A Free-Market Energy Blog

Waste? Speak for Yourself (energy appliance mandates anti-consumer, pro-bureaucrat)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 11, 2020

“Consumers decide what is prudent with their appliance purchases, not Washington, DC energy planners.”

The energy-efficiency nannies start with smiles and studies about how consumers fail in their purchase and usage decisions–and end by mandating a lower standard of living for the rest of us.

No, we do not want low-volume showers; we want choice between low-volume and high-volume options. We do not want electric heaters rather than gas heaters–we want the option between both with choices on up-front costs versus back-end efficiencies. We also do not want low-flush toilets. We want what we want without experts-qua-planners involved.

Enter the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), which describes itself as

a catalyst to advance energy efficiency politics, programs, technologies, investments, and behaviors. We aim to build a vibrant and equitable economy – one that uses energy more productively, reduces costs, protects the environment, and promotes the health, safety, and well-being of everyone.

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Steel! Meet the Metallurgical Coal Producers Association

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 10, 2020

“The four producing members who started this effort have all shifted their operations away from the production of thermal coal, which is used to generate electricity, and more toward metallurgical coal, which is used to make steel….”

The utility of coal goes beyond generating electricity. The high temperatures need for producing steel, in particular, come from blast furnaces fueled by coked coal. Coking coal, or super coal, comes from a process where regular coal subject to high temperatures in a declining atmosphere becomes a plastic before resolidifying.

Enter a new trade association, the The Metallurgical Coal Producers Association (formerly the Virginia Coal & Energy Alliance), self-described as

a non-profit organization made up of metallurgical coal producers and those who support our producing members’ operations. Our emphasis is on metallurgical coal, the issues related to it, and the opportunities metallurgical coal brings to our region. 

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Wrong on Solar: Reason’s Bailey Flubs Energy 101

By -- November 9, 2020

Fiction: “All signs are that cheap solar power is coming and that’s really good news”. — Ronald Bailey, Reason.

Fact: “California’s rollout of solar baseload power, advertised as cheap and otherwise worthy, failed despite a raft of government subsidies. Think rolling blackouts, time-of-use price spikes, and dropped green-related powerline fire disasters.” (below)

Fact: “Like running out of oil, solar predictions are perennial and wrong.” (below)

Ronald Bailey, a libertarian science writer at Reason Magazine online, has for years claimed that “unlimited free solar power” is the wave of the future.  Thus, it comes as no surprise that he has recently posed the question “Is King Solar Now the Cheapest Electricity Source Ever?”  His conclusion is yes, and “that’s really good news”.

To energy experts, this is new news.…

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A Free Market Energy Vision

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 4, 2020
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‘The Libertarian Case for Donald Trump’ (vs. Left libertarians with TDS)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 2, 2020
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Biden/Harris: The October Non-suprise (oil & gas on the ballot)

By Sterling Burnett -- October 30, 2020
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Authoritarian Andrew Dessler:”What the next president should say” (2008 for 2020)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 29, 2020
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Greens vs. Green Party: Politics Trump Principle

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 28, 2020
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Green Party Bucks Biden (but ignored by MSM)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 27, 2020
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Wind PTC: Enough!

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 26, 2020
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