“Renewable Energy: Not Cheap, Not ‘Green’” Turns 25

By Jon Boone -- August 25, 2022 2 Comments

[Ed. note: On August 27, 1997, the Cato Institute published Policy Analysis #280, which criticized the government push to subsidize politically correct renewable energies. This review by Jon Boone, published ten years ago, is reprinted below.

“The policy implication of [a thorough examination of renewable technologies] is, stop throwing good money after bad. All renewable energy subsidies from all levels of government should cease.”

Such is the conclusion voiced today by a rising chorus of energy experts, economists, even politicians, after many years of failed renewables projects and more expensive utility bills in the growing shadow of a $16 trillion national debt ($140,000 per taxpayer). But, remarkably, fifteen years have passed since Rob Bradley crafted this statement for the Cato Institute as the bottom line of his comprehensive six-part policy alarum, Renewable Energy: Not Cheap, Not ‘Green’

An Opening Shot

Few knew about or shared Bradley’s concerns at the time.…

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Energy and Environmental Review: July 5, 2022

By -- July 5, 2022 1 Comment

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

Greed Energy Economics:
Subsidized Wind & Solar Root Cause of Every Power Pricing & Supply Crisis

Renewables (General):
*** Report: No Emission Reduction Gained from Increasing Wind & Solar
*** Breakthrough in U.S. grid storage estimating
All Electricity Sources Pollute

Wind Energy — Offshore:
*** Maryland’s Offshore Wind is a $4 Billion Boondoggle
*** BOEM Comments re proposed Maryland Offshore Wind Project
*** Hurricane risk is real for offshore wind
*** SCC Asked to Put Offshore Wind Failure Risk on Dominion, Not Customers
Wind developer, environmentalists agree on ways to protect whales
Fears fishing grounds will be lost to fleet

Wind Energy — Other:
*** Wind turbines bound for landfill because of hefty recycling expenses
*** A No Wind Solution
*** Southern Idaho Ranches Threatened by Potential Wind Project Development
The Lava Ridge Wind Turbine Project
Report: Leading edge erosion and pollution from wind turbine blades
A land rush for renewable energy is transforming Eastern Colorado

Solar Energy:
In Pandering to the Green Left, Biden Is Underwriting China’s Genocide of Uyghurs

Nuclear Energy:
A More Reliable and Responsible Climate Plan for NY (and elsewhere)

Fossil Fuel Energy:
*** Study: “Climate Impacts“ of Fossil Fuels in Today’s Energy Systems
*** Diesel oil and engine oil is going from scarcity to non-existent
*** Yes, You CAN Blame Biden For High Energy Prices
Is The Global Climate Agenda Dead?

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Mountain Valley Pipeline: 94 Percent Complete, FERC 6 Percent Incomplete

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 30, 2022 1 Comment

“Since the start of construction, industry opponents have continued to challenge MVP’s previously authorized and issued permits through ongoing litigation, placing their specific policy agendas above that of environmental protection and national energy security.”

– Mountain Valley Pipeline

This post simply reviews an interstate gas pipeline project that is stymied at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. FERC has taken a go-slow (as in purposeful delay) regarding the final permits to for water and wetland crossings, creating the controversy for all to see. Mountain Valley politely states (below):

Currently, MVP has all necessary permits with exception of those needed to cross waterbodies and wetlands. The project team is working collaboratively with federal and state authorities on a modified crossings approach, which would use a combination of trenchless and open-cut crossing methods.

This is Biden energy policy in full view.…

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Go, Joe, Go: Visit the Home Industry before Saudi Arabia

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 24, 2022 No Comments

“With 11 million Americans dedicated to ‘keeping the lights on and fuels flowing,’ President Biden should visit the oil patch and tip his hat–and even throw it in the air with a mighty hurrah in defiance to his handlers who have messed up Energy 101.”

You invited them to the White House, and they came. Now it’s your turn, Mr. President. You are formally invited by letter from 28 leading oil and gas trade associations to visit a refinery, an interstate oil pipeline, and an offshore rig.

Amid the Biden Administration’s clown show, it is fun to see the hydrocarbon sector get a little sassy and ask the President to visit the home team before he jets away to visit the opposition.

“Before you board Air Force One for the Middle East, we hope you will consider taking another look at made-in-America energy,” the American Petroleum Institute et al.,…

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Offshore Obstructionism: Letter to Biden (July 1, 2022, deadline nears)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 10, 2022 2 Comments Continue Reading

Energy and Environmental Review: May 23, 2022

By -- May 23, 2022 No Comments Continue Reading

Exit the Paris Climate Accord (Marlo Lewis on offense)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 13, 2022 2 Comments Continue Reading

Energy and Environmental Review: April 11, 2022

By -- April 11, 2022 No Comments Continue Reading

CERA vs. WPC: Tomlinson (Houston Chronicle) Digs In

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 22, 2022 1 Comment Continue Reading

NYT Tiptoes Toward Energy Reality (“this debate is changing”)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 4, 2022 2 Comments Continue Reading