A Free-Market Energy Blog

East Coast Beaches Going, Going …. (W.K. Stevens, NYT in 1995)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 15, 2021

“At the most likely rate of rise, some experts say, most of the beaches on the East Coast of the United States would be gone in 25 years. They are already disappearing at an average of 2 to 3 feet a year.”

“The climate experts on the panel believe their models have become increasingly reliable.”

– William K. Stevens. “Scientists Say Earth’s Warming Could Set Off Wide Disruptions,” New York Times, September 18, 1995), pp. 1, 8.

For Atlantic beachgoers, your destination might not be there anymore. Why? Some climate experts said so back in 1995. William K. Stevens said so back then on page 1 of the then-described newspaper of record.

Stevens was a true believer. Six years later in his The Change in the Weather (p.…

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“U.S. Winter Outlook: Cooler North, Warmer South” (NOAA’s prediction bust)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 11, 2021

“NOAA’s timely and accurate seasonal outlooks and short-term forecasts are the result of improved satellite observations, more detailed computer forecast modeling, and expanding supercomputing capacity,” said Neil Jacobs, Ph.D., acting NOAA administrator. (below)

Cold extremes decrease and warm extremes increase in a warmer world, and cold extremes tend to be more sensitive to global warming than the warm ones.” (emphasis added) Science Bulletin, below

Humility in the face of unknowns is a worthy attribute. And when it comes to the Earth’s climate, in the whole and regionally, a prediction can be worse than no prediction.

Enter climate models, the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and politics. And a very bad result for the South this winter. The lack of weatherization in Texas for traditional power plants, in particular, might well have been influenced by the climate narrative of warmer winters.

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“The Cheaper the Energy the Better” (Julian Simon in 1993 speaks to us today)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 10, 2021

[Editor note: This piece, written by Julian Simon (1932–1998) during debate over the BTU tax, is reproduced for its relevance for today’s push by Biden/Harris against affordable, reliable mineral energies in the name of “conservation” and climate change.

As the fight intensifies about an energy tax in the budget bill, some cool heads ought to reexamine the underlying belief that it is good for us to “conserve energy.” We see that belief in headlines such as “The High Cost of Cheaper Energy,” and Washington Post editorials like “A Totally Free Market Leads to Over-Consumption.”

Conservation Isn’t Necessary or Good

Some people simply believe that it is ipso facto a good thing to use less energy and have less economic growth. As Paul Ehrlich put it, “Giving society cheap abundant energy is .…

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Peak Demand? The Latest Oil Mirage (new Lynch/Sandrea study)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 9, 2021
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Lay/Bush/Perry: Fathers of the Texas ‘Clean-Energy Powerhouse’ (an ERCOT backstory)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 8, 2021
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Numbers and the Great Texas Blackout

By -- March 4, 2021
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PUCT-ERCOT: A Central Planning Government Agency

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 3, 2021
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ERCOT: A Government Agency (‘sovereign immunity’ defense in play)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 2, 2021
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‘Fringe’ or Reasonable? Bastardi on the Firing Line

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 1, 2021
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Progressives vs. Ethanol (criticizing Biden)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 25, 2021
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