Alex Epstein Wants to Debate (and he is a polite debater)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 7, 2017 9 Comments

“With the climate activists out of political power, they must regroup and turn to open debate and persuasion. Alex Epstein is ready when you are, Misters Brune, Gore, Hansen, Holdren, Musk, Nye, and Romm.”

John Holdren, James Hansen, Joe Romm: Since you are sure that planetary warming necessitates government rationing of fossil fuels, why not debate and expose the fallacies of the climate optimists, or the ‘deniers’ as you like to call them?

Alex Epstein stands ready (and he tried with Holdren, who surely has more time now as a private citizen.)

I was reminded of this when Alex sent out this email last week about a twitter challenge to Bill ‘The Science Guy” Nye:

Why Bill Nye “The Science Guy”?

Because he is the most prominent opponent of fossil fuels that has shown any inclination to debate.

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The New ‘Mental Health’ Standard: Can We Apply It to Neo-Malthusians? (Romm, Hansen, Ehrlich, etc.)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 21, 2017 2 Comments

“‘An inability to tolerate views different’? ‘Rage reactions’? Can we apply this mental health standard to Joe Romm and James Hansen, not to mention Paul Ehrlich in his diatribes against Julian Simon?”

“This is ironic to those of us who have encountered angry neo-Malthusians trying to wake us up to the coming food famine (1960s warnings), resource famine (1970s warnings), and, most recently, climate alarmism. Does this standard apply to them as it does to all things Trump?”

I have resubscribed to the New York Times. I received a 50 percent discount, and with Trump’s upset win in November I wanted to better understand what the intellectual/media elite were thinking. (And the answer is … they still don’t get it.)

In the Letters section of February 14th edition, I encountered “Mental Health Professionals Warn About Trump.”…

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President-Elect Trump’s Climate/Energy Policy: 100-Day Action Plan a Good Start

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 19, 2017 4 Comments

“Good news indeed! Energy cuts are easy cuts compared to the hard budget choices that lie ahead in the transition from statism and stagnation to a vibrant, coordinated, expanding entrepreneurial economy.”

Rome is not burning, but Joe Romm at Climate Progress is.

Will Trump go down in history as the man who pulled the plug on a livable climate?” he writes, with the subtitle, “The fate of humanity is in the hands of a denier who pledged to kill domestic and global climate action and all clean energy research.

Really, Joe?

But Romm goes on to (usefully) report:

The Australian journalist Graham Readfearn notes that while you can’t find Trump’s original “100 day action plan” for energy and climate on the campaign website anymore, “it was archived by Wayback Machine”.

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My Time at Enron: For the Record (again)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 9, 2017 2 Comments

The Institute for Energy Research (IER) and its advocacy arm, the American Energy Alliance (AEA), are in the news.

As reported last month in the Los Angeles Times, and more recently in Bloomberg Politics, IER/AEA are involved in the free-market directions that the president-elect and his team have followed to date.

One account described the founding of IER as follows:

The Institute for Energy Research was founded to be a clearinghouse for energy information in 1989 in Houston by Robert L. Bradley Jr., a speechwriter for Enron chief executive Kenneth Lay, who was later convicted of securities fraud.

Given that this association is part of the political conversation (Joe Romm started it in 2009: see below), and the continuing attention that is ahead for IER/AEA, I wish to revisit the historical record about my time at Enron that overlapped with IER.…

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“Market Conservation vs. Government Conservationism: Understanding the Limits to Energy Efficiency and ‘New-Economy’ ESCOs” (2009 post questions intellectual foundations of efficiency mandates today)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 5, 2017 6 Comments Continue Reading

Climategate: Never Forget (President-elect Trump hasn’t)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 29, 2016 13 Comments Continue Reading

When Romm Blamed Reagan for “this energy mess” (Jimmy Carter lives!)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 12, 2016 No Comments Continue Reading

Environmental Conflict Goes Nuclear (civil war erupts over CO2 reduction strategy)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 22, 2016 No Comments Continue Reading

“Denier” Charge from Jerry Taylor: How Low Can He Go?

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 15, 2016 22 Comments Continue Reading

Solar Power: NOT an Infant Industry (Part II)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 20, 2015 2 Comments Continue Reading