“‘There are a lot of special interests in [Sacramento], and a lot of them came to play,’ said Brent Newell, general counsel with the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment, which pushed for policies to help people who live near sources of pollution, like refineries. ‘Utilities, agriculture, oil and gas, they all influenced significantly the contours of this [cap-and-trade] bill.'”-
– Brent Newell, Center for Race, Poverty, and the Environment. Quoted in Anne C. Mulkern, “Businesses Spent Millions Lobbying Before Cap-and-Trade Vote,” Climatewire,
“Cap-and-trade is what governments and the people in alligator shoes (the lobbyists for special interests) are trying to foist on you.”
– James Hansen, Storms of My Grandchildren (2009), p. 211.
An argument for the free market is that imperfect markets can be and often are better than government attempts to make things better. …
“History shows that private property rights, market exchange, and the rule of law have resulted in affordable energy, improved living standards, and a healthier environment.”
“Government policies should be transparent, predictable, simple, and impartial toward all citizens and businesses. Such an approach will spur capital formation in the energy industry and promote optimal technological innovation.”
Some of us have been working on updating the existing mission statement of the Institute for Energy Research (IER).
Here is the latest draft. Thoughts and comments are welcome!
The Institute for Energy Research (IER) is a not-for-profit organization that studies and evaluates the function, operation, and government regulation of energy markets. IER maintains that freely functioning energy markets provide the most efficient and effective solutions to today’s energy and environmental challenges and, as such, are critical to the well-being of individuals and society.…
“I think [Julian Simon] probably should have been considered for a Nobel Prize. He took a very independent position with little backing, dug deep and provided very good evidence for his predictions and expectations.”
“I do not believe there is a natural resource economics. I believe there is good economics and bad economics.”
- Milton Friedman (below)
Editor note: Milton Friedman would be 105 this day. Born July 31, 1912, in New York City, he died on November 16, 2006, in San Francisco, age 94.
Reprinted below is an exchange between Robert Bradley Jr. and the Milton Friedman when the Nobel Laureate was 91 years old–a testament to the patience, scholarship, and longevity of one of the greatest social thinkers of modern time.
Friedman had not met Bradley but was in the habit of actively communicating with scholars until his final illness.