We must destroy the planet to save it — I have a hypothesis that there’s no such thing as irony. Here’s an example: “It’s absolutely ironic, but to save the planet we are going to need more mines,” says Allison Britt, director of mineral resources at government agency Geoscience Australia. I don’t think it’s ironic. Whenever you see the…

Being an environmentalist means doing cost/benefit calculations — This is the second in a series of articles on renewables. The first covered the big picture. Here I present several thinkers doing cost/benefit analysis rather than blowing hot air about “the transition to net zero.” We might not need to destroy the environment to save it. We should always…

No matter how excited you are about renewables, you must still do the math — This blog is called Shortfall for a reason. No matter how many solar panels and wind turbines you install, you still need energy during the times when they are not supplying power. In separate posts, I’ll do the math on renewable energy, batteries, and the raw materials required. I’ve already…

Repeating a lie turns it into the truth — A few months ago, I published a video that told the story of The Most Famous Book No One Ever Read. It was very popular. Today, I’m providing a very good BigThink article you should read: Truth by Repetition Please take ten minutes to read that. And here is Derek…

A talking point that’s “not even wrong.” — Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you’re being had. — Michael Crichton In the Pew Research paper on Americans’ views on climate change, the researchers find that your view of the consensus depends on your political tribe: They also…

A full semester course in 40 minutes — A few weeks ago, I published a new video on the science of climate change. It got over 5,000 views and a lot of comments. Some people had misunderstood some of the points, and I realized I hadn’t been as clear as I should have. …

Was it real? Was it worldwide? — The Little Ice Age was real, and it was worldwide. Between 1607 and 1814, it was not uncommon for the River Thames to freeze over for up to two months at time. There were football pitches, bowling matches, fruit-sellers, shoemakers, printers, bookstores, barbers… even a pub or two, and it…

I’m pleased to announce that I will give a live lecture and lead a discussion on climate for Clintel Ireland on May 18th at 7pm local time, which is 6pm UK time and 1pm on the US east coast. I especially encourage young people to attend and ask questions. Last…

My 13-year-old son did everything to try to make it work, but it was too difficult — Myopia is also called nearsightedness. It’s on the rise, mostly because kids stare at screens much of the day and don’t go outside as much as we used to when I was a kid. When I was a kid, I had a bow and a quiver of arrows, tennis racket…