Oil Export Regulation: 1970s History (Part II)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 30, 2015 2 Comments

The time has come to end the long debate over national energy policy in the United States and to put ourselves solidly on the road to energy independence. … This bill is only the beginning.”

– President Gerald Ford, December 22, 1975, upon signing the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 into law.

With oil shortages in the 1970s, exports of domestic oil became of acute political interest. Regulation was accomplished under two laws: the Export Administration Act of 1973 and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975. The rise of Alaskan North Slope Oil, in addition, inspired specific export regulation that not only reflected concerns about domestic supply but special privilege for United States shipping interests. [1]

Export Administration Act

With first sales of crude and product transactions in U.S. …

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Enron: Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Corporate Climate Champion?

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 3, 2014 1 Comment

“I do, however, believe that corporations which deliberately, purposefully, maliciously and systematically sponsor climate lies should be given the death penalty.”

“The Cato Institute, The Heritage Foundation, the Cooler Heads Coalition, the Global Climate Coalition, The American Enterprise Institute (ALEC), Americans for Prosperity, Heartland Institute, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), George C. Marshall Institute, the State Policy Network, The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).… these front groups are snake pits for sociopaths.”

“Koch Industries and ExxonMobil have particularly distinguished themselves as candidates for corporate death.”

– Robert Kennedy Jr., “What States’ Attorneys General Can Do About Climate Deniers,” Huffington Post, October 1, 2014.

Robert Kennedy Jr.’s screed against great American corporations is an elitist indictment against consumer preferences for affordable, reliable energy. Kennedy’s hate speech is also a confirmation about how badly the climate fanatics are losing in the court of public opinion.

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Milton Friedman Day (some energy quotations on the occasion of his 102nd birthday)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 31, 2014 1 Comment

“Economists may not know much. But we know one thing very well: how to produce surpluses and shortages. Do you want a surplus? Have the government legislate a minimum price that is above the price that would otherwise prevail…. Do you want a shortage? Have the government legislate a maximum price that is below the price that would otherwise prevail.”

       – Milton and Rose Friedman, Free to Choose (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979), pp. 219.

“It is a mark of how far we have gone on the road to serfdom that government allocation and rationing of oil is the automatic response to the oil crisis.”

– Milton Friedman, “Why Some Prices Should Rise,” Newsweek, November 19, 1973.

Milton Friedman is best known for Monetarism, a school of economics that effectively challenged fiscal-side Keynesianism.

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Avian Mortality: Union of Concerned Scientists’ Negin Debunked in Real Time

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 25, 2013 10 Comments

 “I have no idea who Jim Wiegand is, but the Master Resource website is highly questionable….”

“Jim: My apologies. I was overreacting…. Perhaps you would be better served if you avoided that [MasterResource] crowd.”

So said Elliott Negin, Director of News & Commentary at the Union of Concerned Scientists, several days ago in the comments section of his Huffington Post  piece, Wind Energy Threat to Birds Is Overblown.”

Mr. Negin is a serial user of the argumentum ad hominem. The Free Dictionary defines ad hominem as: “Appealing to personal considerations rather than to logic or reason: Debaters should avoid ad hominem arguments that question their opponents’ motives.”

In his piece, Negin takes on journalist and scholar Robert Bryce, whose exposés of politically correct renewable energy have clearly stuck a nerve with mainstream environmentalists whose embrace of industrial windpower is problematic.…

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Bird Kills: The Evidence and Publicity Mounts (Sierra Club, Audubon must stop deceiving memberships)

By Jim Wiegand -- November 21, 2013 8 Comments Continue Reading

Defeating Faux Environmentalism: Making a Moral Case for Fossil Fuel Abundance

By -- November 1, 2013 6 Comments Continue Reading

Climate Desperadoes: The Real ‘Deniers’ (Part I)

By -- September 23, 2013 3 Comments Continue Reading

Ronald Coase and Business Understanding (Part I: Why Are There Firms?)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- September 5, 2013 1 Comment Continue Reading

Taking the Moral High Ground on Fossil Fuels

By -- August 28, 2013 2 Comments Continue Reading

Milton Friedman on the Energy Crisis (and ObamaCare to come)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 31, 2013 5 Comments Continue Reading