“When government tries to pick losers and winners, it typically picks losers. Why? Because in a free market, consumers pick winners to leave the losers for government.”
– R. Bradley, Electric Car Verdict: Another Government-Subsidized Bust, September 26, 2012.
In Edison to Enron: Energy Markets and Political Strategies, I discussed some history regarding electric vehicles that has become pertinent given the bankruptcy this week of battery-maker A123 Systems.
The Wall Street Journal reported on this failure with the pull quote: “Obama’s green energy industrial policy turns up in Chapter 11.” Energy physicist Mark Mills wrote in Forbes: “A123 Bites the Dust Because They Forgot Their ABCs.”
Here is some history behind the rise, fall, fall, and fall of electric vehicles from Edison to Enron. Previously at MasterResource, the conversation between Thomas Edison and a young Henry Ford in 1896 was recounted.…
“The climate of many countries seems to be one of the great reasons why idleness, dishonesty, immorality, stupidity, and weakness of will prevail. If we can conquer climate, the whole world will become stronger and nobler.”
– Ellsworth Huntington, Civilization and Climate (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1915), p. 294.
“Emphasis on extreme scenarios may have been appropriate at one time, when the public and decision-makers were relatively unaware of the global warming issue…. Now, however, the need is for demonstrably objective climate forcing scenarios consistent with what is realistic under current conditions.”
– James Hansen, “Can We Defuse the Global Warming Time Bomb?” June 12, 2003.
Thank you Dr. James Hansen, for outing some climate exaggeration of the past. But pardon us for not seeing what you seem to only see–a compelling, growing case for climate alarm and policy activism.…
The last quarterly update began: “In the current energy debate, the diligent amateurs are often the real pros, and too many ‘pros’ are amateurish.” This one ends: “Energy realities are worth explaining and championing in a political world.”
Here, here–and hear, hear.
MasterResource continues to be a movement-wide voice of free-market scholarship on energy and energy-related environmental issues. Some 150 different authors have been featured at our site since its inception in late 2008. Total views are nearing 1.5 million, with many visits by those searching on a topic relevant to past posts.
MasterResource is a top 25 “green blog,” according to Technorati. It has been in the top ten in the last week and yesterday was #16 of more than 9,100 sites.
With 457 categories, MasterResource is a research tool, not only a timely contribution to energy scholarship and current political debates.…