the election in Australia later this year that Australia will not withdraw from the Paris Agreement.  Indeed, as far as I can tell, here in Australia at least, there is no interest in putting this country, or its people and businesses first when it comes to issues of energy affordability.

The Australian government is absurdly claiming we can continue as a global aluminium powerhouse while transitioning to wind and solar.  Dutton, in opposition, is claiming nuclear, as a fine source of future reliable electricity.  Never mind, that nuclear would likely increase the wholesale electricity prices to the point it was at least twice as expensive as electricity from new and refurbished coal-generating electricity plants but still cheaper than renewables.

Of course, what is missing in all of this is some discussion about the science that underpins the notion there is a climate emergency in the first place, an emergency requiring the energy transition which more than doubled the earning of our King last financial year, while according to the new President of the United States it is unaffordable.

Instead, everyone is being polite and not mentioning it.    A situation that could continue for as long as Melania and the King of England are pen pals – at least.

***

The feature image/photograph shows wind farms off the coast of Norwich, with Jennifer Marohasy in the foreground back in September 2015.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Herman A (Alex) Pope says

    Trump’s Executive Orders indicates he is not concerned about man-made CO2 warming. He is concerned by the actions to fix the CO2 problem that are causing much harm with no benefit. He is being much more successful because what he is doing clearly has many benefits and not using the words climate change, he promotes less unfounded attacks.

  2. GlenM says

    Given the soporific state that Australia’s population lives in – complete with its political/ media class, I say it will be the usual downunda. As for Trump he is thick as a brick on most matters. None the less he is the collective Wests best hope.

  4. Herman A (Alex) Pope says

    That Photo, of the beach with the windmills, is a really sad sight. Last time I was at the beach in Galveston, I could see some windmills, there were not as many and they were much further away. My Photos were of family and I hope the windmills did not show up.

  5. Herman A (Alex) Pope says

    Modern Clean Coal and Nuclear are the best and we should try to convince as many others as we can to that conclusion. We need low cost, reliable, abundant, 24/7 energy, with reliable regional grids that work in difficult times. Large, complicated, green energy grids are difficult to manage when anything goes wrong anywhere and there is way too much that is likely to go wrong.

  6. Karen Klemp says

    Let’s place the future climate our grandchildren will have to endure in the hands of game show hosts and bloggers.

  7. David Tanner says

    Jenifer, I think you should have a look at how Copenhagen Atomics is proceeding with its Thorium reactor. They are proceeding cautiously, but they seem to have got nearly to the position where they add radioactive material to the mix.

  8. Michael Burston says

    The Climate 200 mob, evidently spooked by the Trump ascendancy, is running wall to wall social media advertisements offering to match donations dollar for dollar, yet they’re founded by billionaires, same as Gina Reinhardt whom they call out. At least Gina is transparent with her money, not devious like the Climate Industrial Complex. We’re offered vague promises of better weather in 100 years in exchange for what’s effectively a consumption tax

  9. ironicman says

    ‘ … the future climate our grandchildren will have to endure …’

    You may have missed my memo, CO2 does not cause global warming, so our grandchildren won’t be worse off because of a minuscule increase in a harmless trace gas.

  11. Christopher Game says

    It’s worrying that Melania seems perhaps to have some influence on Donald if she doesn’t know that the Green New Scam is indeed a scam. I think Charles may be a lost cause.

  12. Don Gaddes says

    Humankind (including Trump,) does not have ‘God on its side’.

    It is time to expunge Religion of all denominations and iterations – and the attendant Priests and Monarchies, from the Planet.
    The fact that the Solar-induced Orbital Dry Cycles, (defined in ‘Tomorrow’s Weather’ – thirty years on….) operate at set frequencies and precise geographical, Longitudinal Terrestrial Footprints, according to the Earth/Solar Orbital Calendar – exposes the Gregorian Calendar of 1582 as a Catholic fabrication.

    There are always 360 Day/Night Intervals in One Earth/Solar Year – consisting of 12 X 30 Day/Night Interval Months. (There are no 7 day weeks, or ‘leap years’.)
    A Day/Night Interval represents the time taken for the Earth to orbit through One Degree of Solar Longitude.

