change assertion to log errof if translation is None in varlist_util

src/varlist_util.py

@@ -560,7 +560,8 @@ def setup_var(self,
         v.dest_path = self.variable_dest_path(model_paths, case_name, v)
         try:
             trans_v = translate.translate(v, from_convention)
-            assert trans_v is not None, f'translation for varlistentry {v.name} failed'
+            if trans_v is None:
+                v.log.error(f'translation for varlistEntry {v.name} failed')
             v.translation = trans_v
             # copy preferred gfdl post-processing component during translation
             if hasattr(trans_v, "component"):