A Free-Market Energy Blog

‘InsideClimate News’: Propaganda for Alarmism (balanced reporting would neuter their mission)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- December 7, 2017

“Why bad news and bad news only? Don’t the very reporters and staffers at InsideClimate News want to add optimism to their professional lives? Or is climate alarmism just a day job, a 9-to-5 gig, after which the real world comes into focus?”

“What would happen if some intrepid reporter or story gatherer broke the mold and reported on global lukewarming or on the benefits of CO2? What would his or her boss say? What would the head of fundraising say? What would the donors say?”

I read InsideClimate News (ICN) daily. And I am perplexed to see a nonprofit writing/information organization claiming the mantle of “clear,” “objective,” “independent,” and “non-partisan” dish up 100% climate alarmism and ad hominem argument against critics of the same. One would think that voluntary transactions between consenting adults, the ebb and flow of science, and skepticism against intellectual and political elites would be enough to investigate such topics as:

  • Controversial US wind power projects
  • Rent seeking in the US energy market (fossil fuel and renewables)
  • Cronyism at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)
  • Cronyism at the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)
  • Etc.,
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‘The Growing Abundance of Fossil Fuels’ (1999 essay for today)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- December 6, 2017

“Today’s reserve and resource estimates should be considered a minimum, not a maximum. By the end of the forecast period, reserves could be the same or higher depending on technological developments, capital availability, public policies, and commodity price levels.”

“The implication for business decision-making and public-policy analysis is that ‘depletable’ is not an operative concept for the world oil market, as it might be for an individual well, field, or geographical section…. [T]he concept of a nonrenewable resource is a heuristic, pedagogical device—an ideal type—not a principle that entrepreneurs can turn into profits and government officials can parlay into enlightened intervention.”

This essay, published by the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in the November 1999 issue of The Freeman, was subtitled, “Today’s Reserve and Resource Estimates Should Be Considered a Minimum.”…

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U.S. Tax Priorities Sack Big Wind

By -- December 5, 2017

“The Senate bill should serve as the PTC/ITC blueprint for the final bill…. [Such reform] is an important step, but only first step, toward a level-playing-field between electrical energies that will, longer term, improve grid reliability coast-to-coast, border-to-border.”

After 25-years of subsidy-driven financing, the wind industry is entirely reliant on tax-equity investors, willing to accept tax credits in return for funding a significant percentage of their project costs. Tax equity now accounts for up to 60% of the capital needed to construct a typical wind facility. The pool of investors with enough passive income to qualify for wind PTCs is limited and includes the largest financial institutions such as JP Morgan, Bank of American, Citi and even Google.

Said bluntly, Main Street Americans are coughing up billions annually to help the richest Wall Street bankers avoid paying their taxes.…

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The Climate Science Debate Is Joined! Hallelujah!

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- December 4, 2017
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The Importance of Government Subsidies for EV Success

By -- November 30, 2017
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Wind Energy and Tax Reform: It’s Past Time

By -- November 29, 2017
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Mineral Resource Fixity and Boundary Effects

By Richard Sigman -- November 28, 2017
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Energy & Environmental Newsletter: November 27, 2017

By -- November 27, 2017
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Thanksgiving: A Free Market Celebration

By Richard Ebeling -- November 23, 2017
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Offshore Wind: Rough Waters for LEEDCo ‘Demonstration Project’ (environmentalists rise up)

By Sherri Lange -- November 21, 2017
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