    Record Low Temperatures;

    ” As I write, (December,1983) those record low temperatures are prevailing as far south as Miami, Florida, and in what is regarded as a sub-tropical zone, oranges are being frozen solid for the first time in the recorded history of the region.

    Such a scenario can scarcely be equated with a rapid warming-up of the Earth by the end of the century. I find the present situation much easier to reconcile with the predictions of H. Lamb and R. Bryson who warn of the imminent onset of another cold period.” (Alex S. Gaddes, (‘Tomorrow’s Weather’ (1990)

  13. Noel Reid says

    Very interesting thanks Jennifer.
    From here in NZ, it was beginning to sound like Peter Dutton was starting to make sense, arguing for nuclear power rather than inconsistent/unreliable solar/wind, even tho coal makes even more sense, esp with the abundance of it in Aus.
    Really disappointing to learn he’s indicating that should he win the election in Australia, Aus will not withdraw from the Paris Agreement. I was hoping he’d set an example that the NZ Govt might grow the backbone to follow….

  14. ironicman says

    It may take a little while to get things moving.

    ‘While former President Joe Biden made climate change a hallmark of his administration and some of his policies remain, at least for now, Trump is quickly unraveling that, even as many of his moves are likely to be challenged in court.’ (AP)

    Trump should reinstate scientific red and blue teams to find the truth.

  15. Brian Combley says

    Mr Dutton you missed an opportunity here, the majority of Australians do not believe this Global Warming Alarmism. The only thing that may save you is that there is at present nobody who promotes this fully other than the fringe parties.

    Australia will have a Nigel Farage spring up and threaten the conservatives, The Teals without the funding from Homes a Court and Co. will never be a main stream party.

  16. ironicman says

    I like the sound of this.

    ‘Project 2025 — the blueprint Trump allies wrote for his second term — lays out plans to cut out entire sections of the government’s climate work, particularly at NOAA and EPA.

    ‘The proposal includes offering the public incentives “to identify scientific flaws and research misconduct” in the studies backing federal regulations, which would allow industry-funded researchers to sow doubt about peer-reviewed science.’ (Politico)

  17. Noel Degrassi says

    Norwich didn’t have a beach when I lived there (its 20 miles away) . Looks a bit like Greater Yarmouth.

    Sneaky old Charley, he is behind it all.

  18. Karen Klemp says

    ”
    In 2023, Climate of the Nation asked for the first time about Australians’ concerns regarding the impact of climate change on the cost of living. Three in four (75%) say they are concerned about more expensive insurance premiums, and the same proportion (75%) are concerned about disruptions to supply chains making it harder to buy necessities.

    The top three climate impacts of concern are more droughts and flooding affecting crop production and food supply (80%), more bushfires (79%) and the extinction of animal and plant species (79%).”

    https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/climate-of-the-nation-2023/

  19. ironicman says

    ‘While one in three (33%) want new coal mines to be allowed, just 7% support using taxpayer funds to subsidise those mines.’

    They won’t need government subsidies, its a cash cow, unlike unreliables which need large subsidies and still depend on coal power to carry base load.

  21. Karen Klemp says

    “Australia’s subsidies to fossil fuel producers and major users from all governments totalled $14.5 billion in 2023–24, an increase of 31% on the $11.1 billion recorded in 2022–23. $14.5 billion equates to $27,581 for every minute of every day, or $540 for every person in Australia.”

  23. ironicman says

    Karen, fossil fuel subsidies are an important part of the mix.

    ‘Subsidies were essential in the United States’ fracking revolution. Novel approaches to extracting fossil gas and oil – boosted by major tax incentives – turned the US from a major importer of oil and gas into a net exporter by 2019.

    ‘You can see why the US did this. At a stroke, it went from being dependent on energy provided by foreign nations to being independent.’ (The Conversation)

  27. skeptikal says

    The 2024-25 budget allocates more than $22 billion to boost renewables in Australia. This includes $13.7 billion in production tax incentives for green hydrogen and processed critical minerals as well as the $1.7 billion Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund aimed at developing new industries like green metals and low carbon fuels.

  28. ironicman says

    Forget wind, solar and nuclear power, this is what Dutton should be adopting.

    ‘Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is important and replacing the existing coal fleet with HELE technology would save 44.2 million tonnes of CO2 or over 25 per cent of National Electricity Market coal generation emissions.

