Amy Myers Jaffe: Anger at Fossil Fuel Dominance (remembering Jeffrey Sachs too)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 1, 2018 5 Comments

“I have long been noted for ability to call turning points for industry: this suicide is one. Current industry support of EPA will create massive political backlash such as never seen before in US. ‘My early death by fossil fuel reflects what we are doing to ourselves.’ D. Buckel”

The above tweet by Amy Myers Jaffe (@AmyJaffeenergy) on 8:31 am – April 16th should live in infamy.

First, the author claims superior knowledge and prediction, not exactly a talking point for the Malthusians who have long predicted a (premature) end to the fossil-fuel-driven, growing energy sector. Peak oil demand is her new mantra, replacing her old fears of Peak Oil and “geopolitical peak oil.”

Second, Jaffe wildly predicts that the Trump Administration’s consumer-first, taxpayer-first, entrepreneur-first/crony-last energy policy is setting itself up for a massive reversal.…

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Questioning “The Secret Dirty War to Stop Solar Power”

By James Rust -- June 23, 2016 7 Comments

“American taxpayers spent an average of $39 billion a year over the past five years financing grants, subsidizing tax credits, guaranteeing loans, bailing out failed solar energy boondoggles and otherwise underwriting every idea under the sun to make solar energy cheaper and more popular. But none of it has worked.”

In the United States, by mid-2016, the Big Three politically correct renewable energy sources wind power surpassed 75 Gigawatts, solar power surpassed 27 Gigawatts, and biofuels surpassed 16 billion gallons per year (mostly ethanol from corn).

In the article “Obama Legacy Will Be Power Blackouts” June 6, 2016, Professor Larry Bell wrote:

If you have heard some really exciting news that the Obama administration has already doubled the amount of total U.S. energy derived from ‘renewable alternative’ sources (solar, wind and biofuels), that would be true.

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“Oil Prices and the Business Cycle” (Interview with Robert L. Bradley Jr.)

By Robert Murphy -- April 25, 2016 2 Comments

“Falling commodity prices in general are a good thing in a free market because, as economist Ludwig von Mises emphasized, the sole end of production is consumption. Consumption first, production second. Also the US is a net importer of both oil and natural gas, which means we consume more than we produce. So provincially speaking, the US gains more than it loses from well-to-pump or well-to-burner-tip price drops.”

Business consultant Carlos Lara and I produce a monthly financial publication, the Lara-Murphy Report, which highlights the Austrian School of economics in both academia and the financial markets. The January 2016 issue interviewed Rob Bradley of Houston, Texas, who was trained in Austrian-school economics and is a longtime historian of oil markets. This interview is reproduced below.

Robert L. Bradley Jr. is the founder and chief executive officer of the Institute for Energy Research (IER), a 501(c)3 educational foundation with offices in Houston, Texas, and Washington, D.C.

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Jane Mayer on Energy Policy: Some Corrections

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 11, 2016 No Comments

“Price controls cause shortages, and government allocation exacerbates it. This was learned the hard way during the 1970s, particularly with oil, thanks to Republican President Richard Nixon.”

George Melloan’s review of Jane Mayer’s Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right (Wall Street Journal, January 15, 2016) criticized her foray into energy and energy policy:

Ms. Mayer might herself benefit from an economics course. She writes that Richard Nixon imposed economic controls on oil and gas in 1971 to “address the energy crisis.” The Nixon price controls helped to cause the energy crisis.

Intrigued, I bought Dark Money to see exactly what she said.  Here is the passage from Mayer (p. 91) referenced by Melloan:

The fossil fuel industry’s fondest wishes were also fulfilled.

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China Cap-and-Trade: James Hansen on Carbon Cronyism

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- September 29, 2015 8 Comments Continue Reading

Quebec/Ontario Cap-and-Trade: Warnings from James Hansen

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 14, 2015 2 Comments Continue Reading

“Peak Oil Has Arrived:” Paul Krugman on Mineral Scarcity (2010 prediction from Dr. Errant)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- December 22, 2014 4 Comments Continue Reading

Stones Into Bread: False Claims of CO2 Taxation

By Robert Murphy -- October 6, 2014 1 Comment Continue Reading

Milton Friedman Day (some energy quotations on the occasion of his 102nd birthday)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 31, 2014 1 Comment Continue Reading

The Coal Train Steams Forward

By Robert Bryce -- May 6, 2014 3 Comments Continue Reading