“Speculative incremental harm from a multi-decade global phenomenon has a classical liberal option: civil society charity. Uber-wealthy climate-related foundations can evaluate the harms to poor island villagers from sea level rise (as an example). But keep politicized science, global judicial activism, and backdoor Big Brother out of it.”

By 2004, after Jonathan Adler reversed positions to endorse climate policy activism, the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) published a dialogue where Professor Adler defended his tort approach to address anthropogenic climate change with several classical liberals. Excerpts from “Global Warming: A Dialogue” follow.

This discussion is an edited version of comments made in December 2004 on the Free Market Environmentalism (FME) Roundtable list-serve. Jonathan Adler prodded his colleagues to forget, for just a minute, the debate over the impacts of warmer temperatures or whether humans are contributing or not.…

“No insurance policy is worthwhile if the cost of the premiums exceeds the protection purchased. For greenhouse insurance to be worthwhile, it must either reduce the risks of anthropogenic climate change or reduce the costs of emission reductions designed to achieve the same goal, without imposing off-setting risks, such as those which would result from policies that slow economic growth and technological advance.”

“A true ‘no regrets’ approach to climate change is not greater government controls on economic activity, but fewer. Economic growth, market institutions, and technological advance are often the most effective forms of insurance that a civilization can have.”

– Jonathan Adler (et al.), “Greenhouse Policy without Regrets: A Free Market Approach to the Uncertain Risk of Climate Change,” Competitive Enterprise Institute, July 14, 2000.

Bingo! The Jonathan Adler of the Competitive Enterprise Institute circa 2000 made a case against governmental climate policy activism that is timeless and more true today than 23 years ago.…

Ed. Note: This post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, a free fortnighly published by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete Newsletter for this post can be found here.

Greed Energy Economics:
*** Wind industry confirms Great Green Lie
*** Collapse of projects shows again that wind power is not affordable
Profit At China’s Top Wind Firm Slumps 98%
Wind Unaffordable, Costs Common Sense

Unreliables (General):
*** Report: Green Energy and Economic Fabulist
*** Green Dreams Going Up in Smoke
*** Unplug the Green Boondoggle

Wind Energy — Offshore:
*** Beware the offshore wind oligarchy
*** Developer walks away from New Jersey offshore wind farms
Offshore wind farm proposal is ‘absolute madness’

Wind Energy — Other:
*** Taking the Wind Out of Climate Change (referencing 60± studies)
*** The Wind is Always Blowing Somewhere Fallacy
*** The case for wind power was built upon a myth

Nuclear Energy:
*** Clean energy breakthrough: eVinci nuclear microreactor from Westinghouse receives DOE contract
*** Nuclear Power Gains Momentum as Global Energy Concerns Resurface Amidst Geopolitical Tensions
The miraculous technology that could solve our energy problems and works now

Fossil Fuel Energy:
*** Five years later, evidence of fracking’s safety is stronger than ever
Anti-oil, but Definitely Pro-Products from Oil
Why ‘dirty’ coal is vital to a ‘clean’ green future
China continues to build large numbers of coal plants
What if we went back to a fossil-free society like the 1800’s?…

Nixing the Mandates in Kansas: Representative Carrie Barth (R-Dist 5) and former House Energy and Environment Chair, Dennis Hedke, reach astounding consensus on Energy Resolution: 180 to 1. There will be no energy “victims” in this state.

I don’t believe I am the typical politician. I don’t care about a political career or political threats. I care about doing the right thing. I care about people. Period! (- Rep Carrie Barth in an email, October 9 2023)

Carrie Barth (R-Kansas, District 5) and Dennis Hedke, unapologetic supporter of the U.S. Constitution, acclaimed author of The Audacity of Freedom (2011), geophysicist, and former member Kansas House of Representatives (former Chair of the House Energy Committee), have drafted a clean and accurate Resolution for the Republican Party. This passed with overwhelming support. It appears to acknowledge that wind is not a good corporate citizen.…