This reprint from a collection of essays at Julian Simon.com is published as an ode to Earth Day (tomorrow). This piece was finalized in Simon’s treatise, The Ultimate Resource 2 (1996), pp. 604–607. Simon’s relative politeness to his adversary is a tribute to open, honest, and respectful debate (versus the Paul R. Ehrlich approach).
“When you launch a space shuttle you don’t trot out the flat-earthers to be commentators. They’re outside the bounds of what ought to be discourse in the media. In the field of ecology, Simon is the absolute equivalent of the flat-earthers.” (Paul Ehrlich, quoted below)
For economy of treatment of the matter of attack rhetoric, let’s focus on just one critic, Paul Ehrlich, who has directed a great deal of colorful language in my direction (see also his comments in the Afternote to Chapter 15, and my interchange with him in Simon, 1990, Selection 43).…
Continue Reading“On the 11th anniversary of the BP blowout, the real takeaway is that oil companies that think they are ‘beyond petroleum’ are value destroyers for shareholders and for the environment.”
Every April commemorates BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill (April 10, 2010). To the anti-energy Left, Deepwater Horizon is the epitome of oil-gone-bad, coming some 21 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It was not supposed to happen again, but ….
The sad facts of Deepwater Horizon will forever remain. The multiple failures behind the accident are also well documented. But a paradox remains. Mighty BP, captained by John Browne, the leading “environmentalist” of the petroleum industry created the corporate culture that resulted in lax safety and environmental protocols. By saving about $5 million out of $100+ million in drilling costs, the company ended up paying out in excess of $60 billion.…
Continue Reading“ERCOT asks residents, businesses to conserve electricity over potential lack of generating power … The April surprise served as a reminder to Texans that they’re not clear of the vulnerability that brought the state to a standstill in February.” So read a headline in the Dallas Morning News (April 13, 2021) This event led to the interview, below.
“Texas has reached the limit of our renewable dependence. There certainly should not be any more wind or solar for the grid…. [Renewables] are turning an energy-rich state into an energy-poor state.” (Bradley)
According to a report from America’s Power, through 2018, renewable energy resources — primarily wind and solar — have received subsidies amounting to more than $100 billion. (Fairley)
The Houston Republic—a source of fair reporting for conservative, libertarian, and classical-liberal views— recently published a piece in which I was featured.…
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