“Will Jerry Taylor speak truth to power by frontally questioning that carbon dioxide emissions is an unambiguous negative externality–a global market failure–that government, every government, must address? Or will he speak power to truth by assuming CO2 is a pollutant for which global government (really, an environmental Pope) can provide, as it were, a giant climate safety net.”

In 1998, then climate realist and energy libertarian Jerry Taylor wrote a piece, “Global Warming: The Anatomy of a Debate,” that piggybacked on the late, great Public Choice economist William Niskanen.

Taylor wrote:

The national debate over what to do, if anything, about the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has become less a debate about scientific or economic issues than an exercise in political theater. The reason is that the issue of global climate change is pregnant with far-reaching implications for human society and the kind of world our children will live in decades from now.

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy and environmental policies. Our premise is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science (please consult WiseEnergy.org for more information).

A key element of AWED’s efforts ispublic education. Towards that end, every three weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and  the environment. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.

Some of the more thought-provoking articles in this issue are:

Offshore Wind Turbine Maintenance Cost: “100 Times More Expensive Than A New Turbine Itself”!

Professor Investigating Flint: Greed has Killed Public Science

Court Dismisses Claim Against Citizen Advocate (+ More details)

Archive Study: Renewables Won’t Save Us, What Will?…

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy and environmental policies. Our premise is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science (please consult WiseEnergy.org for more information).

A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every three weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and the environment. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.

Some of the more interesting articles in this issue are:

Extensive information on Wind Turbine Noise

How to Talk to Anyone about Energy

Thorcon: Cheap, Reliable, CO-2 Energy Now

Wind Energy PILOTS Should Have To Pass a Benefits Test

The specifics of two NC wind project lawsuits: here & here

NC Uses Unique Tactic Against EPA Energy Rule

Climate Change Solutions Must Prove Effectiveness

Why Renewables Will Not Play A Significant Role with Climate Change

Climate Change: Not Science and Not Settled

The Most Comprehensive Assault on “Global Warming” Ever

America We Have a Problem

Only 3% of all CO2 is due to human activities

Study: Are Claimed Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accurate?…

A rare bit of reassuring news came my way from the Washington, D.C. news front regarding climate/energy policy yesterday. It came from the title of an article in Greenwire by Robin Bravender, “EPA critics throw down gauntlet in legal fight.”

Hurray. A real fight. Principal over pragmatism.

Not that the author is very sympathetic to the cause of free-market energy and carbon dioxide fertilization from non-priced CO2, but just straight reporting of what is likely to be exposed as administrative overreach.

The article (subscription required) begins:

The many foes of U.S. EPA’s Clean Power Plan are preparing to attack the Obama administration on a host of legal fronts as the court battle over the embattled rule gets underway. States, industries and other groups challenging the rule to clamp down on power plants’ greenhouse gas emissions laid out their legal strategies in documents sent to a federal appeals court last week.