Costing the Green New Deal and “Deep Decarbonization”: Some Clarifications

By -- July 11, 2019 9 Comments

“The danger is not a physically changed climate, natural or manmade. The real threat is wealth-destroying climate policies that would leave populations vulnerable to weather and climate from any direction and for whatever reason.”

“Climate alarmists operate like the ‘Borg Collective,’ whereas organizing free-market advocates is like cat herding. We could stand for a little more organization. Perhaps we can start by sharing and fine-tuning our GND energy cost estimates. Any suggestions would be appreciated.”

Various estimates have been made of the sizeable costs of the Green New Deal (GND), a proposal to forcefully move Americans away from the most affordable, reliable energies to so-called “clean” energies.

This post reassesses these costs with a plea to better coordinate economic analyses in order to counter the climate campaigners who demote economics and realism with end-is-near, last-chance alarm.…

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Hearing Summary: “Wasted Energy: DOE’s Inaction on Efficiency Standards & Its Impact on Consumers and the Climate”

By -- March 12, 2019 1 Comment

“The highlight of the entire hearing was the testimony of DOE’s Daniel Simmons.  Everyone else pretty much played their assigned role.”

The title of last week’s hearing on the US Department of Energy’s new pro-consumer orientation toward appliance standards,Wasted Energy: DOE’s Inaction on Efficiency Standards & Its Impact on Consumers and the Climate”, was obviously biased. But Daniel Simmons, Assistant Secretary, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, stole the show.

First up as the only Panel 1 witness was IER alumni, Daniel Simmons, who was sworn-in on January 16th, 2019. Daniel’s five-minute allocation started at the 34-minute mark of a nearly 4-hour long hearing. Simmons was followed with five minutes of questioning from Subcommittee members; starting with Chairman Rush; who questioned a possible lifting of restrictions affecting the manufacture of certain types of incandescent light bulbs.

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Dear EERE: Past Time to Debate “Deep Decarbonization” (Obama program inconsistent with America First energy policy)

By Mark Krebs and Tom Tanton -- February 14, 2019 4 Comments

“With a clean electricity system comes opportunities to reduce fossil fuel usage in these sectors: for example, electric vehicles displace petroleum use and electric heat pumps avoid the use of natural gas and oil for space and water heating in buildings.”

–  The While House, United States Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization, (November 2016)

“Assuming we all want to avoid an American repeat of the French “Mouvement des gilets jaunes” (yellow vest movement) the economic realities of ‘deep decarbonization’ through ‘electrification’ must be a priority for public debate and discussion.” (below)

As Senator Everett Dirksen is credited with saying: “A million here, a million there, and pretty soon we’re talking real money.” Not much has changed, except for inflation. Now it’s more like $40 million here and $50 million there.

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Behind the IPCC Curtain: the Costs of Climate Mitigation Policy

By -- October 18, 2018 8 Comments

Financing the IPCC’s conclusions via carbon taxes would bankrupt even the wealthiest countries; even at the low end of the IPCC estimates…. Alas, we have to destroy the global economy to save it.”

The 48th session of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change convened from 1-5 October 2018, in Incheon, Republic of Korea. On Oct. 6, 2018 the UN’s IPCC modified downward the Paris Agreement goal of a maximum 1.5 deg. C rise requiring net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The following day, the IPCC released its voluminousspecial reportshown by the following screenshot:

Source: http://www.ipcc.ch/report/sr15/

The report went to great lengths estimating the environmental costs of climate change and the benefits (including economic benefits) from implementing their “findings,” but never analyzed the economic costs. In fact, Chapter 1 of the IPCC special report said this about economic cost/benefit analyses (p.…

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Paris Lives! “Deep Decarbonization” at DOE

By -- June 28, 2018 5 Comments Continue Reading

Update: ‘Is DOE Leading Us Astray?’ (A 1999 analysis revisited)

By -- April 5, 2018 3 Comments Continue Reading

Warring Against Natural Gas: Joint EEI/NRDC Statement to NARUC (crony environmentalism at work)

By -- February 26, 2018 4 Comments Continue Reading

The “Powering America” Hearings (Part I)

By -- November 14, 2017 1 Comment Continue Reading

Direct Use of Natural Gas: Unshackle Efficiency from Obama’s ‘Deep Decarbonization’ (Part II)

By Mark Krebs and Tom Tanton -- June 8, 2017 12 Comments Continue Reading

Direct Use of Natural Gas: Unshackle Efficiency from Obama’s ‘Deep Decarbonization’ (Part 1)

By Mark Krebs and Tom Tanton -- June 7, 2017 9 Comments Continue Reading