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Posts from March 2012

What the “Skeptics” of Climate Catastrophe are Skeptical Of: Nordhaus Reconsidered

By Eric Dennis -- March 16, 2012

The most frustrating thing about being a scientist skeptical of catastrophic global warming is that the other side is continually distorting what I am skeptical of.

In his immodestly titled New York Review of Books article “Why the Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong,” economist William Nordhaus presents six questions that the legitimacy of global warming skepticism allegedly rests on.

  1. Is the planet in fact warming?
  2. Are human influences an important contributor to warming?
  3. Is carbon dioxide a pollutant?
  4. Are we seeing a regime of fear for skeptical climate scientists?
  5. Are the views of mainstream climate scientists driven primarily by the desire for financial gain?
  6. Is it true that more carbon dioxide and additional warming will be beneficial?

Since the answers to these questions are allegedly yes, yes, yes and no, no, no, it’s case closed, says Nordhaus.…

Minerals Boom in Saskatchewan (Expansion, not depletion, from new capital and the ‘ultimate resource’)

By Eric Anderson -- March 15, 2012

“Human beings create more than they destroy.”

– Julian Simon, The Ultimate Resource 2 (Princeton, N.Y.: Princeton University Press, 1996), p. 580.

When the tide comes in, all boats rise.

Saskatchewan’s mining industry has begun a period of unprecedented growth that promises to last for decades.  And while Prince Albert is not at the mouth of the bay, we are in the bay, and our boats are rising as well.  Prince Albert is seeing record building permits issued, but few local items to exactly explain why.

With a current tax incentive and confidence in the future, PotashCorp began a series of expansions seeing $5.8 billion being poured into Saskatchewan.  It is the “mother of all economic stimulus packages,” seeing spending, on a per capita basis, double the American and triple the Canadian governments’ stimulus packages. …

Joint Letter in Opposition to Special Tax Treatment for Natural Gas Vehicles (time for free-market, fuel-neutral energy policy)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 14, 2012

“The federal tax code is already overly complex and needs to be simplified. It would be far better to remove all subsidies, set-asides, and special treatment for all forms of energy than create new complexities through the NAT GAS Act.”

This letter to Congress was sent by American Energy Alliance, Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Freedom Action, The National Center for Public Policy Research, and Sixty Plus Association. It is reproduced here for its educational value in the general debate over special government favor to politically correct energies.

Dear Senator:

We are writing [in regard to] amendment 1782—the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions (NAT GAS) Act.

Members of this coalition have previously written to Congress to oppose both this NAT GAS Act in January of this year and the previous version in May of last year.

Joint Letter Opposing Extending the Production Tax Credits and 1603 Treasury Grant Program (time for free-market, fuel-neutral energy policy)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 13, 2012

Energy Misdirection: Revisiting Obama's U. of Miami Speech

By James Rust -- March 12, 2012

PERC: Free Market Environmentalism in Action

By Reed Watson -- March 9, 2012

Natural Gas Prices Spur Truckmaker Interest (Market, not political, development)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 8, 2012

"Battle of the Bulb" (Peltier finds CFL mercury emissions equal to that of power plants)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 7, 2012

Dear Wind Industry: We Need Your Workers and Materials (and taxpayers need your cessation)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 6, 2012

The Climate Impact of Keystone XL? About 0.0001°C/yr

By Chip Knappenberger -- March 5, 2012