“In terms of sunk cost and opportunity cost, Trump is the one for liberty. Job #1, after all, is to defeat Biden/Harris or Harris/Biden.” (Bradley, below)

“But these are extraordinary times, and perhaps ‘all things considered, the other guy’s worse’ is a profound compliment. That’s why this libertarian is voting for Donald J. Trump, and recommending that my fellow opponents of the welfare-warfare state do the same.” (D. Dowd Muska, below)

It is fair to say that Donald Trump has upended politics and the Republican Party in the last five years or more. But he has also fractured the libertarian movement too, with some turning into Never Trumpers, even Trump Haters, namely David Boaz, gatekeeper at Cato, and Tom Palmer of Atlas Network.

In contrast, I appreciate the many openings Trump has provided to free-market groups coast-to-coast, border-to-border.…

“The U.S. is now world leader in both natural gas and oil production, and for the first time in nearly sixty years, we can claim net energy exporter status. This is energy dominance realized.” – AEA Endorsement

“The American Energy Alliance’s endorsement of President Trump’s re-election is a testament to the Trump Administration’s historic actions to secure more prosperity for American families and businesses through pro-energy policy reforms.” (Trump/Pence Re-election Campaign)

Never has a U.S. President encountered such intellectual disdain and political bias toward consumer-chosen, taxpayer-neutral natural gas, oil, and coal–the mineral energies required by modern life. And never has a U.S. President pushed back in both rhetoric and action.

That president is Donald Trump, who easily goes down as the most free-market-oriented leader in energy history, easily beating out Ronald Reagan in his two terms.…

“It is in the national interest to promote clean and safe development of our Nation’s vast energy resources, while at the same time avoiding regulatory burdens that unnecessarily encumber energy production, constrain economic growth, and prevent job creation.”

– President Trump, Executive Order (March 28, 2017)

Do you miss the prior Administration’s record on energy and climate–and push-back against environmental excesses otherwise?

With the Biden Administration scrambling to hoist an anti-consumer energy/climate agenda on Americans on short notice, it is important to keep the opportunity cost of free markets and America-first in mind.

Four years ago, President Trump signed into law one of the most libertarian, free-market executive orders in energy history, easily rivaling that of President Reagan’s oil price and allocation decontrol executive order of early 1981. Titled Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth, Executive Order 13783 began with this paragraph:

Section 1.

“Instead of 2-for-1, we eliminated 8 old regulations for every 1 new regulation adopted.”

Yesterday, MasterResource highlighted the energy- and climate-related actions summarized by the Trump Administration itself. Today, we reproduce their highlights regarding deregulation in general.

Make no mistake: there were increasing regulation and restrictions in some areas to counter the deregulation in others, energy included. Note the bullet near the bottom of the list below:

• Placed a moratorium on offshore drilling off the coasts of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida.

That was to help win some swing states. Same for ethanol subsidies for the Midwest. Politics is politics; you can’t win them all.

What sank Trump–and Trump policies–was the Pandemic itself, not his interventionist policies as argued here. The Pandemic, in Crisis & Leviathan style, reversed the economic boom and led to panicked policy at different levels of government.…