    ‘At an individual power station level, with the future adoption of CCS, emissions intensity of USC plants would fall from 0.773 to 0.106 tonnes CO2/MWh.

    ‘Coal fired generation is the cheapest and most reliable electricity source in Australia available 24 hours a day, every day. Australia has access to the highest quality coal in our own backyard and the rest of the world pays a premium to use it.

    ‘There is little sense in not utilising coal for our own electricity generation when HELE technologies are affordable and reliable and will help reduce emissions.’ (Whitehaven)

  30. ironicman says

    Irrefutable proof, CO2 does not cause global warming.

    ‘Fifteen more new studies published in 2024 document meters-higher sea levels across the world during the Mid-Holocene, when CO2 hovered near 260 ppm.

    ‘There were 45 studies published from 2022 to 2024 indicating sea levels were approximately 2 to 3 meters higher across the world about 7000 to 4000 years ago before declining to today’s levels.’ (Notrickszone)

  32. ironicman says

    This will have huge ramifications.

    ‘ … as an insurance policy against unsettled science, President Trump has issued an order to the USDA, telling them that they are to remove all climate change “propaganda from their websites “no later than close of business day on Friday (today).”

    ‘Politico was first to report on the memo after three sources confirmed they received an email on Thursday afternoon giving them an end-of-day Friday deadline to abide by his order.’ (Thegatewaypundit)

  33. Kurt L says

    “Irrefutable proof, CO2 does not cause global warming.

    ‘Fifteen more new studies published in 2024 document meters-higher sea levels across the world during the Mid-Holocene, when CO2 hovered near 260 ppm.”

    ironicman clearly is no scientist. The mid holocene high sea level has been known for a long time, it was the end of the previous “ice age” the melting of the ice sheets precedes adjustments in land and regrowth of ice sheets and glaciers.

    CO2 warming hasnt been a big factor in sea levels until our present environmental vandalism.

  34. ironicman says

    Kurt, sea level is only rising a few millimetres per year, that is not serious climate change.

    I’m not a scientist, but anyone with half a brain can see that global warming is a scam. One of us has cognitive dissonance.

  35. ironicman says

    They say the downpour has been remarkable, but its not a journey back to the Roman Warm Period.

    ‘While Queensland’s North Tropical Coast frequently gets hit with periods of heavy rain during the wet season, the sustained intensity of this event has been both remarkable and devastating.

    ‘Based on annual exceedance probability (AEP), Rollingstone’s 48-hour and 72-hour rainfall rates were both rarer than a one in 2000-year event. Put another way, this much rain over these timeframes has less than a 0.05 % likelihood of occurring in any given year.’ (Weatherzone)

  38. ironicman says

    A couple of things going forward, there is a proposal in the Trump camp to reinvent a “red team” composed of climate science critics up against a “blue team” of mainstream researchers.

    Also they are going to repeal the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act, which saw unprecedented spending on green energy.

    This is the thin edge of the wedge and will have a huge impact on Australia’s political culture.

  39. Don Gaddes says

    ‘Global Warming’ is intermittent and Orbital. It depends on the Solar-induced Orbital Dry Cycles – and the accompanying ‘transforming’ Metal/Steam reaction with atmospheric water vapour Albedo, that causes surface temperatures to rise under the orbiting canopy of the Dry Cycle Hierarchy. It is not man-made – and not exponentially increasing.
    Overall, the planet continues to cool.

    TW– Part 1

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VI_-2FuVXgUuObpBusFQP1j87Sc3xDJz/view?usp=sharing

    TW– Part 2

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Nea7N5AiVoklvg9gGA1b3932Uq0-4qPK/view?usp=sharing

    TW – Part 3

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UqxyNzLq14Jv7-kf6ZKHDOdmjgfst9zp/view?usp=sharing

    TW – Part 4

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qsbYVDYzzGFOOAfE5-cuuOlLPW8Pg3Df/view?usp=sharing

  43. Karen Klemp says

    OK, we are making progress. If people like ironicman now consider that global warming is real; can we stop pilloring real BoM scientists. Temperatures are obviously increasing, sea level is actually rising, the Great Barrier Reef really is bleaching, BoM is not altering the temperature record.

  44. ironicman says

    The Blue Team has spoken and they are all good talking points.

