“Capitalism turns luxuries into necessities. Socialism turns necessities into luxuries.”

“What did socialists use before candles? …. Electricity”

These are just funny jokes until a scenario unfolds where a huge lifestyle disruption lurks for you, your family, friends, and most everyone else.

Matt Ridley of the UK is there. And the notable classical-liberal thinker and writer is steamed about it.

Energy crises should be a thing of the past, the West having painfully learned to avoid the price and allocation controls that cause physical shortages and fuel riots.

Now, energy crises occur in the name of “green” energy policies that force inferior energies on the power grid–and discourage or prohibit the fossil fuels from doing their yeoman work. Consumers lose. Businesses lose. Taxpayers lose. A small intellectual and political elite win.…

“[Nuclear power] has been pretty reliable and very safe and compared to other energy sources, all told, reasonably priced …. and good…. It’s unclear if safe and reliable nuclear energy can compete with just where solar and wind are going …. That’s the reality.” (Other Lab Chief Executive Officer Saul Griffith)

“There’s more work to be done on nuclear than on any other area for it to be a competitor.” (Daniel Kammen, California Berkeley)

It’s a strange time when Yale University, up there with Harvard University atop the academic universe, publishes a rag of amateur analysis from the likes of one Peter Sinclair. (For Sinclair vs. Kevon Martis, see here.) But the Yale School of the Environment is in the business of publishing a newsletter of quick hits with double standards galore.…

This fortnightly Master Resource post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, published every other week by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete MBN for this post can be found here.

Of special interest in this issue is The Deep Optimism Manifesto, by David Siegel, which pays tribute to Julian Simon and explains again the historical basis for his outlook and its implications for our future.

Greed Energy Economics:
Energy Prices in Europe Hit Records After Wind Stops Blowing
We cannot afford to stop and start society based on the wind blowing
The High Cost of Wind, Solar and Battery Systems in North East US
UK electricity prices now most expensive in Europe (largely due to renewables)
Greenflation: Household bills to soar by more than £1,500 a year, analysts warn
Solar Project Sale Reveals Green Energy Sorcery

Renewable Energy Health and Ecosystem Consequences:
Report: Rise of the Eco-Right
Missouri’s largest wind farm isn’t running at night for fear of killing endangered bats
Wind industry faces its own green dilemma: landfills
EV Battery Fires Won’t Keep Pols from Putting You in Them

Wind Energy:
Wind turbine nuisance test case starts in Australian Supreme court
Oregon farmers allege violations at wind turbine project

Nuclear Energy:
Small Nuclear Reactors Will Power Our Future
China prepares to test thorium-fueled nuclear reactor
Nuclear Fusion: U.S.…

“Making nuclear safe is also why it is uneconomic. The US would not have had a nuclear industry if not for Price-Anderson and the rest of it from the federal government.” (Bradley, below)

“10 million deaths/year from the fossil fuel way of boiling water is criminally dangerous in the final degree.” (Canon Bryan, below)

Canon Bryan is CFO and a founding shareholder of Terrestrial Energy, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Mr. Bryan and Terrestrial develop advanced commercial power plants. [1]

This exchange with a sophisticated nuclear proponent is illustrative of the current debate regarding the future of nuclear power (my thoughts here). I would note the following having engaged Mr. Bryan:

1. We talk past each other at times because I am focused on the U.S.