Editor Note: On December 26, 2008, Robert L. Bradley Jr. launched the free-market energy blog, MasterResource. This inaugural post is reproduced verbatim.
“… our blog name is inspired by the late Julian Simon (1932–1998). He labeled energy the master resource because it is the resource needed to bring other resources from a state of nature to one of human usefulness. Simon also used the term the ultimate resource to describe human ingenuity.”
We are just getting started here, but some of us veterans of the energy debate from a private property, free-market perspective have teamed together to offer our thoughts on late breaking energy items. When I read my newspapers each day, I have some thoughts that I wish I could share with folks from a historical, worldview perspective. I think we all have something to add–and thus the inspiration for this endeavor.…
Ed. This piece is adapted from a LinkedIn post by Steve Everley, a communications advisor in the field of energy.
A study last month generated some scary headlines about the supposed “health risks” of your gas stove – an appliance that most homeowners prefer (and for good reason).
If you were frightened, take a deep breath. You were misled.
First of all, the headlines that the study generated were alarming. Things like:
“Gas stoves are a threat to health and have larger climate impact than previously known, study shows” (CNN)
“Gas stoves in kitchens pose a risk to public health and the planet, research finds” (Washington Post)
“Stanford scientists find the climate and health impacts of natural gas stoves are greater than previously thought” (official release)
But it gets worse.…
Ed. note: The third part in this series covers IER as a full-time organization, which occurred in 2002, some 13 years after its founding (in 1989). Part I covered the history of the Institute for Humane Studies–Texas, the forerunner to IER. Part II reviewed the formation and early history of IER in Houston, Texas.
——————————-
Q1. Roger Donway: The last interview explained your dual life as a full-time employee of Enron Corp. and the president of the “think bucket” IER. How did IER emerge full time?
…A1. Robert Bradley Jr.: My Enron life ended a day after the company declared bankruptcy on Sunday December 1, 2001. I was part of the mass layoff the next day. Some 4,000 of us were let go where we were told to clear out our desks and leave.