A Free-Market Energy Blog

Human Achievement Hour: Lights On!

By William Yeatman -- March 28, 2014

“[P]eople are living longer and healthier because the world is wealthier, and fossil energy supports economic growth and technological progress in scores of countries around the world.”

– Marlo Lewis, “‘Sustainability’: Some Free Market Reflections,” February 11, 2011.

Annually since 2009, my colleague Michelle Minton has organized a celebration of economic liberty for one hour at the end of March, known as Human Achievement Hour. (See here, here, here, and here.) This year, the event falls on Saturday evening March 29, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. in your respective time zone.

Observing Human Achievement Hour is about paying tribute to the human innovations that have allowed people around the globe to live better, fuller lives, while also defending the basic human right to use energy to improve the quality of life of all people.

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U.S. National Academy of Sciences: Doubling Down on Climate Alarmism (and taking science down a notch with it)

By James Rust -- March 27, 2014

“The NAS … should be an organization that promotes careful examination of all factors involving climate change and not take sides on areas of controversy.  Global temperature history and lack of climate model validation demonstrates lack of objectivity.  Merging of science with politics may damage trust in the scientific community for decades.”

Last month, the United States National Academies of Sciences (NAS) issued the following news release inviting the public to a joint meeting with the UK Royal Society:

Join NAS and The Royal Society for the Launch of a Joint Publication on Climate Change Science

On Thursday, February 27th, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and The UK’s Royal Society cordially invite the public to the release of Climate Change: Evidence & Causes, a new publication produced jointly by the two institutions.

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Attacks on Fracking Attack U.S. Consumers

By Steve Everley -- March 26, 2014

“The Wind Energy Foundation says wind and gas make for a “mutually beneficial relationship” and experts have identified how fluctuating electrical demand requires baseload sources like natural gas to keep the lights on. Proposing a ban on fracking – and by extension the natural gas it unlocks – is, in effect, tantamount to proposing to banish renewables.”

“Does the fracking boom kill renewables?”

That headline has become common recently, with public discussions raging over whether hydraulic fracturing – or, more specifically, the affordable supplies of natural gas it has unlocked – is driving investment away from renewable technologies.

To be sure, many of the debates on this particular question – natural gas or renewables? – are sincere and conducted in the well-known, boring “big thinker” policy circles. A Venn diagram showing the people having that conversation and the general public likely shows two circles that don’t intersect.…

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Energy Mischief at the Rural Utilities Services (USDA): Climate Hubs, Efficiency Mandates, Fuel Switching Rules

By -- March 25, 2014
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AWED Energy & Environmental Newsletter: March 24, 2014

By -- March 24, 2014
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TexasWorld: Freedom, Room for All (a mental experiment)

By Greg Rehmke -- March 21, 2014
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“Killing Wildlife In the Name of Climate Change” (Part II: Gas, Nuclear, Little Else)

By Robert Bryce -- March 20, 2014
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“Killing Wildlife In the Name of Climate Change” (Part I: The Double Standard)

By Robert Bryce -- March 19, 2014
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James Hansen: Still More Good Energy Realism (just ignore his climate alarmism, world fee-and-dividend fix)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 18, 2014
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Curtailed Hydro from Wanapum Dam Crack: An ‘Unpredicted Change in the Wind’?

By -- March 17, 2014
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