A Free-Market Energy Blog

Politicized History, Bad History

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 29, 2021

“You’re not getting a tote bag, and our advocacy work might not seem to benefit you directly. But no other history organization does advocacy work on the scale and scope of the AHA [American Historical Association].”

There is little hidden agenda today. Academia, and the professions within it, are all-go for Left Progressivism to remake the world (“the great reset”) in an egalitarian, government-first way.

To whatever extent there was or is true scholarship–examining both sides of complicated issues, whether it is the 1609 Project or Global Warming–that is now fringe.

My Experience

I was fortunate at Rollins College, a liberal arts school in central Florida, back in the mid-1970s. My history professors were Progressive, but one in particular was fair and open-minded. I remember him calling on me to correct or supplement his discussion of the Great Depression and the New Deal, for example.…

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‘Ecocide’: The Climate Church Wants to Imprison Nonbelievers

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 28, 2021

“At the close of World War II, when Soviet and Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Dachau…. a new word—genocide—was needed to describe it…. Another crime of similar magnitude is now at large in the world…. That crime is called ecocide.” (Inside Climate News)

“… climate authoritarianism is a dangerous fringe movement that must be exposed for its means and ends. Climate policy, not physical climate change, is the real risk and threat for better human living now and into the deep future.” (Author: below)

The Climate Church of deep ecology has its hell-on-earth for nonbelievers–prison, and by insinuation, death sentencing. The crime is ecocide.

Enter Inside Climate News, a far-left climate website that features “the campaign to make ‘ecocide’ an international crime.”…

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The Institute for Energy Research: Formation and Early History

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 24, 2021

Ed. note: This two-part series addresses repeated media errors about the role of Charles Koch in the formation of the Institute for Energy Research (IER) in 1989. Part I yesterday covered the history of the Institute for Humane Studies–Texas, the forerunner to IER. Part II below reviews the formation and early history of IER, then based in Houston, Texas.

Q1. Roger Donway: First, briefly summarize the major point of Part I yesterday on the founding of the Institute for Humane Studies–Texas (IHS–Texas), the predecessor to the Institute for Energy Research (IER).

A1. Robert Bradley Jr.: IHS–Texas was a classical liberal organization focused on education, with Greg Rehmke focused on high school debate and the both of us on summer seminars for business people. Energy was part of it to the extent that I lectured, given my specialization, on oil and gas history and related public policy.

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IHS-Texas: Forerunner to IER (for the record)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 23, 2021
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Population Bombed! (revisiting a modern classic)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 22, 2021
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Looters, Moochers, Parasites: ‘Green’ Energy (Remembering Ayn Rand)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 21, 2021
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Energy Books: Some Observations

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 17, 2021
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Renewables, renewables … a Texas-sized Truth Creeping In

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 16, 2021
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Texas Legislature Ignores Renewables in Grid Reform: More Problems Ahead (Peacock Interview)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 15, 2021
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Wind Turbines and Birds: Latest from the American Bird Conservancy

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 14, 2021
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