Japan is Far From Kyoto Target
The Japanese Environment Ministry has reported that Japans efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have not gone well. Japan agreed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent below 1990 levels, but emissions rose a whopping six-plus percent in 1999 alone, putting total emissions at 6.8 percent above 1990 levels.
Japans greenhouse gas emissions fell in 1997 and 1998 due to an economic slump, according to Ministry officials, but 1999 saw an explosion, with private households increasing emissions by 5.3 percent, from industry by 4.2 percent, from office buildings by 3.3 percent and by 23 percent from the transportation sector (Asahi News Service, July 11, 2001).
Hurricane Damage Unchanged
It has been claimed repeatedly that global warming is causing increases in hurricane damages in the United States. Such claims were made frequently in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, which global warming alarmists said was the most costly storm of the 20th century.
Once again, however, environmentalist claims have been invalidated by actual research. A study by Tillinghast Tower Perrin, a risk-management consulting firm, is the first-ever comprehensive study of “insured hurricane damages from all hurricanes that affected the continental U.S. in the 20th century” (http://www.towers.com/towers/default_till.asp).
The studies key findings include:
- “When actual insured hurricane damages are adjusted to reflect current property values and the increase in the number of people living toward the coast, insured damages in the 1990s were not unusually high compared to other decades in the 20th century.
- “Hurricane Andrew did not produce the highest adjusted damages from a single storm; the September 1926 Miami hurricane led the way with $50 billion in insured damages. Andrew actually ran a distant second with $25 billion in insured damages.
- “While Atlantic hurricane frequency did increase in the second half of the 1990s, the number of such storms striking the U.S. in the decade was actually the second- lowest of the 20th century.”
The analysis refutes global warming claims, according to Tillinghast Principal, Doug Collins. “Our study put historical hurricane costs on a comparable level,” he said. “No one had ever measured the whole 20th century before or considered the explosive growth of residences and vacation homes near the coast.”
Economics 101: Price Caps Dont Work
Anyone familiar with supply and demand knew it was bound to happen. President Bush warned against it. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, however, still plowed ahead with its plan of imposing floating price caps on wholesale electric power in the 11 western states. Now it is time to pay the price. The New York Times reported on July 4 that the price caps are worsening the energy crisis in California.
The price caps, which went into effect June 19, have contributed to further rolling blackouts in California and rolling blackouts for the first time ever in Nevada, according to the Times story. The price caps caused generators to withhold about 600 megawatts of power (enough power for about 600,000 homes).
The power companies are withholding power because of the confusion surrounding the price caps. The price caps change depending on conditions, such as the cost of fuel and operating and maintenance expenses. The caps are set to the cost for the least efficient power plant to produce electricity, which can also change. Adding to the turmoil is the fact that the caps are only reset when there is a Stage 1 alertwhen demand is 7 percent higher than supply.
Not only has the confusion caused companies to lower output, but the prospect of not receiving fair market value for their power has also contributed. “A lot of generators were telling us that they were uncertain what they would be paid, and so they didnt want to take the risk,” said Oscar Hidalgo, spokesman for the California Department of Water Resources. Gary Ackerman of the Western Power Trading Forum agreed. “No ones going to pay for transmission if the cost is near the caps,” he said.
The blackouts in Nevada have come a time when temperatures were close to 120 degrees. Don Soderberg of the Nevada Public Utilities Commission noted that the price caps have had unintended consequences. “Were going to see how the caps might have played into this,” he said. Until then Nevadans can only hope the price caps do not bring more blackouts and the days do not get much warmer.