It is past time that Wiki correct a significant factual error and tone down the bias of its entry for The Institute for Energy Research. I and others have failed to persuade them. This post is dedicated to the same attempt at fairness.

In my social media discussions and debates, my opponents do a quick check on the Institute for Energy Research (IER) to fire back at my criticisms. One from this week follows, an exchange prompted by a mention of “Deadwood Releasing 10.9 Gigatons of Carbon Every Year – More Than All Fossil Fuel Emissions Combined“:

Bradley: Leave fossil fuels alone then…. Energy density is key.

Paul Bryan: EXACTLY the fallacious argument that the propaganda was designed to promote. Well done! But hardly surprising coming from IER:

“IER is often described as a front group for the fossil fuel industry. It…

“But in the nearly 4,000-page study, skeptics note, the term “low confidence” — jargon for findings where there is conflicting evidence — occurs almost 1,400 times. The term “likely” — which could mean a degree of certainty as low as 66 percent — appears thousands of times, including as to whether major hurricanes have increased in frequency since the 1980s.” (Jim Osborne, Houston Chronicle below)

The title of the featured story is loaded. The interview started from the premise of climate alarmism. But one Jim Walzel, 84 years young, did just fine in making the point that climate science is quite unsettled and not indicative of crisis–just like previous scares he has witnessed in his long lifetime.

James Osborne’s “These skeptics believe in climate change. Why is it so hard to convince them catastrophe is coming?”…

Many Denton customers were stuck with astronomical electricity bills under the green power “choice” plans.

Denton, Texas, population 140,000, located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, received national media attention for its $9,000 per megawatt hour ($9.00 per kilowatt hour) electricity price spike during the February 2021 Texas Freeze power crisis. 

Although not reported by the media as such, it was an unintended consequence of naive green dreams and “environmental justice” gone wrong.

“Green” Energy Planning

Home to two universities and a junior college, Denton is a Progressive Left city that:

• Banned fracking within its city limits (later reversed by Gov. Abbott)
• Contracted for 180 megawatts from the Blue Bell Solar Plant
• Recorded 40 percent renewables, partly by ending its contract with the now mothballed Gibbons Creek Coal Power Plant
• Built its own natural gas power plant (2018) to provide backup power to its customers and sell the excess into the ERCOT grid.

“In terms of affordability, availability and scalability – methanol and ethanol are the best prospects to [displace oil in transportation] quickly.”

– John Hofmeister, quoted in “Q&A: He Ran Shell Oil Co. – and He Thinks We Use Too Much Crude,” Houston Chronicle, September 19, 2014.

“Retired Shell Oil President John Hofmeister will say practically anything to get quoted in the news media, presumably in the hope of raising his public profile.” (John Donovan, 2016)

It was with some relief that I learned about the passing of a 1) oil executive who never should have been one; 2) mega-promoter who shamed his profession with vitriolic messaging; and 3) thorn in the side of free-market energy education.

Background

John Hofmeister (1948–2021) combined flawed views on energy with ultra-political correctness. How Royal Dutch Shell could have promoted its human resources director (1997–2005) to run Shell Oil Company (2005–2008) is a story of how one contra-capitalist act leads to another.…