A Free-Market Energy Blog

Robert L. Bradley Jr.: Champion of Energy Realism and Free Markets

By Stephen Heins -- May 4, 2026

“Robert L. Bradley Jr. has never chased trends or grants. He has followed the evidence—market signals, engineering realities, and the record of human progress under freedom. In doing so, he has educated generations of policymakers, students, and citizens about why energy abundance matters and how free markets deliver it best.”

In the often polarized world of energy policy and climate debate, few voices have offered such consistent, evidence-based clarity as Robert L. Bradley Jr. A Houston native, prolific author, founder of the Institute for Energy Research (IER), and creator of the influential free-market energy blog MasterResource.org, Bradley has spent more than four decades illuminating the interplay of markets, regulation, technology, and human ingenuity in powering modern civilization.

As we mark the ongoing relevance of his work in 2026, a tribute to Bradley is not merely a look back at a remarkable career but a celebration of his enduring intellectual leadership—particularly in the last five years, when his analyses have proven prescient amid the unraveling of aggressive “energy transition” mandates.…

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Another PTC/ITC Extension for Wind/Solar? Just Say NO

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 1, 2026

“The continued reliance on ‘clean’ energy tax credits is a political crutch…. Those who have introduced this legislation … should be working to phase out these subsidies more quickly, not doubling down on them.” – Tom Pyle, AEA president (below)

A recent press release by the American Energy Alliance (the advocacy arm of the Institute for Energy Research) called it an “Election-Year Betrayal to Reinstate Wind and Solar Subsidies.” For two energies touting their affordability for consumers, this is disingenuous. Socializing the cost-premium to taxpayers, and unnecessarily industrializing the pristine landscape (real ecologists, please stand up) is bad public policy. And with more than a dozen extensions of the “temporary tax credits” (15 for solar, 14 for wind), the mirage of competitiveness by an infant industry (not) is exposed.…

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WSJ Energy Reporting: Improvement Needed

By -- April 30, 2026

“The Wall Street Journal should hire reporters who understand the technical side of the energy industries and can cut through political agendas and narratives. A more competent editorial staff can identify and correct shortsighted reporting too.”

“Energy companies are accelerating searches for new oil-and-gas prospects outside the Middle East amid war and high prices,” reported the Wall Street Journal. While this surface take sounds reasonable, it is misleading and beneath what should be expected from an informed energy journalist.

Collin Eaton’s Big Oil Plows Billions into Far-Flung Drilling Sites to Escape Iran Turmoil” (April 19) needs correction. Major oil companies do not undertake major international exploration efforts without serious research and planning. That does not happen in days or weeks–even a few months.

“Far Flung” Places?

Writing about many oil company projects in far flung places, Eaton fails to note that they were preplanned and in highly prospective/active oil-producing locations.…

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BOEM Offshore Wind Approvals: Radar Risks Identified, Not Resolved

By -- April 29, 2026
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IPCC Troubles: The Latest from Bangkok

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 28, 2026
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Energy & Environmental Review: April 27, 2026

By -- April 27, 2026
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The ‘Climate Change’ Bottom Line

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 24, 2026
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Fermi Troubles: A Warning for the Texas Grid

By -- April 23, 2026
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Resourceful Earth Day: Fred Smith on Julian Simon

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 22, 2026
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Decarbonization Threat in Alaska: Pushback Opportunity (elections have consequences)

By Todd M. Lindley -- April 21, 2026
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