“Affordable energy is a hallmark of economic progress, enabling all other areas of the economy to thrive. Yet, the Democratic platform promises to increase energy prices by pushing for a carbon tax, increases in the archaic Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) mandate, increased subsidization of renewables and electric vehicles, and support for costly regulations like the so-called Clean Power Plan (CPP).”
The 2016 election ushered in a new era of energy optimism. For eight years the Obama Administration strangled America’s natural gas, coal, and oil producers with unnecessary red tape, but the Trump Administration has swiftly worked to reduce barriers to the production, use, and exportation of our abundant natural resources. The results speak for themselves. America is on a path to becoming a net energy exporter for the first time since 1953 and ultimately a global energy superpower.…
Continue Reading“The notion that Europe is somehow more environmentally sound than the United States because more people ride trains is a myth. As New York University historian Peter Baldwin notes, ‘Ecologically speaking, there is no advantage in sending passengers by rail if freight is sent by road.'”
“America’s rail system is the envy of the world, carrying more than six times as many ton-miles of freight each year as all of the EU-27 nations combined.”
On my first visits to most other countries, including Australia, Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, and Switzerland, I’ve spent much of my time riding trains. Many of my friends who visit these countries return to the United States wondering, “Why can’t we have trains like that?”
There are many ways to answer this question, but the best way is to see how well the trains in those countries actually work.…
Continue Reading“‘Whether to do something or nothing’ is quite a retreat from the basic economic principle of realistically comparing costs and benefits. Washington States’ carbon tax proposal is all cost and no benefit. New administrative programs and higher across-the-board energy prices cannot be balanced by virtue signalling.”
“One can only hope that economists would put their game face on and do real analysis–and tell their funders that the right answer is better than the politically correct wrong answer.”
A recent letter-to-the-editor in the Wall Street Journal, “Debating Washington Carbon Tax Initiative,” made a number of points that invite further consideration. The subtitle of the piece was: “The real question in front of Washington voters is whether to do something, or nothing, about the risks of climate change.”
The letter by PhD economist Noah Kaufman of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy is parsed in red; my comments are indented.