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Clean Energy, Energy Conservation, ‘Planetary Destiny’: Richard Nixon 1972

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 8, 2021

“… to a significant extent man commands as well the very destiny of this planet where he lives, and the destiny of all life upon it.”

“In order to have both environmental quality and an improving standard of living, we will need to develop new clean energy sources and to learn to use energy more efficiently.”

– President Richard Nixon (February 8, 1972)

Government grows with emergencies, real or imagined. There have been wartime emergencies, such as World War II. And there have been Malthusian ’emergencies’–as in resource exhaustion in the 1970s and climate change today.

Forty-nine years ago today, amid a natural gas shortage (from long-standing price controls), and with tightening oil markets (from his price controls), President Nixon gave a “Special Message to Congress Outlining the 1972 Environmental Program.”…

Judith Curry Interview (Part II: Public Policy)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 4, 2021

“People are looking for simple problems with simple solutions, and they thought that climate change was a simple problem.”

“Thinking that we can control the climate is misguided hubris.”

– Judith Curry (below)

Part I yesterday shared climatologist Judith Curry’s most recent thoughts about the politicization of climate science, climate models (and regional applications from the same), and climate sensitivity. Today’s concluding post shares her thoughts on related public policy issues.

The excerpts below come from her recent interview with Christopher Balkaran at his Strong and Free Podcast.

Public Policy & Energy Reality

“… people are looking for simple problems with simple solutions, and they thought that climate change was a simple problem, sort of like the ozone hole. Stop emitting chloroflourocarbons – stop the ozone hole; stop emitting CO2 – stop the global warming.”…

Judith Curry Interview (Part I: Climate Science)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 3, 2021

“There’s a range of credible perspectives that I try to consider. It’s a very complex problem, and we don’t have the answers yet.”

“And now we have way too much confidence in some very dubious climate models and inadequate data sets. And we’re not really framing the problem broadly enough to … make credible projections about the range of things that we could possibly see in the 21st century.”

– Judith Curry, below

“One plus the truth equals a majority,” the saying goes. This certainly applies to Judith Curry, a distinguished academic and professional climate scientist now retired from Georgia Tech. (For previous posts at MasterResource on Dr. Curry, see here.)

The latest from this rare straight shooter comes from a taped interview with Christopher Balkaran at his Strong and Free Podcast, where, in his words, “my goal is to showcase multiple perspectives on the topics and ideas of our time, regardless of your politics and views.”…

Judith Curry as ‘Climate Heretic’ (Remembering the debate in 2010)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 2, 2021

Climate Alarmism Reconsidered (2003 insight for Biden’s ‘climate day’)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 28, 2021

Back to Gerald Ford? (Thomas Friedman on energy policy in 2007)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 26, 2021

Market Failure and the Rule of Capture

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 25, 2021

Andrew Dessler Latest Tweets (inside the mind of an angry climate alarmist)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 24, 2021

Wind Power’s PTC: Chapter 14 (13th extension)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 21, 2021

Trump Administration Accomplishments (Part II: ‘Massive Deregulation’)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 20, 2021