Protecting the environment has become a key consideration in almost all that we do; for it is put forth as a self-evident fact that being good to the Earth is the only way to ensure that our children and grandchildren will inherit a world that provides equal or greater opportunities and resources than that in which we now live. But who decides what is right and what is wrong in this regard? For a sizable segment of earth’s population, such answers are found in the Bible.
Comprised of writings dating back thousands of years, this sacred book serves as an ethical compass for people of numerous faiths. It records historical events that reach back to the world’s beginnings, and contains prophetic writings that foretell the world’s future. But does the Bible cast any light on society’s stewardship role with respect to the environment and the other forms of life with which we share the planet?…
Continue Reading“The two greatest enemies of free enterprise in the United States … have been, on the one hand, my fellow intellectuals and, on the other hand, the business corporations of this country.”
– Milton Friedman, “Which Way for Capitalism?” Reason, May 1977, p. 21.
Power markets are badly distorted by government intervention. Ratepayer welfare and economic efficiency are routinely sacrificed. Protected companies under public-utility regulation have a me-first ratebase mentality. The worst often get on top, with the real entrepreneurs elsewhere.
In place of more competition, innovation, and growing volumes, political incentives are deciding the what-when-where-how much questions of electricity generation, transmission, and sales. Political pressures in the name of the environment (“saving the planet,” etc.) are now guiding state-regulated utilities to meet state and federal regulation.
The coming of efficiency and climate policies have given the monopolists new territory, particularly as the commodity side of their business has been taken away (such as in Texas).…
Continue Reading“[T]hough the oil-market crash has put the nation’s energy boom on hold, some oil-technology companies are pursuing what they say will be a second American shale revolution … That belief lies partially in re-fracking — giving oil shale deposits a second blast of water, chemicals and sand — to get more oil out of depleted or underperforming wells. The process could be up to two-thirds cheaper than drilling a new well….”
– Collin Eaton, “Oil Firms Promise New Life for Shale,” Houston Chronicle, August 16, 2015.
The fossil-fuel era is new–and in all likelihood still young. In fact, compared to renewables, natural gas, coal and oil are the real ‘infant industries.’ Remember, for most of the last thousand years, and all of the time earlier, renewable energy (primitive biomass, falling water, wind, solar) held a virtual 100 percent market share; carbon-based energies have dominated only since the onset of the Industrial Revolution.…
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