    The GBR has been bleaching and recovering long before humans set foot on the continent.

    The recent spike in temperature is down to extra water vapour in the stratosphere, caused by the eruption of Hunga Tonga.

    Sea level rise is within historical parameters and there is no need be concerned.

    BoM should be audited to explain how, through data manipulation, they created a warmer Australia by cooling the past.

  45. Peter Etherington-Smith says

    Temperatures rise as one would expect in a warm cycle after a very cold period called the Little Ice Age which the IPCC tried, to manipulate out of the record to justify their global warming mantra (e.g., see McIntyre’s debunking of Neukom et al from AR6 WG1); sea levels rise slowly as one would expect after falling during the LIA when some glaciers reached their maximum since the Younger Dryas after in some cases almost disappearing in the previous even warmer millennia (e.g., see exposure of trees under the Mendenhall glacier in Alaska that grew during the earlier Medieval Warm) and sea levels have fallen and risen on the GBR over the last few thousand years which is why some reefs have flat, calcified tops; bleaching is nothing new, a normal feature of coral behaviour, not related to present warming, has been evident for several centuries (from written records) and likely to have been a feature for millions, and probably hundreds of millions of years though obviously geological proof is elusive; BoM routinely manipulate the temperature record as do the UK Met Office, NASA, GISS and this has been amply documented. A large number of gauges used (the majority) are either sited in urban areas and wholly unrepresentative of non-urban areas, often do not even exist, or are inaccurate with error margins between 1 and 5 deg C.

    It is more grown up to discuss scientific hypotheses with a weather eye open to uncertainty and evidence (or lack of) rather than genuflect before meaningless computer models. Name calling is infantile and achieves nothing except ridicule.

  46. Karen Klemp says

    Infantile name-calling is Peter Etherington-Smith’s special skill. One only needs to read his previous posts.

  48. ironicman says

    ‘… sea level is actually rising …’

    Its minuscule, three grains of rice.

    Around 1300 AD sea level fell dramatically because of the Little Ice Age. Its reckoned that it dropped about a metre fairly quickly, that is what I call climate change.

  49. ironicman says

    BoM refused to explain how this travesty came about.

    ‘Since 2011 the BOM has found it necessary to adjust Australia’s temperature record on two occasions. This process of ‘homogenisation’ is claimed to account for anomalies identified within the raw dataset.

    ‘The latest adjustments in the ACORN 2 dataset has increased warming from 0.8 degrees Celsius to 1.23 degrees Celsius from 1910 to 2016.’ (Senator Gerard Rennick)

  51. Karen Klemp says

    BoM’s data homogenisation had been internationally approved, but tin foil hat wearers imagine there is a cover-up. This is how climate denial works.

  52. ironicman says

    ‘ … internationally approved …’

    A 2011 independent peer review report found that ‘the BOM’s observation practices did not meet international best practice.’

    BoM has been fudging and we demand an audit.

  54. ironicman says

    Temperatures are increasing, that is undeniable.

    ‘The new data set shows slightly stronger warming (0.12°C per decade in mean temperature over the 1910–2016 period) than either the previous ACORN-SAT version (0.10°C) or the unhomogenized gridded data (0.08°C), primarily due to more effective treatment of systematic moves of sites out of towns and the removal of a rounding bias in the version 1 methodology.’ (Blair Trewin 2020)

  55. Karen Klemp says

    “The Australian land temperature data in ACORN-SATv2 also now show a somewhat stronger warming trend than Australian region SST data, consistent with global patterns which generally show stronger warming trends over land areas than over the oceans (Hartmann et al., 2013).”

  56. Karen Klemp says

    “The ACORN-SATv2 temperature data set shows consistent and spatially coherent warming across almost all of Australia over the last century, particularly in the last 50 years. The stronger warming trends, relative to unhomogenized data, are likely to be primarily attributable to the tendency over time for sites to move from in-town to out-of-town locations. Whilst these findings are only specifically attributable to Australia, it is likely that broadly similar network changes have occurred in many countries and need to be properly considered in land-based data sets, although at a global scale, homogenized data show weaker long-term warming trends than unhomogenized data because of cool biases in most sea surface temperature (SST) data prior to the Second World War (Kennedy et al., 2011) which offset biases which may exist on land.”