“My major argument: any planned transition to an all-electric renewable energy monoculture is likely to fail, at least in America. That is mainly because peak winter heating requirements can greatly exceed peak summer cooling requirements by as much as 400 to 500 percent in cold climates and because the required minerals are severely limited.”

On August 27, 1997, the Cato Institute published “Renewable Energy: Not Cheap, Not ‘Green’,” written by Robert L. Bradley Jr. (A 58-page PDF of the study is available here and a 25^th anniversary review here.)  Bradley’s piece focused on the many stark ecological tradeoffs of politically favored renewables, as well as the high cost/low value associated of dilute, intermittent sourcing. This post extends that thinking to the deep decarbonization/all-electrification government program.

Rare earth minerals, on which the forced transition to “clean energy” depends, are critically constrained by many of the same factors as fossil fuels.…

“The fantasy, the shared narrative, is that replacing natural gas with electricity addresses the ‘climate crisis’ … Coupled with smart meters and digital currency, the home and business are subject to social monitoring and control. This is a high-tech version of F. A. Hayek’s the road to serfdom.”

On October 11, 2022, Gas Furnaces: Big Brother Says No highlighted the joint comments filed by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) et al. [1] These comments were in opposition to the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)  and their (severely overreaching) “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” (NOPR) to ban the manufacturing of gas-fueled residential furnaces: “Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products.”

CEI et al.’s comments primarily highlighted how DOE/EERE is attempting to justify its proposed ban based upon improper use of the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC): “2022-10-05 Joint Comment response to the published NOPR.”…

“… the usable range of a 19-seat plane goes from about 160 miles to about 30 miles. For a larger aircraft like the 100-seat planes that Wright is building, it’s less than six miles.” 

“Electric planes could take to the sky soon, maybe even before the end of the decade. But they probably won’t be able to take very many of us very far. For now … you might want to just ride a bike or take the train.”

In a sea of government subsidies and PR stunts, the Deep Decarbonization movement regularly tees up alternatives to direct fossil fuel usage. Posing as technological optimists, the strategy is to change the mindset of mineral energy dominance, so that an attitude of “if government builds it, they will come” can be politically possible.…

David Siegel is a man with a message. His Deep Optimism Manifesto spells out a new approach to viewing the world that is at once realistic and optimistic. Written last year, its message is timeless and timely. His opening quotation comes from Julian Simon’s essay in The State of Humanity, p. 642.

I am writing this in response to the Ecomodernism manifesto. It’s a group of smart people doing very important work to help improve the future for humanity and nature.

I think if they looked more into the science of climate change and the economics of abundance, they would arrive at Deep Optimism, a term coined by Matt Ridley, the rational optimist.

People who understand the economics of abundance don’t apply enough critical thinking to understanding climate and the natural world (Hans Rosling, Bjorn Lomborg, Peter Diamandis, Tyler Cowen, Steven Pinker).…