A Free-Market Energy Blog

Government and Energy: Witnessing the Process

By Jim Clarkson -- August 3, 2023

Ed. Note: Jim Clarkson is a soft-spoken everyday man who has experienced first-hand the ins-and-outs of crony public-utility regulation, first as the energy manager at a large industrial user and more recently as an energy procurement/installation consultant. Clarkson, a classical liberal, has also been instrumental in the development of the Institute for Energy Research (IER) as a free-market education and advocacy organization.

“A Federal employee asked what I did and why I was on the Board…. I airily waved at the group and said: ‘I’m the only one here making an honest living.’ That didn’t go over very well. I shouldn’t have said it, but after over 50 years of observing state utility regulation, it still upsets me to see smart young people devoted to limiting freedom and prosperity when they could be doing something useful.”

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On the Climate Train to Destruction? Another View (adaptation, not futile mitigation)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- August 2, 2023

“In business and economic terms, what is physically ‘worse’ [with climate] today is actually better [than in the past]. Thus I would argue that social justice demands affordable A/C for many more or all rather than mitigation policies that make A/C less affordable or unaffordable.”

This exchange was with Susan Krumdieck, “Professor, Author and Leader in Energy Transition Engineering.” While I have criticized her approach to “transition engineering” as uneconomic in a true marketplace and thus government-driven, I appreciate her polite engagement toward mutual learning.

Our latest exchange began with her post comment:

Thanks everyone for sharing the news about the extreme weather. But I feel like we are on a run-away train. Here is a metaphor story. Maybe it will help.

A Speeding Train?

Her article, “We Are All on Board a Speeding Train,” (August 17, 2020) followed.…

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Portable Generators: CPSC/EPA Coming

By Ed Ireland -- August 1, 2023

Big Brother Warning: Banning gas stoves is just the start. A long list of household appliances are on the federal hit list to be either banned, made ineffective, or made too expensive to buy.

“Something is terribly wrong with the current direction of federal regulation. Not only are the number and scope of new rules out of control, but many are driven by the blind ambition to ban the use of fossil fuels without regard for the stability of the power grid or the actual health and safety of citizens.”

While EPA is finalizing rules that will essentially ban natural gas and coal-powered electricity generation, risking blackouts according to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, other federal regulators are working on plans to ban gasoline-powered portable generators. The very thing that people need when the power goes out, backup generators, will soon be back-door banned just in time for the power blackouts that the new EPA rules are poised to cause.…

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Energy and Environmental Review: July 31, 2023

By -- July 31, 2023
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Classical Liberalism and Electricity: First Principles Please

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 27, 2023
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Pool Chillers: Don’t Whine, Adapt! (and get those ‘cheap’ renewable rates)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 26, 2023
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ITER Fusion Energy Project: ‘Record-setting Disaster’

By Kennedy Maize -- July 25, 2023
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James Hansen on Fire

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 24, 2023
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Renewable Tax Credits: Kiesling Ducks Again

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 20, 2023
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Shell Knew? No (outlier climate prediction exaggerated)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 19, 2023
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