A Free-Market Energy Blog

Ethanol as an Alternative to Gasoline: Response to Rauch

By -- April 23, 2019

“So, apparently all the mechanics I’ve talked to and all the people selling correctives to the ethanol in gasoline are completely off-base, presumably in the pockets of the oil industry.  Yet even magazines like Popular Mechanics have weighed in with warnings.”

Back in October, I posted a piece on Forbes.com, “Put Ethanol in People, not Gasoline,” which was prompted by my ongoing struggles to keep my lawnmower functional. 

In response, Marc Rauch, executive vice president/co-publisher of the Auto Channel, took exception to my arguments that gasoline with 10% ethanol damages small engines and, more generally, that ethanol does not improve energy security by providing surge capacity to replace lost energy supply.

I respond to Mr. Rauch’s Open Letter to Energy Analyst Michael Lynch below. 

Let’s start with his argument that my lawnmower problems were because of gasoline–and solvable by an ethanol-gasoline blend.…

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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

It’s another great day in the history of humankind as the quest for betterment in markets outpaces, in most areas of the world, the drag of Statism.

Today is especially august at the Cato Institute where a conference convenes in honor of the late Julian Simon (1932–1997). Hosted by Marian Tupy of the HumanProgress project, the event will be livestreamed beginning at 11:00 am.

Here is the announcement:

Are we running out of resources? That’s been a hotly debated question since the publication of Paul Ehrlich’s book The Population Bomb in 1968. The Stanford University biologist warned that population growth would result in the exhaustion of resources and a global catastrophe. University of Maryland economist and Cato Institute’s Senior Fellow Julian Simon, in contrast, argued that humans would innovate their way out of resource shortages.…

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2019 Pulitzer Prize Goes to an Inaccurate Anti-Fracking Book

By Nicole Jacobs -- April 18, 2019

“Ms. Griswold will have to forgive readers if they choose not to believe that she is objectively calling balls and strikes, given how the narrative she concocts in her book is dramatically different from what regulators, independent laboratories, and medical professionals have determined – all of which have been affirmed in multiple courtrooms.”


“Five separate courts, including Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court, have upheld the DEP’s findings, yet Ms. Griswold continues to spread these unsubstantiated claims in her new book.”

A recent book by Eliza Griswold – the same author who gave an infamously inaccurate portrayal of shale development in Amwell Township, Pa., in a 2011 New York Times article – takes readers back to Southwestern Pennsylvania over claims of water contamination that have long-since been resolved by multiple regulatory agencies, courtrooms, and expert analyses.…

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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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Stephen Moore on Energy: Sound as Gold

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 15, 2019
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Trump on Wind Power’s Problems (cancer too)

By Sherri Lange -- April 11, 2019
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“Green New Deal FAQ” (the infamous AOC post for posterity)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 10, 2019
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New England Curtails amid World Natural Gas Boom

By Steve Goreham -- April 9, 2019
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Energy & Environmental Newsletter: April 8, 2019

By -- April 8, 2019
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