Australia Warns Ferries about EVs Andy May Australia’s Maritime Safety Authority has issued a domestic commercial vessel safety alert on the risks of ferrying battery powered cars (EVs),…
So it goes. Climate Blame for Australian Wildfires Ages Poorly, as Rainfall Remains Abundant DROUGHT NOVEMBER 8, 2023 Four years ago, rampant wildfires in Australia fueled an onslaught of claims that climate change was to blame. While the 2018-2019 Australian summer wildfire season featured scant rainfall and widespread wildfires (many caused by arsonists), any existing climate change signal should be visible throughout a series of many years. After all, years of above-average or below-average rainfall and wildfires have occurred from time immemorial. Looking back at recent rainfall data, it is clear that 2018-2019 was a single unusual summer within a string of above-average rainfall years that have made wildfires less likely rather than more likely. More specifically, every year since the 2018-2019 Australian summer has seen above-average rainfall throughout Australia. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM) publishes rainfall maps going back to 1900. Each map shows areas of above-average rainfall in blue and below-average rainfall in red. From 1900 through 1972, red-dominated maps tend to be the norm. Since 1973, blue-dominated maps tend to be the norm. By the objective scientific data, rainfall in recent decades has become more abundant, which makes wildfires less frequent and severe. . . . .
The Aussies don't want electric vehicles. There go those glorious EV transition plans — Australians are not buying Image by Anwarul Quddus Sikder from Pixabay By Jo Nova The thrill of EV ownership in Australia has worn off before it even started In news that will shock no one, except the Minister for Weather himself, Labor’s plan to have nine out ten new car drivers in an electric vehicle by 2030 has crashed into a mountain of apathy. The latest estimates from the Australian department in charge of guessing these things is that EVs will only be 27% of new car sales by then, not 89%. And the modeling assumes EV’s will be exempt from the usual tariffs and taxes, but finds most Australians would rather pay the extra taxes and get themselves a planet-wrecking petrol-head machine anyway. Of course, in climate maths, 27% is practically the same as 89% because EV’s may not reduce emissions at all, but since the push to force them on us has nothing to do with carbon emissions, the theatrical chasm in their big plans is a major loss. That and the dilemma of who will pay for the back up batteries to stabilize the windy wobbly national grid if car owners don’t? By 2030, after years of propaganda and coercion, electric cars are only expected to be 5% of the national fleet of small vehicles. Of the developed world, Australia is possibly the stupidest country to own an EV in With the lowest population density, longest hottest roads, and soon to be most unreliable expensive power, there’s a reason Australians have been slow to buy expensive, short range, inflammable machines. In The Daily Mail today we hear that Belinda Cleary drove a $90,000 EV from Sydney to Melbourne and it cost 30% more in fuel and took 25% longer than her petrol car. The round trip cost $210 in fuel instead of $140 in petrol. So you can pay more to pay more and go slower as well. What’s not to like? Having wrecked Australia’s cheap energy grid by turning it into a giant cyclone-and-flood talisman, the irony is that electric cars can’t get cheap fuel anymore. The hapless Belinda needed to stop six times to refill on the 1,800 kilometer return trip, and spent three and a half hours enjoying the roadhouses of the Hume Highway. On the way home, someone walked near her car and accidentally spooked the charger into stopping, thus creating an unexpected delay. Oh the complexities of electrical ecology? But on the bright side, the car didn’t kidnap her, and she points out that all the 350kW charging stations were working. If one had been on the fritz she couldn’t have made it to the next fast charger, so she would have had an instant holiday stopover in Tarcutta. The slow 50 kW chargers are so slow drivers need an overnight stay. And of course this major highway is the busiest and most well serviced interstate route in Australia. Everywhere else is going to be worse.
