A Free-Market Energy Blog

Windpower's PTC: Secondary to State Mandates

By Lisa Linowes and Bill Short -- November 28, 2011

Major wind projects are being cancelled or put on hold with waning public and private support. In recent weeks,

  • Wind developer Terra-Gen terminated plans to build its Horseshoe Wind Farm in Illinois;
  • NextERA suspended the permitting process for a 150-megawatt project in South Dakota; and
  • Iberdrola announced its Desert Wind Energy Project in North Carolina was delayed and might be scrapped altogether.

In each case, company officials blamed current market conditions and the inability to secure a long-term power contract with area utilities.

PTC In Review

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) insists the industry is at risk of a slow-down if Congress does not act quickly to extend the Production Tax Credit (PTC), the federal incentive most often credited for market growth in the wind sector. The PTC expires at the end of 2012.…

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Chevron CEO: "The Imperative of Affordable Energy" (Moral substance trumps 'green' form)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 25, 2011

“It’s time to move the debate past the dogmatic view that carbon dioxide is evil and toward a world view that accepts the need for energy that is cheap, abundant and reliable.”

– Robert Bryce, “Five Truths About Climate Change,” Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2011.

“Every [energy] policy objective should be viewed through the lens of affordability.”

– John S. Watson, Chairman and CEO, Chevron Corporation
Remarks at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington, D.C., October 19, 2011.

Chevron CEO John Watson delivered a major address last month in Washington, D.C. that reorients energy sustainability from controversial neo-Malthusian notions toward consumer affordability and reliability. As such, it marks an end to the ‘apologetic’ era launched by BP’s John Browne in his 1997 Stanford University speech, which proclaimed that fossil fuels were problematic in relation to anthropogenic climate change.

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Thanksgiving & Capitalism

By Richard Ebeling -- November 23, 2011

“The true meaning of Thanksgiving … is the triumph of Capitalism over the failure of Collectivism in all its forms. In light of America’s current political debates over health care and energy, involving 25 percent of our economy, the message of Thanksgiving is more timely than ever.” – Professor Richard Ebeling

In good economic times or bad, Thanksgiving is when Americans gather with their families and friends and enjoy the most special meal of the year. The event remembers those early Pilgrim Fathers who crossed the uncharted ocean from Europe to make a new start in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

What is less appreciated is that Thanksgiving also is a celebration of the birth of free enterprise in America.

The English Puritans, who left Great Britain and sailed across the Atlantic on the Mayflower in 1620, were not only escaping from religious persecution in their homeland.…

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"No New Energy Subsidies: Oppose NAT GAS Act!" (free market voices rise up against tax-code politicking)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 22, 2011
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Robert Bryce Challenges Energy Statism (real energy for real people)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 21, 2011
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Letter to Premier of New Brunswick on behalf of North American Platform Against Wind Power (Wind opponents, argumentation in action)

By Sherri Lange --
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Energy Subsidies vs. Energy Sense: What Have We Learned in the Past 3 Years?

By Donald Hertzmark -- November 18, 2011
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Think, Want Competitive Renewables: Travis Bradford gets Spacy at THE ECONOMIST

By -- November 17, 2011
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ECONOMIST Debate on Renewable Energy (Part III: Fossil Fuels Triumphant)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 16, 2011
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Energy Externality Pseudoscience: Unmasking Krugman's Argument Against Fossil Fuels

By -- November 15, 2011
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