A Free-Market Energy Blog

James Hansen Smacks Renewable Energy ("The Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy"–and Lovins as dreamer)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- August 22, 2011

“Suggesting that renewables will let us phase rapidly off fossil fuels in the United States, China, India, or the world as a whole is almost the equivalent of believing in the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy.”

Climate and energy alarmists war with reality. And now and again, the incentives line up for a particular alarmist to blow the whistle on some aspect of the governmental ‘cure’ to their problem. The incendiary Joe Romm, for example, trots out free-market-type arguments against carbon sequestration and nuclear (both too expensive).

Hansen on Cap-and-Trade

NASA scientist and uber-climate-alarmist James Hansen informed the climate policy debate in 2009/2010 with his blistering criticism of CO2 cap-and-trade. “The truth is, the climate course set by Waxman-Markey is a disaster course,” he said. “It is an exceedingly inefficient way to get a small reduction of emissions.…

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Introducing Murray Rothbard to an Energy Audience (Part II: Roger Garrison Tribute)

By Roger Garrison -- August 20, 2011

[Editor note: Austrian-School economics is at the forefront of today’s pivotal debate over the limits of government, a debate that certainly includes public policy toward the master resource of energy.

Yesterday’s introduction of Rothbard is joined today by a tribute to “Mr. Libertarian” by  Roger Garrison, currently professor of economics at Auburn University, upon Rothbard’s death. Subtitles have been added to Roger’s tribute of 16 years ago, and he has graciously added a postscript for this republication. Enjoy on a hammock this hot summer with a glass of lemonade if you can!]

                        Murray Rothbard (1926-1995)

In the late 1960s, my interests were far removed from Austrian economics—and from any other brand of economics, for that matter. I hadn’t yet heard of Murray Rothbard and thus couldn’t even have imagined that I would be catapulted by him into the midst of what would later be termed the “Austrian Revival.”

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Introducing Murray Rothbard to an Energy Audience (Part I: Keynesian economics down, Austrian economics up)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- August 19, 2011

“The economy is not recovering…. It’s now impossible to deny the obvious, which is that we are not now and have never been on the road to recovery.”

– Paul Krugman, “The Wrong Worries,” New York Times, August 5, 2011, p. A21.

Federal energy policy is being driven by the failure of neo-Keynesian economic policy.

Stimulus spending was supposed to end the Great Recession and transform tax expenditure into additional tax revenues. Instead, we are left with both recession and broke government. Obama borrowed from the future and made the present worse. George W. did his share too.

Three Strikes: Is Keynesianism Finally Out?

Keynesian economics failed during the Great Depression (will more textbooks now admit it?). The activist approach of Herbert Hoover (the first New Dealer, according to Murray Rothbard) used the powers of government to slow the liquidation of unsound investments, narrow profit opportunities, injure international trade, and block employment.…

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Collateral Damage: Lost Gulf Rigs from Obama Obstructionism (10 down, more to go?)

By Kevin Mooney -- August 18, 2011
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Solar Energy: Tough Love in the EU

By Gary Hunt -- August 17, 2011
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"Let Them Eat Carbon: Britain’s New Green Tax Con": New Book Invites Consumer/Voter/Environmental Backlash

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- August 16, 2011
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Gouging, Free Markets, and the Psychology of Fuel Prices

By Paul Schwennesen -- August 15, 2011
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Wind Power Gets an Environmental Pass in New York State (Power NY Act's Article X vs. grassroot environmentalism)

By Sherri Lange -- August 12, 2011
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California's 33% Renewable Energy Goal by 2020: Form or Substance? (Part II-RECs Required)

By Ulrich Decher -- August 11, 2011
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California's 33% Renewable Energy Goal by 2020: Form or Substance? (Part I–Current Situation)

By Ulrich Decher -- August 10, 2011
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