“President Bill Clinton in 1997 announced the Department of Energy’s Million Solar Roofs Initiative as part of the buildup to the international negotiation on climate change held in Kyoto, Japan. The goal’s date was 2010.… Yet after 40 years of government plans and incentives, the U.S. is not halfway to Bill’s one-million goal.”

“If solar was really cheap, dependable, and competitive, Hillary would not need to be touting solar as the energy future — or espouse special government favor either. Let-the-market-decide would be enough.”

The centerpiece of Hillary Clinton’s energy plan for Election 2016 is to boost the nation’s installed solar capacity seven-fold between the time she takes office and the end of 2020 (four years). Going from 20 gigawatts to 140 gigawatts would involve a half-billion solar panels on twenty-five million roofs.…

“Profile costs exist due to the fact that wind has bad timing; when the wind is blowing strongly the market isn’t demanding high amounts of electricity and vice-versa.”

With nearly a century of federal government oversight in electricity markets, one might expect the regulatory equivalent of a well-oiled machine, in this case the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

To its credit, FERC has generally given favorable treatment to market-based solutions opposed to top down control. [1] However, the push for green energy has changed how many markets behave for the worse. Far from a well-oiled regulatory machine, we have a Rube Goldberg device that produces curious outcomes. One great example is the way utilities gladly overpay for wind power.

In “Profile Costs as a Component of Integration Costs in Wind Energy”, published in Stanford University’s Comparative Advantage (Vol.…

“I’d like to see a rebirth of the country — go back where there’s equal rights for everybody, as I said, and that people succeed to the extent that they help other people improve their lives. To lead toward a society that maximizes peace, civility, and well-being for everyone.”

A series of posts at MasterResource has examined the views on business/government relations by classical-liberal entrepreneur Charles Koch, who has become a rare voice for government-neutral business relations. These post include:

Charles Koch: An Entrepreneur for Liberty

‘Good Profit’: Charles Koch on Cronyism (Part 2)

Charles Koch on Cronyism (Part 1)

Who is Charles Koch? (A builder of business and critic of political capitalism)

Charles Koch’s most recent thoughts on cronyism have been provided in an interview by the Washington Post’s Jim Tankersley (misleadingly titled “‘I don’t like the idea of capitalism’: Charles Koch, unfiltered.”…

“I know it’s a long shot, but there has to be someone telling the truth and showing a clear vision moving away from capitalism to an eco-socialist future that is just for everyone.”

– Gary Stuard (Green Party). Quoted in Kim McGuire, “Greens Steadfast on Environment.” Houston Chronicle, August 6, 2016, p. A4.

Milton Friedman once said: “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” The uncommonly wise economist also said: “Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.”

Let’s assume that the Green Party is made up a fair number of well meaning, non-corrupted (as in ‘crony capitalist’) individuals that really want the common person to have a good life and entrepreneurial opportunities.…