“To demonstrate the challenge offshore wind is having, 12 companies qualified to bid but only two submitted bids. Although the four leases were in the heart of some of the windiest areas of the U.S., they are further south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island. But being in deeper water than the stymied Cape Wind project located to the north, their development and operating costs will be considerably greater.”
In furtherance of the wind power push, the administration has been working to expand wind-favorable regions for development. One region receiving a high-level of attention is offshore the East Coast. In addition to the advertised push to develop offshore wind power as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the governors of several of the East Coast states foresaw an opportunity to build a new industry that would employ thousands of residents.…
Continue Reading[Editor Note: MasterResource has reviewed Alex Epstein’s The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels before, but new reviews are welcomed to better appreciate and promote one of the most important books of its genre (energy realism) since Julian Simon’s The Ultimate Resource (1981). For futher information about this review and its author, see below.]
Who would argue that producing and using fossil fuels is not only not shameful, but also positively virtuous? Alex Epstein would. And he has done so eloquently and thoroughly in his book, The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels.
Epstein aptly summarizes his book with its final sentence (p. 209): “Mankind’s use of fossil fuels is supremely virtuous—because human life is the standard of value, and because using fossil fuels transforms our environment to make it wonderful for human life.”…
Continue ReadingMeet David Crane, president and CEO of NRG Energy, the nation’s biggest independent power producer (IPP). This company’s diversified generation interests are fueled by every energy source from coal to wind.
Crane’s pedigree is a lot better than mine–degrees from Princeton and Harvard Law and lots of business experience. With all that going for him, it may not surprise you that Crane has a philosophical bent to go with his industry smarts. The current issue of Energy Biz summarizes some of his recent thoughts in an article with the deep title, Carbon Morality: The Nearsidedness of Incumbency.
The message of Carbon Morality? The power industry has lost its moral stature, and American society is on the verge of doing something awful to it.
The crisis? There’s a “fast shifting moral landscape” that “threatens to leave our industry adrift, shunned by the customers we serve.”…
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