Champagne is entering a third great phase of sales success according to Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger.
Pierre-Emmanuel also spoke of the positive benefits from climate change on Champagne production when addressing those at the masterclass, which was held in London’s Vintner’s Hall, and organised by the Institute of Masters of Wine.
“The last 10 years have been excellent due to the global warming,” he said, referring to the Champagne harvests.
In fact, such has been the quality of the grapes, he added that Champagne’s non-vintage category should be classed as multi-vintage.
Read the entire article here

I would like to float an idea. It is only an idea, as I have not thought out the full ramifications – just looking for comments.
We are constantly seeing government paid alarmists denying their obligation under FOI law to disclose relevant information. Given the limited budget of sceptics, there is only so much action under the law we can do – and what action has been taken has been costly and very very slow, without any results as yet. But when people bravely attempts to force compliance with the law by releasing those FOI emails as is required, we see this being ruthlessly & I think illegally squashed by the police.
Sceptics need to find a way to highlight the illegal actions of government employees. We also need a way to stop people believing we are oil funded groups … or if some are, to show that that funding is very limited compared to the massive funding of the alarmists.
So, I have been considering whether it might be possible to set up a system for voluntary compliance to the FOI act for voluntary groups like us sceptics. Continue reading →

Following some comments on WUWT about the “+1” scheme to boost ratings, I first joined the scheme, then decided to do it the old fashioned way and click on the WUWT link when searching for “global warming”.
So, imagine my surprise when I found WUWT on …

PAGE 35 Continue reading →

The government have announced a review of feed in tariffs for solar PV. According to their website the review will consider all aspects of the scheme including:

• tariff levels
• degression rates and methods
• eligible technologies
• arrangements for exports
• administrative and regulatory arrangements
• interaction with other policies
• accreditation and certification issues 

We have decided to separate the review into two phases. Phase 1 will consider:

• small-scale solar PV (with a total installed capacity of 250 kilowatts or less) Continue reading →

For those who did not know Roger Helmer, he was an MEP whose efforts confronting the exaggerated claims of CO2 were an inspiration to people like me.
So, I was literally shocked to hear he was leaving the European Parliament. My first thought was that something terrible might of happened, so I hope all is well.
Through his regular emailings, he has been inspiration to those who seek common sense on the climate and a lantern in the dark days when we were being likened to holocaust deniers. He not only inspired, he also responded to numerous of my emails, I only wish I had had the chance to meet him.
I hope he appreciate that not only the sceptic community but everyone has much to thank him (even if they don’t know it yet) and we very much appreciate his hard work in this area. The consolation, is that he does go out on a high, because as Hansen admitted in the independent, we sceptics are winning; a considerable part of that success comes down to people like him who stood their ground and refused to toe the line in those dark days.
Well done and thanks for all the hard work!

Unfortunately (for very good reasons) I’m having problems at the moment finding time to put anything together for the blog and this seems likely to continue into the foreseeable future.
So, I would just like to say, thank you for everyone that has contributed. The most enjoyable part of the blog was reading the comments!
Whilst everyone really deserves equal thanks, I have to particular thank Scottish Renewables. I know your views are genuine and so more credit to you for coming “into the lions den” to make them. Your contributions were thought provoking and did at times challenge preconceived notions.
But the real thanks have to go to those who did not (to my knowledge) contribute: my wife and children who put up with a dad/husband like me.

A very strange week. I’ve not had time to do any of my usual reading. Even WUWT has had to suffice with a cursory glance. Now longannet is cancelling the ridiculous CO2 capture scheme and good riddance. Fundamentally it seemed absurd to me to reduce the efficiency of power stations to “save the world”. How is burning more limited fossil fuels “saving the world”. Moreover, I really do not believe that CO2 would stay locked away. It’s like a bottle of UHT milk, it lasts forever until the seal is broken, and then it’s just a matter of time before it goes off. It will leak out and who’s going to clear up the mess? The power company won’t be responsible – or if they are they will shelve that responsibility somehow. Continue reading →

Work toward The Scottish (insert name) organisation is progressing very well, although I quickly realised the advantages of the paperless office when I decided to print out all the correspondence for a discussion regarding the meeting.
Honestly, the folder is full! I have been overwhelmed by the calibre of the response. When I started I had no idea regarding the calibre of the people who would respond. I don’t think there is a person who I’m not going to have to rely on for some aspect or other of the campaign.
As you would expect of sceptics, everyone wants to listen to what others have to say before making up their mind. It’s going to be a really interesting meeting and I wouldn’t want to count my chickens, but I am very confidence that something positive is going to come out the meeting.