A Free-Market Energy Blog

“Distorting the Wealth of Nature” (Tanton’s 2005 essay on wind subsidies pertinent today)

By Thomas Stacy II -- May 1, 2019

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (2005) is amending its interconnection regulations to require public utilities to follow special rules to interconnect wind energy facilities. Wind energy is allowed to behave differently, while other kinds of electricity generation continue to act according to the old rules designed to protect the reliability of the electrical grid.

 – Tom Tanton, Distorting the Wealth of Nature, PERC, September 1, 2005.

Having only entered the fray over electricity system regulation and markets in 2007, I have little context or detail for the above quotation, which appears at the end of the first section of the referenced article.

But I know enough about regulation to know that “special rules” means  propping up the wind energy relative to its more concentrated, dispatchable competitors on the electricity grid.…

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“Save Earth”: Houston Chronicle Goes 1970s (Malthusian alarm getting long in the tooth)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 30, 2019

“All economic pain and no environmental gain is bad politics coming and going. The Democrats do not seem to want to touch it, if their vote on the Green New Deal was any indication.”

” … history will judge the climate alarm as exaggerated, CO2 as the gas of life, and carbon-based energy and modern living as heaven on earth. Governor Abbott, thank you.”

During the day, Houston, Texas, bustles as the oil and gas capital of the world. The daily business fare as reported by the hometown Houston Chronicle is a new offshore project here, new refinery or petrochemical plant there, new onshore production plays elsewhere.

And then there is a whole new industry within an industry, LNG exports from Texas and Louisiana to distant ports–and even LNG tank cars crossing into Mexico.

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Energy & Environmental Newsletter: April 29, 2019

By -- April 29, 2019

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy and environmental policies. Our premise is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science (please consult WiseEnergy.org for more information).

A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every three weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and the environment. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.

Some of the more important articles in this issue are:

Study: Renewable Energy Mandates are a costly failure

Worldwide Buyer’s Remorse Sets in for Costly Renewable Energy

Solar Energy Threatened by Wind Energy

The true cost of solar (and wind)

Dead bats and how radical Green propaganda relies on tragedy porn

Hypothesis: Radical Greens are the Great Killers of Our Age

Russia’s not-so-secret plan to control the world’s energy

The true feasibility of moving away from fossil fuels

Why 100% renewable energy goals are not practical policies

Battery Foolishness

Short video: False Choice Cafe

Short video: Green Signaling

US Chamber of Commerce: American Energy — Cleaner and Stronger

Natural Gas Is Pulling Away from Renewables; The Gap Has Never Been Wider

Next generation nuclear: 25MW, smaller, safer, can be sited anywhere

Powering the future – with no compromises

Lunacy as the New Orthodoxy

What Will It Take to End Anti-Science Insanity?

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Sunnova’s Rooftop Solar: Selling a Bad Product Requires ….

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 25, 2019
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MasterResource in the News (problems of wind power)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 24, 2019
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Ethanol as an Alternative to Gasoline: Response to Rauch

By -- April 23, 2019
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April 22: Julian Simon Day at Cato (with a special thanks to scholars Marian Tupy and Pierre Desrochers)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 22, 2019
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2019 Pulitzer Prize Goes to an Inaccurate Anti-Fracking Book

By Nicole Jacobs -- April 18, 2019
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Climategate Remembered: The Need for a Second Opinion (new panel taking shape)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 17, 2019
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US Renewable Statistics: Real vs. Potential Output

By Stanislav Jakuba -- April 16, 2019
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