A Free-Market Energy Blog

The Climate Science Debate Is Joined! Hallelujah!

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- December 4, 2017

“… we don’t have a first-principles theory that tells us what we have to get right in order to have an accurate projection [of anthropogenic climate change]…. This is sort of an emergent knowledge base. So, that’s the translation of this last statement, ‘To date, a set of diagnostics and performance metrics that can strongly reduce uncertainties in global climate sensitivity,’ a la projections, ‘has yet to be identified’.” (p. 89)

“… if the [temperature] hiatus is still going on as of the sixth IPCC report, that report is going to have a large burden on its shoulders walking in the door, because recent literature has shown that the chances of having a hiatus 18 of 20 years are vanishingly small.” (p. 92)

– William Collins, Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

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The Importance of Government Subsidies for EV Success

By -- November 30, 2017

“At the end of the day, it seems that smaller markets are clustered at the higher end of the EV penetration ranking. This suggests it will be much more difficult to mandate and effect massive vehicle fleet shifts in favor of EVs in much larger markets without significant government subsidies and/or mandates, as well as significant infrastructure investment in EV charging facilities.”

“Tesla had about 80% of the EV market in Hong Kong. The cessation of the subsidy in April has raised the cost of Tesla cars by between 50% and 80%. Will Hong Kong’s EV penetration rate follow the others who have ended subsidies, and fall?”

The US Congress is hammering out the details of tax reform proposals from the House and Senate. At risk is a continuation of the subsidies for clean energy investments—investments in new wind turbines and solar panels, along with the subsidies for electric vehicle (EV) purchases.…

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Wind Energy and Tax Reform: It’s Past Time

By -- November 29, 2017

The IRS flouted Congressional intent …and knowingly transformed the PTC phase-out into a 5-year PTC extension. Without reform, the PTC tax will grow to an additional $32+ billion in the next decade, not including the credits awarded projects already operating.

The multi-national, multi-billion-dollar wind industry and its group-think sycophants in the media blew a collective gasket this month following approval of the U.S. House tax bill (HR 1). It seems that House lawmakers shrugged off 25-years of subsidy lore by daring to rein in the open-ended, unlimited wind-PTC tax that now costs Americans over $5 billion annually. [1]

The House was right to take aim at the wind PTC, and the Senate should follow suit.

Ignoring Congressional Intent

The provision of HR 1 causing the biggest uproar is the “Special Rule for Determination of Beginning of Construction,” which clarifies when a project is considered to have started construction. …

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Mineral Resource Fixity and Boundary Effects

By Richard Sigman -- November 28, 2017
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Energy & Environmental Newsletter: November 27, 2017

By -- November 27, 2017
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Thanksgiving: A Free Market Celebration

By Richard Ebeling -- November 23, 2017
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Offshore Wind: Rough Waters for LEEDCo ‘Demonstration Project’ (environmentalists rise up)

By Sherri Lange -- November 21, 2017
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Tax Bill Attacked for Loss of Electric Car Subsidy—But Most Americans Don’t Want Electric Cars

By Steve Goreham -- November 20, 2017
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Where Good Is Bad: ‘The Energy of Slaves’ (Oil as ‘servitude’?)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 16, 2017
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Secretary Perry’s Hearing (Part II)

By -- November 15, 2017
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