Failure is on the menu. Aussie Government Admits it is Failing to Meet Climate Commitments Eric Worrall Promises to double down on useless renewables. The hints have been coming for a while, but now it’s official: Australia isn’t on track to meet its climate targets By David Speers The first official concession came three weeks ago. Treasurer Jim Chalmers confirmed what everyone in the industry already knew — Australia is not on track to meet its climate targets. “We will need to do even more to secure sufficient renewable energy generation, transmission and storage to meet our ambitions,” Chalmers told a Melbourne audience. It was hardly an explosive revelation. The hints had been coming for a while. The climate targets were legislated in one of the first acts of the newly elected Albanese government last year. It was a moment hailed as symbolising the sea-change election result. … Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-23/labor-not-on-track-to-meet-climate-targets-new-plan/103137630 Australia is also not on track to meet its federal budget, or deliver those energy bill cost savings the current government promised during the election – the Aussie government recently cancelled a bunch of infrastructure projects because they are running out of money. But what else would you expect, from an incompetent administration of politicians who clearly believe saving the planet with renewables is more important than road upgrades, better schools and improved healthcare.
Don't retire in Australia. Billions of Dollars of Aussie Retirement Funds to be Gambled on Britain’s Failing Net Zero Push Eric Worrall Betting retirement funds on the honesty, consistency and fiduciary skill of Nut Zero obsessed politicians – what could possibly go wrong?
Chinese chess champion stripped of title after defecating in hotel bathtub, alleged anal beads cheating “… The association was also forced to address rumours circulating online that Yan had cheated during the competition by using anal beads equipped with wireless transmitters to send and receive signals. Yan allegedly clenched and unclenched rhythmically to communicate information about the chess board via code to a computer, which then sent back instructions on what moves to make in the form of vibrations, according to reports circulating on the Chinese social site Weibo. "Based on our understanding of the situation, it is currently impossible to prove that Yan engaged in cheating via 'anal beads' as speculated on social media," the CXA said.” From the ABC news in Aus.
Look for more fires down under. Claim: Electric Grids can Handle Double their Rated Capacity Eric Worrall “… In Texas, a study with EMPACT Engineering found that 94.5% of the region’s power lines could safely hold double the existing capacity. …” Read more: https://www.pv-magazine-australia.c...s-and-solutions-to-australias-climate-crisis/ Yep, running remote rural power lines red hot because the AI says the engineering ratings are too conservative, and green energy providers can’t afford to upgrade grid capacity. What could possibly go wrong?
From the letters page in the Melbourne Age today. “Strange democracy Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses and the press discuss it as if America were a democracy. If it is, it is not the kind of democracy Australians would recognise. The Iowa population is 3.2million, of which 22.6 per cent is under 18, leaving 2,482,000 voters. Just over 100,000 voted in the Republican caucuses or 4 per cent – Trump got 56,260 or 2.27 per cent of the vote. In Australia if you get 2.27 per cent of the vote, you lose your deposit. You are not a certainty for victory. In Australia there are incentives to vote and many ways to make it easy. In the US, there are obstacles. Voting on Tuesdays and in snow storms are two. There are more if you are African-American. About half of Americans vote at presidential elections. This helps keep Trump a candidate on a vote which would render him a clear loser elsewhere.”
Well that puts a very different spin on things TBH. Maybe the US isn’t filled with as many Trump crazies as we think.
The Joker has been defeated. “Novak Djokovic says it is premature to label his error-riddled Australian Open defeat as the start of his decline, despite calling it “one of the worst grand slam matches I’ve ever played”.” From the Melbourne Age today.
There's hypocrisy down under. Aussie Green Party Leader Used Private Jets, Expensed $1 Million to Taxpayers Eric Worrall Aussie Greens Leader Adam Bandt flew a private jet to give a speech on the evils of fossil fuel. . . .
Gotcha? “'Lambo guy' businessman Adrian Portelli has branded Greens leader Adam Bandt a hypocrite after it was revealed he spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on private jets. The eco-MP had launched a war of words with Mr Portelli last May when the lottery company boss used a crane to lift his $2million Maclaren hypercar into his $39million penthouse on Melbourne's South Bank. Mr Bandt had slammed the ostentatious display of wealth with a jibe at him and Labor's Stage Three tax cuts which at that stage rewarded the rich over the low-paid.” https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...guy-Adrian-Portelli-Greens-MP-Adam-Bandt.html
