A Free-Market Energy Blog

Energy Debates in Wonderland: Let's Go for the Kill Against GasWind (Part I)

By Jon Boone -- March 28, 2011

March Hare (to Alice): Have some wine.

(Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea.)

Alice: I don’t see any wine.

March Hare: There isn’t any.

Alice: Then it wasn’t very civil of you to offer it.

March Hare: It wasn’t very civil of you to sit down without being invited.

— From Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland

Energy journalist Robert Bryce in Power Hungry foretells an electricity future anchored by natural gas that will bridge the transition to nuclear power. With his third book in less than a decade, Bryce is now a leading light of the energy policy debate, appearing regularly on op-ed pages and on news shows.

Bryce recently participated in two debates. In one hosted by The Economist, he argued for the proposition that “natural gas will do more than renewables to limit the world’s carbon emissions.”

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Human Achievement Hour (Shine those lights this Saturday night as the late Julian Simon would have it!)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 25, 2011

Kudos to the Competitive Enterprise Institute for countering the anti-energy (and thus anti-industrial and anti-capitalism) campaign to keep the electricity off this Saturday night with an electricity-is-good event!

Human Achievement Hour counters Earth Hour, which is explained at Wikipedia as follows:

Earth Hour is a global event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. Earth Hour was conceived by WWF and The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all non-essential lights.

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Cars, Washing Machines, or Both? (energy is the master resource ….)

By Greg Rehmke -- March 24, 2011

What did Julian Simon have in common with Bjorn Lomborg? Both had strong statistics experience, and both started their research believing in popular environmental and over-population fears. Both Simon and Lomborg were convinced they could employ statistical  research to document and address these problems.

However, both Simon and Lomborg unexpectedly proved themselves wrong by looking seriously at empirical evidence.  Simon’s Malthusian-paradigm-busting book, The Ultimate Resource (1981), influenced many with its optimistic pro-technology data, analysis, and conclusions. (1) Years later Wired magazine interviewed Julian Simon and put him on the cover, complete with Julian’s little red devil’s horns.

Bjorn Lomborg picked up the Wired issue at the Los Angeles airport and read Simon’s claims with skepticism and even dismay.  Simon had to be wrong! And as a statistic professor, Lomborg was confident he could document and popularize the errors. …

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Promise for Uganda: Prosperity Through Oil & Gas Development

By Cyril Boynes -- March 23, 2011
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Cut Regulation, Not Just the Budget

By Ken Chilton -- March 22, 2011
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Recent Weather Extremes: Global Warming Fingerprint Not

By Chip Knappenberger -- March 21, 2011
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'Green Jobs': An Application of the Broken Window Fallacy (Henry Hazlitt speaks to us today)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 18, 2011
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EPA's Utility MACT Proposal: Negative Economics for What?

By Scott Segal -- March 17, 2011
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A Broader Viewpoint: Roger Pielke Sr. on the State of the Climate Change Debate

By Chip Knappenberger -- March 16, 2011
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Five Questions for DOE Secretary Chu (so what has DOE done for you lately?)

By Glenn Schleede -- March 15, 2011
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