Walzel Strikes for Climate Realism (Houston Chronicle interview fair, telling)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- September 2, 2021 2 Comments

“But in the nearly 4,000-page study, skeptics note, the term “low confidence” — jargon for findings where there is conflicting evidence — occurs almost 1,400 times. The term “likely” — which could mean a degree of certainty as low as 66 percent — appears thousands of times, including as to whether major hurricanes have increased in frequency since the 1980s.” (Jim Osborne, Houston Chronicle below)

The title of the featured story is loaded. The interview started from the premise of climate alarmism. But one Jim Walzel, 84 years young, did just fine in making the point that climate science is quite unsettled and not indicative of crisis–just like previous scares he has witnessed in his long lifetime.

James Osborne’s “These skeptics believe in climate change. Why is it so hard to convince them catastrophe is coming?”

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“Energy Facism” (Rothbard 1974 speaks to us today)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- August 16, 2021 No Comments

“When the black day of August 15, 1971 arrived, we free-market economists predicted that shortages of all sorts of products would result from the price control…. On the day of the freeze, everything seem[ed] to be functioning smoothly, and so the general mood [was] one of euphoric success.”

“When Tricky Dick imposed Phase I in August, 1971, price inflation was proceeding at something like a rate of 4% per year. Now, after 4 1/2 ‘phases’ of varying degrees of price dictation, and continued monetary inflation by the government, we are suffering a price inflation rate of something like 10% per year.”

August 15, 1971, was the day that President Richard Nixon shocked the country, and indeed the world, with a price control order. Everything—all goods and services, as well as wages and interest rates—were frozen for 90 days.…

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Denton, TX: Grid Reliability Sinks Renewables

By -- August 4, 2021 No Comments

Many Denton customers were stuck with astronomical electricity bills under the green power “choice” plans.

Denton, Texas, population 140,000, located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, received national media attention for its $9,000 per megawatt hour ($9.00 per kilowatt hour) electricity price spike during the February 2021 Texas Freeze power crisis

Although not reported by the media as such, it was an unintended consequence of naive green dreams and “environmental justice” gone wrong.

“Green” Energy Planning

Home to two universities and a junior college, Denton is a Progressive Left city that:

  • Banned fracking within its city limits (later reversed by Gov. Abbott)
  • Contracted for 180 megawatts from the Blue Bell Solar Plant
  • Recorded 40 percent renewables, partly by ending its contract with the now mothballed Gibbons Creek Coal Power Plant
  • Built its own natural gas power plant (2018) to provide backup power to its customers and sell the excess into the ERCOT grid.
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California Electricity Woes: More Intervention, Higher Prices, More Emissions (the back side of wind and solar)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- August 3, 2021 No Comments

“We’ll be setting up a mitigation program and new funds will be made available above and beyond our existing air quality funding that will mitigate those impacts.” (Liane Randolph, chair. California Air Resources Board, below)

“This huge list shows that if you mess up a grid, you have to try everything to hope to save the situation temporarily. In the proclamation: Air pollution rules–suspended. Ships in harbor—don’t connect to shore power, use your engines. Big industrial users—we’ll pay you $2/kWh not to consume energy. And yet, keeping a nuclear plant operating is not on the list.” (Meredith Angwin, August 2, 2021)

One intervention leads to another and yet another …. The ‘law of increasing intervention,’ as UK energy expert Colin Robinson coined it, is alive and well in the Golden State.…

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“Off Target”: Bad Economics of the Climate Crusade (mitigation not supported by mainstream analysis)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 30, 2021 No Comments Continue Reading

Field Notes on the Futile Climate Crusade

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 27, 2021 1 Comment Continue Reading

Martis vs. Smucker: Industrial Wind on Defense

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 16, 2021 2 Comments Continue Reading

John Hofmeister: Shell Oil-ex a Stain on Oil and Gas

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 7, 2021 1 Comment Continue Reading

The Institute for Energy Research: Formation and Early History

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 24, 2021 No Comments Continue Reading

Energy Books: Some Observations

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 17, 2021 No Comments Continue Reading