A Free-Market Energy Blog

Electricity: The Master Form of the Master Resource

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 26, 2011

“Great are the powers of electricity,” commented a newspaper story in the late 19th century about the fascinating new energy source. “It makes millionaires. It paints devils’ tails in the air and floats placidly in the waters of the earth. It hides in the air. It creeps into every living thing.” (1)

Electricity is the most utilitarian of energies and the master form of the master resource, as explained below by leading experts and even some critics of energy. Just ask residential users, commercial establishments, or the manufacturing facilities if they want to pay more or less for power.

And so it was distressing to hear Barack Obama in a moment of ‘green’ candor declare that electricity prices would “skyrocket” under a cap-and-trade program to limit carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.  In his exact words and phrasing from November 2008:

You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.

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NAS Panel Backs Manufactured Crisis to Tame Climate Change

By Chip Knappenberger -- May 25, 2011

House Energy and Commerce Committee members Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) have requested a climate-science hearing in light of a just-released report from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). This report, “America’s Climate Choices,” however, presents no new science.

Instead, as climate scientist Chip Knappenberger explains below, the NAS document lays out a strategy for manufacturing a crisis by exaggerating the climate threat and artificially raising fossil-fuel prices in an effort to compel American’s to emit less greenhouse gases.

Congress has heard all of this before and has been unmoved to pass legislation which will raise the price of living and doing business in America by taxing our primary energies–Editor.

Plentiful and inexpensive fossil fuels are the preferred energy source, whether it be to run your car, heat your home, or generate electricity.…

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Natural Gas a Natural Winner? Let the (Transportation) Market Decide!

By E. Calvin Beisner -- May 24, 2011

Four-dollar per gallon gasoline provides more margin for oil producers than four dollars per million British thermal units (MMBtu) provides for natural gas producers. Historically speaking, oil prices are high and natural gas prices low.

In the face of low prices, the natural gas industry can practice self-help in a free market–or resort to political shenanigans. Self-help means producing less (hard to do in a technology boom!) or selling more. Whether converting fuel oil customers to natural gas in the home heating market or building gas-to-liquids plants to convert natural gas into petroleum products, including gasoline, natural gas companies and their trade groups can work to be their own best friend.

But segments of the natural gas industry, led by master rent-seeker T. Boone Pickens, has turned to the political means to bolster demand and thus price.…

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Energy Subsidies and Big Wind: Sen. Alexander Sets the Record Straight (renewables 50x that of fossil fuels)

By administrator -- May 23, 2011
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Standard Oil: A Centennial Evaluation (Part IV: A free market, not political company)

By Eric Lowe -- May 20, 2011
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Wind Turbines Offshore North Carolina: Look Before You Dive (Part I)

By -- May 19, 2011
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Standard Oil: A Centennial Evaluation (Part III: Monopoly, Monopoly Profits, Subterfuge, and Obstructionism Reconsidered)

By Eric Lowe -- May 18, 2011
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Standard Oil: A Centennial Evaluation (Part II: 'Unfair' practices and rebates reconsidered)

By Eric Lowe -- May 17, 2011
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Standard Oil: A Centennial Evaluation (Part I: John D. Rockefeller's entrepreneurial genius)

By Eric Lowe -- May 16, 2011
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The Great Energy Resource Debate (Part II: Neo-Malthusian Alarmism)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 13, 2011
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