A Free-Market Energy Blog

Energy Efficiency Mandates: No Free Lunch

By Kenneth Costello -- March 26, 2019

“Why should utility customers continue to pay for bad programs that increase their rates at the benefit of a few? We should be mindful of the words of Milton Friedman:  ‘One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.’ “

In the real world, “free lunches” that benefit society are as rare as snow in Phoenix. Even when given a free meal, one often has to listen to an often boring sales pitch or speech.

Only in fantasy land are socially-beneficial “free lunches” ubiquitous. As one example, Amory Lovins once remarked that energy efficiency is the “lunch you are paid to eat.” Using the label “no-regrets,” policymakers frequently push actions that they endorse as unequivocally good – everyone wins, no one loses.…

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Energy & Environmental Newsletter: March 25, 2019

By -- March 25, 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:

Wind & solar are always ruinously expensive

President Trump Seeking Major Cuts to Renewable Subsidies

How did  Rick Perry and DOE get into the Ditch???

Excellent Video: Why Renewables Can’t Save the Planet

100% renewable energy isn’t a response to climate change — it’s a retreat

Report: Will Batteries be the Savior of Big Wind?

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“No Regrets” Climate Policy: First, Do No Harm

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 21, 2019

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.…

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Andrew Dessler’s Climate Sensitivity Lecture: Some Observations

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 20, 2019
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It’s Science Time (Happer-led peer review of climate alarmism long overdue)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 19, 2019
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Sixty Minutes on the Kiddie Climate Lawsuit: Hypocrisy Squared

By Robert Endlich -- March 18, 2019
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Perry’s “New Energy Realism” (freedom and fossil fuels are essential, moral, unstoppable)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 14, 2019
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“Wind Turbine Syndrome:” Audiologist Letter to the Ohio Power Siting Board

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 13, 2019
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Hearing Summary: “Wasted Energy: DOE’s Inaction on Efficiency Standards & Its Impact on Consumers and the Climate”

By -- March 12, 2019
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DOE’s Simmons on Energy Conservation Regulation (pro-consumer orientation long overdue)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 11, 2019
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