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Saturday, February 9, 2019

Costs and benefits of fossil fuels -- mainly benefits, based on real science !

A major benefit 
produced by 
burning fossil fuels 
was unintended: 
  The growth-enhancing, 
water-conserving, and
stress-alleviating 
effects of elevated 
atmospheric CO2 
on plants.

There are other benefits,
and some CO2 costs too.

But most of the "costs" 
are imaginary "costs",
always coming in the future,
but they never arrive !

Those "costs" have been 
"coming in the future"
since the 1960's !

That means 
the coming "costs"
are only fairy tales,
used by leftists 
to scare people,
and grow the power
of governments.

The coming climate "crisis" 
is imaginary, faith based,
anti-science, wild guess
predictions of doom,
that will never come !

A fake "crisis" being used 
as a strategy to promote
socialism -- not as 
a better economic system
compared with free markets
because that would be a lie.

Socialism is being promoted
as new government powers
needed to save the planet
for the children.

Leftists believe this because
they trust governments,
primarily staffed by fellow
leftists.

That means leftists are not
very bright -- we've had 
20,000 years of global warming
since Chicago and Detroit 
were covered by glaciers.

Actual past climate change to study.

Not imaginary future climate change !

Where is the bad news
from the past climate change ?

I can't find bad news, after 21 years
reading climate science, as a hobby.

The bad news is always coming
in the future ... we've been waiting
50 years, and guess what?

Our planet's climate improved !

Since 1940, we've mainly had
slightly warmer winter nights,
in the northern half of the
Northern Hemisphere.

That's good news 
for the few people 
who live there !

And almost no global warming
since the 2003 peak, 
within the weather satellite
measurements margins of error. 





A Science-Based
Fossil Fuel 
Cost - Benefit
Impact Analysis:



   Acid  Rain
       No impact
The fertilizing effect 
of CO2 easily offsets 
any acid rain harm 
to vegetation. 
( Note: All rain is acidic,
and has always been )




   Agriculture
         Benefit
Fossil fuels are used
to make artificial fertilizers, 
to power farm machines, 
and for modern 
food processing.

CO2 also accelerates 
C3 plant growth,
and they use 
less water too.

Plants eaten by humans
and animals are mainly
the "C3" plants.




   Air  Quality
         Cost
Cleanly burned fossil fuels 
are common in most nations, 
but poor families
burning soft coal 
to heat homes in Asia 
do cause urban air pollution.




   Catastrophes
          Unknown
CO2 is not a “trigger” 
for abrupt climate change. 




   Conflict
       Benefit
Violent conflicts have fallen
as prosperity increases, 
made possible by affordable, 
reliable energy and a 
secure food supply.




     Drought
    No net impact
No increase in 
the frequency 
or intensity 
of drought 
in the modern era. 




   Economic  Growth
               Benefit
Affordable and reliable energy 
is positively correlated 
with economic growth rates.




   Electrification
            Benefit
Fossil fuels directly produce 
about 80% of electric power 
in the world. 

Solar and wind power
do not produce continuous, 
inexpensive electric power.




 Environmental  Benefits
                 Benefit
Aerial CO2 fertilization 
has produced net greening 
of our planet, 
especially in dry areas,
measured using satellites.

Rising CO2 also lets plants 
use water more efficiently, 
helping them overcome 
dry conditions.




  Extreme  Weather
        No net impact
No increase in 
the frequency 
or intensity 
of extreme weather 
in the modern era.

Greenhouse gas 
global warming 
should warm  
both poles most,
reducing the 
temperature 
differential
between the poles 
and the tropics,
which would cause 
milder weather 
conditions.




   Forestry
       Benefit
Vehicles powered 
by fossil fuels
replaced horses 
for transportation, 
so millions of acres 
of land, formerly used 
to grow food for horses,
are now forests. 

Elevated CO
concentrations 
also accelerate
forest growth.





  Human  Health
           Benefit
Fossil fuels 
contribute to 
improved nutrition, 
health care, 
human safety, 
and human welfare. 




   Human  Migration
            Unknown
Forced migrations 
due to sea-level rise, 
attributed to man-made 
climate change, have yet 
to be documented.




   Ocean  Acidification
             Unknown
Research illustrates 
the capability of both 
marine and freshwater species, 
to tolerate, and adapt to, 
rising temperatures, 
and unknown (impossible
to measure) tiny pH declines 
of the oceans.



   Oil  Spills
         Cost
But damage in 
the Gulf of Mexico,
after the Deepwater 
Horizon oil spill,
was much less
than predicted.




 Polar  Ice  Melting
        Unknown
Melting is not 
at “unnatural” rates 
-- it is just assumed 
that man made CO2 
is the cause.

Global sea-ice cover
remains similar in area 
to what it was 
at the start of 
satellite observations 
in 1979, with less ice 
in the Arctic Ocean, 
offset by more ice 
around Antarctica.




   Sea  Level  Rise
        No net impact
No acceleration of 
the rate of increase 
in global average sea level 
in the modern era, 
after 1940.




   Sustainability
           Benefit
Fossil fuels 
are a sustainable 
source of energy 
for the foreseeable future. 

"Peak Oil" was 
an incorrect prediction.




 Temperature  Related 
         Mortality
               Benefit
Cold weather
 kills more people 
than warm weather, 
and natural gas 
enables people 
to keep warm 
at affordable prices,
that don't require 
taxpayer subsidies.




   Transportation
             Benefit
Fossil fuels make transportation 
faster, and less expensive.




   Water  Resources
              Benefit
Aerial CO2 fertilization 
improves plant water 
use efficiency, reducing 
the demand for irrigation.