A Free-Market Energy Blog

Jerry Taylor: Old vs. New (what would Bill Niskanen say?)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 1, 2015

Jerry Taylor has written a lawyer’s brief for climate alarmism and open-ended forced energy transformation via the tax code. Might he like to demolish his new ideas in a second White Paper–“The Libertarian Case Against ‘The Conservative Case for a Carbon Tax'”? It is in his head and can be put on paper–if his emotions can get out of the way.

The intellectual case for government control of greenhouse gas emissions–the all-in cause of the anti-industrial neo-Malthusians–has always been suspect, not unlike earlier man-versus-earth outcries. But climate alarm has become weaker since its heyday (1988–98) for several reasons.

First, temperature rise has slowed significantly in the last 18 years (the warming “pause” or “hiatus“). Second, sensitivity estimates have been coming down toward long-held “skeptic” levels. Third, “fat tail” extreme-warming scenarios for risk analysis are under  assault. …

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Federal Weatherization Program: A Field-Test Failure

By Paul Georgia -- March 31, 2015

“The difficulty in getting people to participate in the federal weatherization program, even with significant incentives and strong encouragement, as well as the negative private and social rates of return realized, suggests that extent of the market failure, if it exists at all, is substantially overblown.”

Government intervention in the name of energy efficiency provisions often enjoys bipartisan support. Relying more on engineering than real-world economic analysis, proponents argue that there is an energy efficiency gap in which individuals and firms forego such investments that would provide both private and social benefits, the latter via negative externalities associated with energy use.

Government programs, it is argued, can eliminate this market failure. But like most government programs, the benefits of government-driven energy efficiency are often far less than promised.

Market vs. Government Decision-Making

Investing in energy efficiency can be beneficial. …

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AWED Energy & Environmental Newsletter: March 30, 2015

By -- March 30, 2015

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy & environmental policies. Our basic position is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science. It’s all spelled out at WiseEnergy.org, which is a wealth of energy and environmental resources.

A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every three weeks this newsletter is compiled to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and environmental matters.

Some articles of particular note in this issue are:

 Wind Turbine Infrasound: Terms & Conditions Defined

A very good graphic for Wind Energy Noise

EIA Report: Subsidies Continue to Roll In For Wind and Solar

Differences between Real Science and Man Made Global Warming Science

Climate Science Doubts — Because the Science is Bad

The Tip of the Climate Spending Iceberg

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Greed Energy Economics:

Renewable Energy — the Most Expensive Policy Disaster in History

EIA Report: Subsidies Continue to Roll In For Wind and Solar

Property purchasers win award due to failure to disclose wind project

Kansas Legislators debate killing their RPS

A Study about the Kansas RPS

Study concludes that NC’s RPC costs each citizen $1500± per year

Archive: How Electricity Became a Luxury Good

Archive: Study finds wind energy increases cost of electricity and CO2 emissions

Blowing More Tax Dollars on Subsidies

Wind Turbines Blamed for Pushing Up Rates

German Companies May File $22 Billion Lawsuit due to wind energy, etc.…

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America’s Energy Scorecard (Let freedom ring!)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 27, 2015
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David Legates Makes Sense to Me (climate ‘contrarian’ on the firing line)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 26, 2015
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Gov. Jerry Brown: Remember John Husing (debate over the moral high ground)

By -- March 25, 2015
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DOE Wind Fantasies (same assumptions, same results)

By -- March 24, 2015
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Solar: Government, Business Waste (four GA case studies)

By James Rust -- March 23, 2015
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Political Capitalism as a Distinct Economic System

By Randall Holcombe -- March 20, 2015
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The First Gasoline Tax: Less Than Romantic (Oregon: 1919)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 19, 2015
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