A Free-Market Energy Blog

Archive

Posts from December 0

Solar is Not an Infant Industry (Part I–Pre-Twentieth Century)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 21, 2012

“Not satisfied with such direct benefits as he derives from sunshine, man has developed numerous ways of utilizing solar radiation indirectly and of appropriating energies other than his own.”

    – Erich Zimmermann, World Resources and Industry (Harper & Brothers, 1933), p. 43.

“Although much interest in the scientific community has been focused on solar energy at various times in history, widespread development of solar power equipment has never been achieved—primarily because of the high cost of developing solar power compared to that of technologies utilizing cheap fossil fuels.”

     – Wilson Clark, Energy for Survival: The Alternative to Extinction (Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1974), p. 379.

Solar electricity has a long history, not unlike its cousin windpower. The infant industry argument does not apply, and solar’s diluteness and intermittency suggest that this off-grid starter energy will not be an on-grid resource this century if not far beyond.…

Joint Letter in Opposition to Special Tax Treatment for Natural Gas Vehicles (time for free-market, fuel-neutral energy policy)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 14, 2012

“The federal tax code is already overly complex and needs to be simplified. It would be far better to remove all subsidies, set-asides, and special treatment for all forms of energy than create new complexities through the NAT GAS Act.”

This letter to Congress was sent by American Energy Alliance, Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Freedom Action, The National Center for Public Policy Research, and Sixty Plus Association. It is reproduced here for its educational value in the general debate over special government favor to politically correct energies.

Dear Senator:

We are writing [in regard to] amendment 1782—the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions (NAT GAS) Act.

Members of this coalition have previously written to Congress to oppose both this NAT GAS Act in January of this year and the previous version in May of last year.

Joint Letter Opposing Extending the Production Tax Credits and 1603 Treasury Grant Program (time for free-market, fuel-neutral energy policy)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 13, 2012

This letter to Congress was sent by American Energy Alliance, Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Freedom Action, The National Center for Public Policy Research, and Sixty Plus Association. It is reproduced here for its educational value in the general debate over special government favor to politically correct energies.

Dear Senator:

We strongly oppose extending the production tax credit and reviving the 1603 Treasury grant program. The U.S. is risking the energy equivalent of the housing meltdown through a continuation of these policies. Electricity prices are already increasing and these programs will only fuel the increase. Other nations’ economies are already reeling from the much higher electricity prices such sources mean for industry and families.

It is increasingly clear that the intervention of politicians and bureaucrats in the energy sector has had devastating economic consequences and led to embarrassing scandals.

Natural Gas Prices Spur Truckmaker Interest (Market, not political, development)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 8, 2012

"Battle of the Bulb" (Peltier finds CFL mercury emissions equal to that of power plants)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 7, 2012

Dear Wind Industry: We Need Your Workers and Materials (and taxpayers need your cessation)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 6, 2012

The Heartland Institute and Joe Bast: An Appreciation

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 2, 2012

U.S. Oil Exports: Open Letter to Bill O'Reilly from Economist Donald Boudreaux (Keystone XL a-okay)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 28, 2012

The Collapsing Case for 'Green' Energy (Berkeley's Borenstein on an intellectual wrong turn )

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 22, 2012

More Bad Neo-Malthusian Behavior (Pacific Institute's Peter Gleick joins the Climategate Gang, Paul Ehrlich, John Holdren, etc.)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 21, 2012