A Free-Market Energy Blog

Dessler on Koonin: Cancel Culture at Work

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 17, 2022

[Andrew] Dessler said anyone arguing that the science is too uncertain isn’t arguing from a legitimate position…. “[Koonin]’s a climate flat earther.” (Quoted in Benjamin Thorp, October 18, 2021).

“Dumb arguments” is too harsh? He’s just a old white dude whose vast experience in the halls of power gives him a unique ability to point out the errors that other people make? Nope. (Andrew Dessler, October 14, 2021)

Andrew Dessler, a climatologist at Texas A&M University, will have nothing to do with any critic of climate alarm. This activist has pure scorn toward his intellectual and scientific doubters. “Angry Andy” is certain that climate science is settled and drop-everything alarming.

A deep ecologist (nature is optimal and fragile; human interference cannot be good), Dessler has long concluded that we are headed for (or already in) a climate dystopia.…

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Coal Is Back (webcast today makes its energy, policy case)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 16, 2022

“… the undisputed benefits of increased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere because of its photosynthetic and growth effects (fertilization) on plants need to be considered in energy policy decisions as well.” (- Lars Schernikau and William Smith, below)

Today, a webcast Q&A — Climate Impacts of Fossil Fuels in Today’s Energy Systems — is being hosted by the American Coal Council (registration here).

“With increasing global energy demand projected over the mid to longer term,” ACC states, “the practical realities of energy supply include the continuing role of fossil fuels in global primary energy and for electricity generation.”

Coal is definitely in the mix, as today’s record production and usage confirms.

The webinar concern a new paper, “Climate Impacts of Fossil Fuels in Today’s Energy Systems,” by energy economist Lars Schernikau and climatologist William Smith.…

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“‘Fuel of the Year’ Syndrome:” Methanol in California Revisited

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 15, 2022

“Yet the methanol initiative is now largely forgotten. And of course, there’s always the problem that EPA regulations do not allow it to be used in automobiles. With natural-gas surpluses now at the point where a national oversupply is being predicted for 2017, however, it may be time to go back and give the California experience a second look.” (Arctic Leaf, 2013, below)

“The Alternative Motor Fuel Act, signed into law by President Reagan in 1988 … provided a waiver of EPA regulations to allow methanol to be used in cars. A year later, President George H.W. Bush became an enthusiast, promising to put 500,000 methanol cars on the road by 1996 and a million by 1998.

The history of energy technology and policy is important for today’s debates. Again and again, historical research uncovers examples of government-engineered energy choices that start with great expectations and end up in failure.…

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Energy and Environmental Review: February 14, 2022

By -- February 14, 2022
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Gas Stove Alarmism Fails

By -- February 11, 2022
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“As Anti-Wind Zoning Ordinances Spread Across Michigan” (grass-root environmentalists vs. energy sprawl)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 10, 2022
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No to New Nuclear: January 25, 2022, Statement

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 9, 2022
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National Audubon Society Sues Bay Area Wind Turbines (Altamont Pass–a 40-year problem)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 8, 2022
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Boris Went Alarmist, but Thatcher went Skeptic (and she was right)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 7, 2022
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Natural Gas Pipeline Politicization: FERC vs. Consumers in NYS/CT

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 3, 2022
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