A Free-Market Energy Blog

Energy & Environmental Newsletter: June 17, 2019

By -- June 17, 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:

The Greens’ Goal has Always Been to Make Renewable Energy Expensive

Combined-Cycle Natural Gas Power Beats Everything Else

The Levelized Cost of Electricity from Existing Generation Resources

Observations on the Alliance for Market Solutions’ ‘conservative’ case for a carbon tax

Economists Have Been “Useful Idiots” for the Green Socialists

Infrasound — a Growing Liability for Wind Energy

Study: Wind turbines kill 75% of nearby buzzards, hawks and kites

Energy solution hinges on better technology

Reforming State Utility Regulations

Farmland Owner (& MD) Encourages People NOT to Lease Wind Turbines

Solar intermittency: upbeat carbon reduction estimates miss the reality

Editorial: Governor Cuomo’s ‘renewable’ fiasco

The CO2 Hockey Stick

Why we do nothing to prepare for climate change

Study: Human CO2 Emissions Have Little Effect on Atmospheric CO2

Calling Climate Change ‘Catastrophic’ Isn’t Backed By Science

The Plan is No Plan: Why the GOP Shouldn’t Do Anything on Climate

Climate change has started to influence our language.

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Industrial Wind Goes Low in Western New York

By Ginger Schröder -- June 13, 2019

Editor note: Yesterday’s post described media coverage of an application by Invenergy to construct up to one hundred 600-foot-tall wind turbines in three counties in western New York. Today’s post reproduces remarks given at the hearing on this application (subtitles have been added for clarity).

“Invenergy will … cut corners, skirt obligations, bully oppositional viewpoints and do anything they can to cram this project in, all in the name of alleged green energy. The only think green about this project is the money flowing into Invenergy’s pocket in the form of wasteful taxpayer subsidies.”

My name is Ginger Schroder.  I and my husband own and reside on a working farm that specializes in heritage and exotic breed poultry in Farmersville New York.  My town is a proposed “host” town.

Public Participation Issues

A brief word about public participation. …

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Industrial Wind Application: A Look at Alle-Catt Wind Farm (340 MW in the wilds for what natural gas could do far better)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 12, 2019

“Opposition ranges from concerns about the effects of turbine noise on neighbors, degradation of the quality of life in the area where turbines will be sited, conflicts of interest on the part of elected town officials regarding the project, destruction of forest areas by construction and harm to bats and birds because of the blades.” (“Public Hearings Tuesday on Alle-Catt Wind Farm,” Olean Times Herald, June 7, 2019)

A article this week in the Olean Times Herald is an interesting look at what is going on with industrial wind at the grassroots. Jim Eckstrom reports from western New York where Chicago-based Invenergy proposes to erect up to one hundred 600-foot tall turbines in three western New York counties: Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Wyoming.

After announcing the meeting specifics, Eckstrom lays out the issues in a way that indicates, clearly, that this is a debate that is joined.…

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Democrats and a Carbon Tax: A Losing Issue Then, Now

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 11, 2019
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Trump’s Latest on Climate: Right Again! (re UK’s Piers Morgan, Prince Charles)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 10, 2019
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Julian Morris on ‘Fat Tails’ Climate Activism (MIT’s Pindyck reconsidered)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 6, 2019
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Judith Curry on Taylor’s “Fat Tails” Argument for CO2 Pricing

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 5, 2019
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Robert Murphy on Fat Tails (Part II)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 4, 2019
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Martin Weitzman’s Dismal Theorem: Do “Fat Tails” Destroy Cost-Benefit Analysis?

By Robert Murphy -- June 3, 2019
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“Enron Ascending: The Forgotten Years” (Book Review)

By John Olson -- June 2, 2019
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