A Free-Market Energy Blog

Review of Proposed Minimum Efficiency Standards for “Consumer Boilers”

By -- October 24, 2023

“DOE’s recent appliance efficiency ‘determinations’ are doing more harm than good for consumers and defy objectivity and transparency processes required by the Code of Federal Regulations (the Process Rule)….  Accordingly, this program should be dismantled as DOE has once again proven itself to be unworthy of objectively and transparently serving the best interests of American consumers.”

This post updates my September 19th analysis to examine just-filed comments in opposition to the U.S. Department of Energy’s hell-bent strategy of mandating less choice and higher costs for consumers in return for specious benefits.

Background

On August 13, 2023, DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) posted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for “consumer” boilers.  The comment period ended on October 13th, 2023.  This NOPR, if finalized, would ban common gas-fired hot water boilers by requiring an AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency) of 95%.…

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Energy and Environmental Review: October 23, 2023

By -- October 23, 2023

Ed. Note: This post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, a free fortnighly published by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete Newsletter for this post can be found here.

Unreliables (General):
*** Michael Bloomberg’s $1 Billion Assault on The Electric Grid
Solar, wind developers rebuffed in NY
The myth of affordable green energy is over

Wind Energy — Offshore:
Offshore Wind is an Economic and Environmental Catastrophe
How’s That Offshore Project Going, Man
NY delivers crippling blow to green energy development, jeopardizing Biden’s climate goals
Biden admin hit with lawsuit over offshore wind plans as locals rise up

Wind Energy — Other:
*** Taking the Wind Out of Climate Change (referencing 60± studies)

Solar Energy:
‘Europe isn’t profitable’ – Solar industry warns of hurdles to EU’s green tech drive

Fossil Fuel Energy:
*** The Nations that Dominate the Global Economy
*** AAF on US Drained Petroleum Reserve
*** Drill, Baby, Drill
*** EIA: Global fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions to rise through 2050 
Imagine No Jets, Ships, Defense, or Space Program

Electric Vehicles (EVs):
*** China’s graphite curbs send green warning shot
*** EV Battery Factory Will Require So Much Energy It Needs a Coal Plant to Power It
Electric cars risk becoming uninsurable

Miscellaneous Energy:
*** Powering The Unplugged
*** How the Inflation Reduction Act Bankrolls EPA Overreach
The heat-pump nightmare is far from over
Green Hydrogen Needs Vast Subsidies 
Critics Assail Biden’s ‘War on American Energy’ on National Energy Appreciation Day 

Manmade Global Warming — Some Deceptions:
*** No Way, Norway
Era of ‘Unquestioned and Unchallenged’ Climate Change Claims Is Over
How Groupthink, Misinformation, and Lack of Self-Correction Undermined Climate Science
Is New York Times Senior Writer David Leonhardt Lying, Lazy, or Just Stupid?

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“The Techno-Optimist Manifesto” (Marc Andreessen in the energy debate)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 20, 2023

“We believe energy should be in an upward spiral. Energy is the foundational engine of our civilization. The more energy we have, the more people we can have, and the better everyone’s lives can be. We should raise everyone to the energy consumption level we have, then increase our energy 1,000x, then raise everyone else’s energy 1,000x as well.” (- Techno-Optimist Manifesto, below)

Add a new name to the powerful critics of climate alarmism and forced energy transformation. Marc Andreessen is the author of The Techno-Optimist Manifesto, which draws upon the Julian Simon tradition of free minds and free markets to solve real challenges. This is a refreshing anecdote to the doom-and-gloom neo-Malthusians–and a threat to the climate industrial complex.

Sure enough, the critics are out with swords. Having posted The Techno-Optimist Manifesto on LinkedIn to the Climate Change Professionals Group, I was asked: “How is this diatribe from consume-more economics suitable for climate change professionals group??”…

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“Buffer of Stability” (Beware price and allocation controls)

By Robert Bradley Jr. --
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Green Hydrogen Needs Vast Subsidies

By Steve Goreham -- October 19, 2023
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Ayn Rand on Energy Disruption (Arab Embargo Turns 50)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 18, 2023
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Nuclear Go-Round: NuScale, Vogtle, Palisades

By Kennedy Maize -- October 17, 2023
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Net Zero Not! Protest from the UK Grassroots

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 16, 2023
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Wind and Solar Bribes: The Taxpayer Pays

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 13, 2023
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Stealth Electricity Statism: Giberson Exchange (for the record)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 12, 2023
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