The worst Global Warming denialists used to be at fossil fuel companies. Today it is the Project 2025 mob at The Heritage Foundation. The clearest evidence of the turnaround comes from the IEA, once a systematic purveyor of outdated information at the behest of oil interests, and now sometimes out in front.
That’s what their governments say. It will turn out to be much more than that, as inertia and lack of imagination are overtaken by the reality of the danger and the opportunity.
The IEA used to be laughably behind reality on everything. Now they are publishing real data, but their attitudes are still a problem. See Ultra-Denial, below.
If we exclude petroleum as a feedstock for chemicals and plastics, where the carbon goes into the product and isn’t burned, the rest (heating, cars, backup generators) will peak much sooner as heat pump, EV, and battery storage markets take off, and cars will increasingly be able to power homes and businesses during blackouts.
EVs
BMW 1 series is going electric as an affordable EV for younger buyers
BMW’s compact class is going electric. The BMW 1 Series will be transformed into an affordable electric car as the brand looks to attract younger buyers. BMW’s 1 Series and 2 Series will spawn i1 and i2 EV models.
The two new EVs are already in development in Munich. BMW plans to sell the more electric 1 and 2 Series models alongside the gas-powered models, according to sources close to the matter.
The Electric 1 series is expected to launch in 2027, followed by the i2 in 2028. Although they will be sold alongside the gas models, the 1 and 2 series EVs are expected to ride on BMW’s Neue Klasse platform.
BMW speeds past luxury rivals Porsche and Audi as EV sales spike in Q2
As luxury rivals Mercedes, Porsche, and Audi struggled, BMW strengthened its position, with EV sales climbing 22% in the second quarter.
Ultra-Denial
What to Know about Project 2025’s Dangers to Science
Project 2025 would jeopardize federal scientists’ independence and undermine their influence
The Heritage Foundation Tells Rigzone Oil Demand Will Never Peak
No. Real stupidity and determined ignorance can beat Artificial Intelligence every time. For a while.
A team of Australian and British researchers is training an AI model to combat the spread of misleading claims about climate change, write Francisco “A.J.” Camacho and Scott Waldman.
The move could help repurpose AI from an agent of misinformation to a policing force. But it’s a tall order: According to one third-party tracker, fake news websites that use AI have ballooned in recent months. Compounding the problem, social media giants such as Facebook and X have weakened their misinformation safeguards.
Misleading claims about climate change are particularly hard to weed out. Fossil fuel proponents and conservative groups have spent decades sowing public confusion around climate science by using false, misleading or cherry-picked research.
That’s the other IEA,
the very right wing Institute of Economic Affairs—a UK group that does indeed refuse to reveal the sources of its funding, as Monbiot says.
(🎩 Matilda Briggs for the clarification)
IEA takes heat as GOP alleges shift from energy security
State of play: House energy committee chair Cathy McMorris-Rodgers and Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate energy panel, allege the body "no longer provides policymakers with balanced assessments."
- Their new letter says the IEA — founded 50 years ago in response to oil shocks — is now "undermining energy security by discouraging sufficient investment in energy supplies."
- It sees global oil and gas use peaking this decade under nations' combined "stated" policies.
As I keep pointing out, it will happen faster than predicted as reality overwhelms the obstructionists.
Earth Matters: Permitting bill gets eco-howls; 50°F over normal in Antarctica; Walz, Shapiro for VP?
by Meteor Blades
Independent Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia (l) and Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming crafted a permitting bill that's getting thumbs down from climate activists.
But getting new transmission lines built has always been politically complicated. These days, utility lobbyists, local governments, environmental restrictions, and rank-and-file Americans in the path of such projects all contribute to a permitting process that can take a decade from proposal to approval. Insular interests, including those of the utilities themselves, mean many proposed or wished-for lines never get built. That is a big problem for the transition.
For example, according to the Berkeley Lab, at the end of last year, there was a 2,600-gigawatt backlog of energy and storage capacity in transmission grid interconnections. Of that, 95% is for solar, wind, and storage. That’s eight times larger than the backlog of 10 years ago. To show how big a deal that is, the entire U.S. grid has a generating capacity of 1,300 gigawatts from ALL sources. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has recently changed its rules, which will help move things along a little faster. But only a little.
The bill would ease regulatory hurdles and speed up environmental approval timeframes for renewable installations, for new and upgraded transmission lines, and for oil, gas, and coal projects.
Some good, some bad, and some really ugly.