A Free-Market Energy Blog

Mexico & Energy: Socialism for the Elite, Poverty for the Masses

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 20, 2021

“Following prior attempts to preclude private investor participation in the energy sector through Congressional legislation … President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, submitted to the Mexican Congress a Bill to … undo the Constitutional changes that opened the market for private investment and intend to limit/preclude private sector participation.” (Foley & Lardner, below)

“There is a general economic maxim: public (government) resources are really private, owned and exploited by a political elite, while private resources are really public, owned and managed by a multitude. Government-owned resources do not ‘belong to all of the people’ and allow ‘self determination;’ they belong to none or a very few.” (RLB, below)

The independence of Texas from Mexico after the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836 inaugurated the era of private property rights to the subsoil.…

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“The Color of Oil” (Michael Economides remembered)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 19, 2021

“Using moralistic yet blatantly dishonest slogans and pseudo-science, the environmental movement has digressed dangerously…. One of the most fundamental truths rarely surfaces among the movement: there is no credible alternative to hydrocarbons in both the near and far foreseeable futures.” (Michael Economides, below)

He was irascible in person but a rare energy realist in thought and action. Michael Economides (1949–2013) was many things, including leading oil consultant and Lecturer in Petroleum Engineering at the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston. [1]

With Ronald Oligney, he authored an important book, The Color of Oil: The History, the Money and the Politics of the World’s Biggest Business (2000). Some quotations follow:

“… energy is the world’s biggest business, and it continues to move unstoppably forward.” (p. 17)

“We predict that the world will not run out of oil for the next three centuries, at least.”

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Energy and Environmental Review: October 18, 2021

By -- October 18, 2021

This fortnightly Master Resource post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, published every other week by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete MBN for this post can be found here.

Of special interest in this issue is Jim Clarkson’s essay on the future role of natural gas.

Renewable Energy Health and Ecosystem Consequences:
A Closer Look at Renewable-Energy Disposal
More endangered right whales using New England wind energy areas
Turbines aren’t running at night, to save bats. Should customers pay for that?

Wind Energy:
China’s Stunning Green Energy Collapse Should Come As No Surprise
Dr. Ausubel: Wind may be renewable, but it is not green
Filmmaker annoys climate freaks by telling the truth about wind energy
Biden administration plans for massive expansion of offshore wind projects

Solar Energy:
How Virginia farmers say solar project is destroying their land
NY DEC Releases New Regulations for PFOA, PFOS, and 1,4-Dioxane in State Waters

Nuclear Energy:
Nuclear Energy Could Bridge The Energy Transition Gap
Macron pushes nuclear, hydrogen power in €30 billion plan to reverse industrial decline
Dominion asks for VA’s approval of plans to extend life of nuclear plants beyond 2050

Fossil Fuel Energy:
Left-Wing Groups Plan ‘Civil Disobedience’ to Ban ‘Fossil Fuels’
Natural Gas WILL Play A Big Part in America’s Energy Future!

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CO2 Coalition: Time for Support (Heartland Institute too)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 14, 2021
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Kemper Coal Gasification & Storage Plant Imploded (Obama’s climate ‘centerpiece’ bites the dust)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 13, 2021
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“Global Stilling” from Global Warming (latest EU/UK energy excuse)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 12, 2021
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Lone CC&S Coal Project Closed (NRG rate base boondoggle)

By Robert Bradley Jr. --
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Ode for a Holiday: Energy for All

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 11, 2021
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More ‘Cancel Culture’ from Texas A&M Climatologists (Gunnar Schade joins Andrew Dessler)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 7, 2021
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Paul Bryan on Steven Koonin: Cancel Culture at Work

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 6, 2021
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