A Free-Market Energy Blog

Hansen on Climate/Energy Policy: An Evaluation and Rebuttal

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 28, 2022

“… fossil fuels are a convenient, condensed source of energy that has helped raise living standards throughout much of the world.”

“We must all be aware that demands for effective policies will yield only superficial change as long as the role of special interests in government remains unaddressed.” (- James Hansen)

James Hansen speaks truth to power in a number of areas regarding energy and climate. There is a lot to like. But when it comes to public policy, he refuses to go where his sober analysis tells him. He is not ready to make a tectonic shift toward adaptation rather than mitigation, despite the latter’s impossible economic and policy math.

“Magical Thinking”

Magical thinking has plagued climate policy. Vaclav Smil has explained the problem with little pushback. Smil, in fact, is in the mainstream as shown by the NYT’s April 2022 article, “This Eminent Scientist Says Climate Activists Need to Get Real.”…

Continue Reading

Uncivil Society: Climate Alarmists’ Last Stand?

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 27, 2022

Extinction Rebellion (XR), Insulate Britain, Just Stop Oil and the other forces … what will you think if their actions take new, ever-more disruptive forms? … the only real options [are] meaningful and radical action or nothing at all.”

“[T]he people now lying in roads and charging into airports and refineries have conveyed the urgency of climate breakdown more successfully than anyone in a suit.” The Guardian, July 24, 2022

They are losing intellectually and in the court of public opinion. Yet the coercionists do not want to check their premises with intellectual rigor and practical application. Instead, they want to be angry and uncivil to the great majority who do not buy their exaggerations–and just want affordable, reliable energy now.

Here is a post from Zoe Cohen, self-described as having the passions of “safeguarding the future of our one, shared planetary home; with enabling and encouraging people to shine and to take action.”…

Continue Reading

‘Texans for Economic Liberty’: Wind and Solar Fake Group

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 26, 2022

I would like to know how to get in touch with “Texans for Economic Liberty.” Do they have their own phone number? Or is the contact deep within a PR firm in Austin, Texas or in Washington, DC? Please respond, anyone, in the comments section.

A hot summer puts the Texas power grid on the cusp of failure. Wind and solar nonperformance is at issue. Conservation orders, sure enough, have been issued by ERCOT, as have mandatory orders for the ‘reliables’ to postpone maintenance.

What does the Texas wind and solar industry do to shore up support to keep the gravy train on the tracks? The world is watching Texas, with February 2021’s debacle now threatening living standards during opposite weather condition.

——————–

Evidently, one of the PR strategies was to form a shadowy front group to extol the virtues of Texas, competition, and freedom.…

Continue Reading

Guyana, Suriname Oil Bonanza to Boost Economies, Help Meet Global Demand

By Vijay Jayaraj -- July 25, 2022
Continue Reading

NYT Climate Reporting: Some Realism amid Political Retreat

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 22, 2022
Continue Reading

Remembering Pat Michaels

By Chip Knappenberger -- July 21, 2022
Continue Reading

Elevated CO2 Reduces Temperature Stress in Plants

By -- July 20, 2022
Continue Reading

Of Experience and Fools: Ignoring the Sri Lankan Disaster

By Richard W. Fulmer -- July 19, 2022
Continue Reading

Energy and Environmental Review: July 18, 2022

By -- July 18, 2022
Continue Reading

Climate Alarmism Not (Manchin feels the breeze of energy freedom)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 15, 2022
Continue Reading