A Free-Market Energy Blog

“Last Chance Travel” (climate alarmism in a suitcase)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 24, 2023

“Last chance travel …. From melting glaciers to unbearable summer heat, climate change will make some holiday destinations unrecognizable.”

The mentality of the doomsday crowd is something to behold. Why would one go zombie on the coming end of modern civilization rather than soberly examine the (failed) track record of alarmism and the (non-alarming) data of weather extremes, temperature, and climate-related deaths?

I am reminded of two authors of the 1972 Club of Rome study who were so confident of doomism (here):

Dennis and Donella Meadows retreated to a New Hampshire farm after completing the book “to learn about homesteading and wait for the coming collapse.” “We definitely felt like Cassandras,” Donella Meadows added, “especially as we watched the world react to our work.”

But maybe Kenneth Boulding got it right when he said:

Is there any more single-minded, simple pleasure than viewing with alarm?

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Offshore Headwinds for Biden

By -- March 23, 2023

“Last year, every offshore wind equipment manufacturer reported substantial financial losses as raw material costs, order delays, labor problems, and antiquated manufacturing plants overwhelmed their revenue gains. Correcting these problems necessitates higher equipment prices, reduced manufacturing capacity, and/or relocating to lower-cost countries. These steps can set back delivery times and delay project start-up dates. Developers are also finding that building Jones Act-compliant installation and support vessels are taking longer and costing more, further challenging their projects’ economics.”

On Day One, Joe Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline construction permit issued by the Trump administration, costing union jobs. He rejoined the Paris Agreement on Climate Change so John Kerry could have a job.  It was no secret where this administration was heading. 

Days later, Biden issued an Executive Order calling for the nation to build “a new American infrastructure and clean energy economy that will create millions of new jobs.”…

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Woke SVB: Remembering Woke Enron

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 22, 2023

The demise of the “Climate Bank” SVB makes a look back at ‘Woke Enron’ timely. This post is an excerpt from Robert Bradley, Jr. Capitalism at Work: Business, Government, and Energy (2009), pp. 309–310.

In the fall of 2001, Ken Lay set the tone for what would be Enron’s last Environmental, Health, and Safety Management Conference:

We believe that incorporating environmental and social considerations into the way we manage risk, govern our projects, and develop products and services will help us maintain our competitive advantage. As we move forward, we will leverage our intellectual capital and innovative capabilities to promote sustainable business practices around the world.

At this meeting, Enron’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) task force listed its “Accomplishments to Date,” which were:

  • Secured board oversight of social/environmental performance
  • Expressed support for Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  • Completed corporate responsibility task force
  • Developed and pilot-tested human rights audit
  • Developed security and human rights guidelines
  • Established formal partnerships with WBCSD [World Business Council on Sustainable Development], IBLF [International Business Leaders Forum], and CI [Conservation International]
  • Identified language to strengthen code of ethics
  • Providing project support—Calypso, Transredes, Dabhol and Cuiabá
  • Responding to stakeholder concerns on an ongoing basis

The goals for 2002 included:

  • Formally adopt CERES Principles
  • Complete indigenous peoples’ policy
  • Specify social/environmental expectations in formal relationships with vendors and contractors
  • Review results of stakeholder survey and develop strategy to address outcome
  • Create awareness of social/environmental trends among [Enron’s] origination and investment groups
  • Add corporate responsibility performance attribute to PRC [Performance Review Committee] process
  • Present task force recommendations to Dr.
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Milton Howard’s Grid Cancer Projects

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 21, 2023
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Hate from a Wind/Solar Executive (Milton R. Howard, Terra-Gen)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 20, 2023
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Texas’s Central Planning: Duplicating the Grid

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 16, 2023
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King Coal: India, Japan Update

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 15, 2023
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Colin Hunt Goes Nuclear (an exchange on a problematic energy source)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 14, 2023
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Energy and Environmental Review: March 13, 2023

By -- March 13, 2023
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Texas Tribune: Misleading on Climate

By Sterling Burnett -- March 10, 2023
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