AWED Energy & Environmental Newsletter: February 10, 2014

By -- February 10, 2014 No Comments

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy & environmental policies. Our basic position is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science. It’s all spelled out at WiseEnergy.org, which is a wealth of energy and environmental resources.

A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every 3 weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and environmental matters. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.

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Greed Energy Economics:

London School of Economics: Property Values do Decline

23 Texas wind project lessors sue over noise, nuisance and property value

Noise, property values factor in wind forum discussion

Renewable Energy Goals Must Be Balanced with Economic Realities

CAP counts ‘indirect jobs’ in green energy, ignores them for oil and gas

Germany to charge renewable energy facilities for their own use of electricity

Germany’s energy revolution on verge of collapse

Europe Starts To Run, Not Walk, Away From Green Economics

DOE: Making it easier to use taxpayer funds

Governor LePage is right – wind farm subsidies are poor use of government funding

High Renewable Energy Costs Damage Vermont’s Economy

Some wind projects double-dipping on US tax benefits

Be Leery of Investing in Failing Green Solutions

Duke Energy to seek reduction in payments to NC homes with solar panels

Solar Panel Degradation

Another solar manufacturer goes under

Loss Of Production Tax Credits Brings Big Wind Chill

Fighting wind PTC expiration with Senator Wyden

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“The Triumph of Capitalism” (Socialism is Intellectually Dead, but Central Planning in the Mixed Economy Lives On)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 7, 2014 3 Comments

“Less than 75 years after it officially began, the contest between capitalism and socialism is over: capitalism has won… Capitalism organizes the material affairs of humankind more satisfactorily than socialism.”

– Robert Heilbroner, “The Triumph of Capitalism,” The New Yorker, January 23, 1989, p. 98.

A major event in the history of political economy thought occurred in 1989 when socialist economics writer Robert Heilbroner (1919–2005) renounced his belief in central planning in the pages of the New Yorker. For anti-market liberals, this made it official: socialism was out of the mainstream. Socialism could not plan a modern economy and was an open sesame for totalitarianism. Hayek said as much in his 1944 classic, The Road to Serfdom. A trusted voice on the Left confirmed it 45 years later.

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Flat Temperatures, Still More Ills

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 5, 2014 6 Comments

“When the history of the global warming scare comes to be written, a chapter should be devoted to the way the message had to be altered to keep the show on the road. Global warming became climate change so as to be able to take the blame for cold spells and wet seasons as well as hot days. Then, to keep its options open, the movement began to talk about ‘extreme weather’.”

– Matt Ridley, “Nobody Even Calls the Weather Average,” July 9, 2013.

Last summer, global warming was blamed for firefighter deaths, more thunderstorms, and poor lobster catches.

Last fall and so far this winter, the list has grown to include:

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Federal Oil Lands Lockdown: Disingenuous Obama at Work

By -- January 24, 2014 4 Comments

“The President has bragged that ‘we produce more oil at home than we have in 15 years.’ Indeed domestic production rose from 5.6 to 6.4 million daily barrels in 2012 from the year before (12.5%). However, production from federal onshore and offshore areas has fallen significantly under his watch – and 96% of the above production increase was on state and private lands.”

President Obama insists he is determined to create jobs in America. He recently announced the creation of “promise zones” for five communities around the nation and a “manufacturing institute” aimed at fostering more high-paying jobs in energy efficiency.

He’s also said he has “a pen and a phone” to “sign executive orders and take executive actions that move the ball,” where Congress has failed to implement policies he believes are needed.

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The Ethanol Mandate: Don’t Tweak, Abolish (a costly fuel without a public purpose)

By James M. Griffin -- January 23, 2014 2 Comments Continue Reading

Richard Kerr (Science) in 2009: Warming ‘Pause’ About to Be Replaced by ‘Jolt’

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 14, 2014 13 Comments Continue Reading

Energy Blessings: Bring On a Freer, More Prosperous 2014

By Mark Green -- January 2, 2014 2 Comments Continue Reading

AWED Energy & Environmental Newsletter: December 30, 2013

By -- December 30, 2013 3 Comments Continue Reading

MasterResource Turns Five

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- December 26, 2013 6 Comments Continue Reading

Micro-Hydro: The Regulatory Noose (Logan City vs. FERC)

By Megan Hansen and Ryan Yonk -- December 20, 2013 No Comments Continue Reading