The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center on June 13th was home to many basket-flowers (Plectocephalus americanus). While most were well past their flowering peak and had dried out, as you'd expect by that date, some were still blooming. The one shown here implies wind blowing from right to left, and yet no breeze blew. Seeming isn't always being.

§

§       §       §

§

What inspired my commentaries two days ago and yesterday was Robert Bryce's June 23rd article "Numbers Don't Lie." The sub-head says: "These 9 charts from the Statistical Review Of World Energy expose the myth of the energy transition & show hydrocarbons are growing faster than alt-energy."

Yup, many's the time an investigator has marshaled facts and statistics to disprove a certain claim, even an often-repeated claim, about something in the real world. The data show* unequivocally that the world as a whole is increasing its use of hydrocarbons faster than its use of alternative energy sources, particularly wind and solar. For example, Chart 5, which deals with the world's six largest economies, shows that in 2023 Japan, the UK, Germany, and the US together reduced emissions by 301 megatons. In the same year, unfortunately, China increased its emission by more than twice that combined total, with 642 megatons of additional emissions. And India increased its emissions by another 219 megatons.

You're welcome to read the article and look at the nine charts. Tomorrow's commentary will continue the energy theme with a dire warning.

* The Latin word data is the plural of datum, which means literally '[something] given.' Data are 'the givens,' which is to say the facts. From having taken three years of Latin in high school and from having decades later taught elementary statistics for four years, I've gotten into the habit of following data with a plural verb, which is what statisticians often do. In non-technical English, people usually treat data as a singular, just as they do media, another Latin plural.

© 2024 Steven Schwartzman