T. Boone Picken’s Little Green Deal (remembering a stillborn crony scheme)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 19, 2019 5 Comments

Mr. Pickens’s original vision had something for everyone. First he would build a wind farm in Texas with 2,700 turbines costing upward of $10 billion. That would pump power into the national grid, allowing huge amounts of natural gas to be diverted from power plants to newly equipped cars and trucks. The result, he promised, would be a sharp reduction in the country’s dependence on Middle East crude.”

“‘This to me is like a war without guns,’ says Mr. Pickens….” 

– Neil King, Pickens’s Windmills Tilt Against Market Realities, Wall Street Journal, January 13, 2009.

A decade ago, a rent-seeking, vainglorious Texas oil man named T. Boone Pickens spent tens of millions of dollars to promote what today might be called the Little Green Deal. It was nicely summarized in the Wall Street Journal at the time by Neil King, Pickens’s Windmills Tilt Against Market Realities.

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Ocean Plastic Cleanup: Unintended Consequences (artificial habitat for mahi-mahi and more)

By David Shormann -- February 18, 2019 6 Comments

“Earth stewardship isn’t easy. Sometimes we make the wrong decisions. Sometimes whatever we do has both positive and negative consequences. One wrong decision is The Ocean Cleanup (TOC) project.”

“TOC’s plan … is not manual plastic removal, which allows most creatures to escape. It will instead use purse seines with a minimum mesh size of ⅛ inch (3 mm), capable of trapping microplastics—but also an untold number and variety of sea creatures.”

On a recent boating adventure in the open Pacific, my friends and I came across a section of abandoned fishing net. My first thought was, “Let’s remove it.”

But as I started to pull the net in, I saw a huge mahi-mahi resting in its shade. Also known as dorado or dolphinfish, the mahi-mahi (spooked by my activity) disappeared in a flash.

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Derrick Hollie: Guilty as Charged (Another DeSmogBlog air ball)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 13, 2019 2 Comments

Energy is the lifeblood our society. It doesn’t just fuel our cars and power our homes, but it connects us to one another and makes our lives healthier, safer, and more fulfilling. However, recent policies are leading to rising energy costs – and African Americans are disproportionately hurt. Low income families pay a greater share of their income on utilities in some cases as much as 35%.”

 – Derrick Hollie, Reaching America. Quoted in DeSmogBlog,Derrick Hollie.” (February 2019)

“DeSmogBlog believes that by simply tying a person to fossil fuels makes him or her suspect. That might work with its donors and Green New Deal base, but to most Americans, Derrick Hollie is guilty as charged–and a scholar and Great American to boot.” (below)

DeSmogBlog is a Left-funded website intended to expose proponents of consumer-chosen, taxpayer-neutral, dense, reliable energies.

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“Why We Won’t Quit the Climate Fight” (the growing futility, despair of climate alarmists)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 12, 2019 1 Comment

“We are old climate veterans who have tried to do our part, in every way we know how, to keep our fossil-fuel addicted civilization from driving off a cliff. Are we tired? Sure. Discouraged? Absolutely. Pissed off? Yep. Sad? Call it broken-hearted.”

– Kathleen Dean Moore and SueEllen Campbell, Why We Won’t Quite the Climate Fight, Earth Island Journal, January 28, 2019.

“The admittedly ‘tired … discouraged … pissed off … broken-hearted’ deep ecologists can either live in gloom and despair or check their premises to entertain happiness…. Don’t quit–study. Consider Julian Simon’s The Ultimate Resource 2 for starters. And live joyfully.” (below)

It is a fossil-fuel world for as far as the eye can see. Abundant, affordable, and reliable, mineral energies are the ones that consumers voluntarily purchase.

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Energy & Environmental Newsletter: February 11, 2019

By -- February 11, 2019 2 Comments Continue Reading

Nuclear Power: Joe Romm Goes Free Market (Again)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 6, 2019 4 Comments Continue Reading

Energy, Economic Upheaval to Address “Climate Change” (626-group letter exposes much)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 4, 2019 6 Comments Continue Reading

Profits and Energy (Caveman Economics 101)

By Richard W. Fulmer -- January 31, 2019 No Comments Continue Reading

Marian Tupy: “Celebrate the Industrial Revolution and What Fueled It”

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 30, 2019 2 Comments Continue Reading

Energy & Environmental Newsletter: January 21, 2019

By -- January 21, 2019 3 Comments Continue Reading