Dishonest Land: Hollywood’s “Promised Land” Slanders the Frac’ing Revolution

By -- January 7, 2013 10 Comments

The story of hydraulic fracturing (frac’ing) is one of the most important stories of our time. It needs to be told far and wide–and certainly by our top talent in Hollywood.

The true story of frac’ing is utterly inspiring. A band of renegade oil and gas executives, engineers, and rig-workers developed a technology that could transform worthless rock into wondrously abundant and affordable energy–enough to improve the lives of every single American. Frac’ing gives some states the cheapest electricity in the world, a boon to our manufacturing. It gives us the oil and gas that run our farms, warm our homes, and fuel our fun.

Whatever ways frac’ing technology has been misused–and for a pervasive technology there are shockingly few instances–our basic attitude toward the industry should be one of gratitude.…

Continue Reading

Global Climate Planning: Down But Not Out (Doha's 'bitter defeat' does not mean it's over)

By Craig Rucker -- December 31, 2012 3 Comments

“More than 7,000 environmental NGO activists attended the Doha confab … won’t forget who sent them…. They and the official delegates will be there [next time] for specific objectives: more money, more power, more control.”

The eighteenth Conference of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP-18) has ended. It was the latest chapter in the interminable negotiations over wealth redistribution and control of energy use and economic growth – in the name of preventing “dangerous manmade global warming.” Next year in Warsaw!

For people who believe humans can prevent “catastrophic climate change” by adjusting atmospheric carbon dioxide levels by a few parts per million – or are determined to crave control of “destructive” fossil fuels and “unsustainable” economic systems – Doha was a failure.

Only 37 of 194 nations signed the treaty that replaces the Kyoto Protocol, which expires December 31 – and several countries may withdraw their consent.…

Continue Reading

"THIS AGREEMENT WILL BE GOOD FOR ENRON STOCK!!" (Enron's Kyoto memo turns 15)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- December 24, 2012 4 Comments

Last week, a Hall of Shame cronyism memo turned 15 years old. Dated December 12, 1997, it was written from Kyoto, Japan, in the afterglow of the Kyoto Protocol agreement by Enron lobbyist John Palmisano.

Global green planners such as Palmisano were euphoric that, somehow, someway, the world had embarked on an irreversible course of climate control (and thus industrial and land-use control). His memo reflects the train-just-left-the-station mentality, as well as the specific benefits for first-mover ‘green’ Enron. Enron, in fact, had no less than six profit centers tied to pricing carbon dioxide (CO2), and seven if CO2 were capped and traded.) The story of Enron as the darling company of Left environmentalists has been well told elsewhere.)

The Washington Post broke the memo soon after Enron’s demise, showing how Enron was hardly a free-market, capitalistic company. 

Continue Reading

California Cap-and-Trade Cronyism: James Hansen Weighs In

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- December 21, 2012 5 Comments

“You don’t want [California’s] system with caps, where you have trading, you have derivatives, you have markets that then collapse and don’t actually reduce emissions much. That’s been tried in Europe, and it didn’t do much.”

– James Hansen, quoted in David Baker, “James Hansen Blasts Cap-and-Trade,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 5, 2012.

“Cap-and-trade’s complexity provides a breeding ground for special interests…. Why do those special interests deserve it anyhow?”

– James Hansen, “The People vs. Cap-and-Tax,” New York City, January 12, 2010.

NASA climate scientist James Hansen has long attracted criticism as the progenitor of modern climate alarmism. In recent years, Hansen has been prone to hyperbolic statements against fossil fuels, ignoring the moral imperative for abundant, affordable, and reliable mass energies (called progressive energy by Alex Epstein).…

Continue Reading

Carbon Tax: Climatically Useless

By Chip Knappenberger -- December 3, 2012 25 Comments Continue Reading

Energy Transformation and "Moore's Curse": Realism Before Action

By Steven Lightfoot -- November 29, 2012 3 Comments Continue Reading

Wind PTC: Facts vs Fluff

By -- November 20, 2012 5 Comments Continue Reading

Environmental Battles Under Obama 2

By -- November 19, 2012 3 Comments Continue Reading

'Trends Can Change' (Mises): The Context (Part II)

By Richard Ebeling -- November 13, 2012 2 Comments Continue Reading

'Trends Can Change': Ludwig von Mises (1951) Speaks to Us Today

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 9, 2012 5 Comments Continue Reading