Pierre Desrochers’ course at the University of Toronto Mississauga, Energy and Society, might just be the single best introduction to its subject in North America.
The students get both sides in impressive depth. As such, this course provides a study guide for anyone interested in the multi-faceted issues around the master resource.
Part I today presents the course description as well as the videos and readings from the first two weeks of the class. Part II tomorrow will cover the readings for carbon-based energies (oil, natural gas, coal).
Objective:
The development of new energy sources has had a major impact on the development of both human societies and the environment. This course will provide a broad survey of past and current achievements, along with failures and controversies, regarding the use of various forms of energy.…
Rather than adopt costly regulatory measures that serve to suppress energy use and economic growth, policy makers should seek to eliminate government interventions in the marketplace that obstruct emission reductions and discourage the adoption of lower emission technologies. Such an approach is a ‘no regrets’ strategy….
– Jonathan Adler, “Greenhouse Policy without Regrets: A Free Market Approach to the Uncertain Risk of Climate Change” (2000).
In the face of the Green New Deal, proponents of personal and economic freedom have a simple, sensible alternative. It respects consumer sovereignty and taxpayer welfare. It does not add to the federal deficit or swell the Federal Register. It takes a neutral stance on the climate-science debate between those who argue that emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are good or bad.…
“With the boom of carbon-based energy in the US and globally, in fact, it is game-set-and-match Fossil Fuels given the logarithmic effect of GHG forcing.”
“I left the Rice University climate talk… hardly dissuaded from my prior conclusion that [Professor Dessler] is a deep ecologist engaging in half-truths for a cause. That he is not above ‘lawyering’ to present a black-and-white case for climate alarmism.”
Earlier this month, I attended a lecture by the certain climate alarmist, Andrew Dessler, atmospheric scientist at Texas A&M University. In a recent Houston Chronicle op-ed, “Why the Green New Deal Makes Me Hopeful About Climate Change,” Dessler stated:
If we don’t take action, unchecked greenhouse-gas emissions would lead to global-average warming over this century of 5 degrees Fahrenheit to 9 degrees Fahrenheit…. …