A Free-Market Energy Blog

Petrostatism vs. Oil Exceptionalism: Venezuela and Beyond

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 29, 2026

“The key to sustainable resource development is private property rights to the subsoil, not monopoly government deciding what public projects to undertake. The history of government and petroleum is clear on this.”

In a Council on Foreign Relations study, “Venezuela: The Rise and Fall of a Petrostate” (2024), authors Diana Roy and Amelia Cheatham wrote:

Venezuela’s ongoing descent into economic and political chaos is a cautionary tale of the dangerous influence that resource wealth can have on developing countries.

Calling Guillermo Yeatts and his case for privatizing the subsoil for mass wealth creation and democratization! But the authors work within the socialist, nationalist paradigm. Their Summary follows (verbatim):

  • Venezuela is an example of a petrostate, where the government is highly dependent on fossil fuel income, power is concentrated, and corruption is widespread. 
Continue Reading

Cheap Renewables? Reuters Recycles the Myth

By -- July 28, 2026

Editor: Reuters’ warning that ending wind and solar subsidies will raise electricity prices is the latest version of a familiar argument. Lisa Linowes (WindAction) challenged this argument when it was used to defend the Production Tax Credit in 2012 (Wind Energy Without the PTC) and in 2014 (AWEA Spins Price Distortions to Save PTC). More than a decade later, Reuters is again defending the undefendable. 

“Wind and solar developers naturally want the public to equate nameplate megawatts with reliable supply, subsidized bids with total costs, and rapid deployment with technical necessity. They are selling projects. Reuters should be doing something different. The press should test industry claims, not launder them into economic commonsense.”

Once again, a major media outlet is laundering the renewable-energy industry’s sales pitch through the authority of its news brand.…

Continue Reading

Vehicle Freedom from Big Climate Brother (Presidential Memo to the EPA)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 27, 2026

“To further ensure vehicle affordability, it is the policy of my Administration that consumers should be able to fix their vehicles with affordable parts without being deemed to have circumvented emissions controls.”

You can fix your vehicle and not be presumed guilty until proven innocent. As simple as that sounds in a free society, a politicized U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has done the opposite–and might change course soon by instruction from President Trump,

As summarized in this White House Press Release:

Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum expanding Americans’ freedom to fix their own vehicles.

  • The Memorandum directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue guidance clarifying what actions individuals may take to fix their own vehicles’ emissions systems, consistent with the Clean Air Act. 
Continue Reading

Global LNG vs the European Union

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 23, 2026
Continue Reading

E15 Misdirection (WSJ letter from farm-state US senators)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 22, 2026
Continue Reading

Global Air Conditioning: Adaptation in Action (warming alarmists getting their due)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 21, 2026
Continue Reading

Energy & Environmental Review: July 20, 2026

By -- July 20, 2026
Continue Reading

Reining in U.S. EPA Abuse: A Legislative Opportunity

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 17, 2026
Continue Reading

False Optimism, Broken Promises of Wind and Solar Advocates

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 16, 2026
Continue Reading

Climate Retreat Documented in the New York Times

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 15, 2026
Continue Reading