“But upon closer scrutiny, Epstein’s characterizations are often straw men; his own assertions are strikingly misleading or demonstrably wrong; and his evidence is typically weak and selective or completely beside the point.”

– Jody Freeman, “A Critical Look at The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels.” 36 Energy L.J. 327 (2015).

“This response gives a proof that Freeman’s portrayal of MCFF’s method and content is a straw man, and summarizes the actual arguments of the book. It does so primarily through repeated, side-by-side comparisons of unaltered passages by Freeman purporting to describe MCFF’s viewpoint and unaltered passages from MCFF clearly stating its actual viewpoint.”

– Alex Epstein. “A Straw Man Attack on The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels” (38 Energy L.J. 79 (2017), p. 79.

It is happening for all to see in the prestigious Energy Law Journal.…

“Wind and (on-grid) solar installations built in the wrong places or with not-yet-ready technology can actually increase emissions by raising prices and pushing poor Chinese consumers to save money burning coal at home. The funding of showcase wind and solar projects could be invested to modernize coal-fired power plants generating the lion’s share badly-needed heat and electricity.”

“Foreign Correspondents as They Live and Breathe,” (New York Times, March 30, 2017) reports on the still deadly air pollution in China:

Ian Johnson, a China correspondent, took out his phone to check Air Matters, an app that measures air quality based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index, which scores the air from 0 to 500. Over 300 and the air is “hazardous.”

The NYT post also says Trump Administration actions on coal power CO2 emissions will hurt efforts to reduce pollution worldwide:

Now efforts to dial back air pollution worldwide are likely to take a hit: On Tuesday, less than a week after rolling back fuel-economy standards for the auto industry, President Trump announced an executive order reversing the rest of the Obama administration’s climate plan.

“Praise goes to Donald Trump. He waited, listened, and decided. American First. Consumers First. Taxpayers First. Global climate and energy planners and an intellectual elite last.”

The good news is that the Paris climate agreement, weak and aspirational to begin with, will increasingly go the way of the Kyoto Protocol. President Trump did a big favor for the US and the world by pulling out.

Progressives, weep not. Remember what the father of the climate alarm, James Hansen, said about the heralded 2015 agreement:

“[The Paris agreement] is a fraud really, a fake. It’s just bullshit for them to say: ‘We’ll have a 2C warming target and then try to do a little better every five years.’ It’s just worthless words. There is no action, just promises. As long as fossil fuels appear to be the cheapest fuels out there, they will be continued to be burned.”

“When The Washington Post reported earlier this month that President Trump appointed Daniel Simmons to run the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the paper called him a ‘conservative scholar.’ Conservative scholar? ‘Fossil fuel industry propagandist’ would have been more accurate.”

– Elliott Negin (Senior Writer, Union of Concerned Scientists). “Can Trump’s Koch-Funded Appointees STall Clean Energy Momentum?” May 19, 2017.