Ed. Note: The late Steven Horwitz addressed the climate-change debate and related policy issues in ways that remain highly pertinent to today’s debate. Yesterday, he argued that social science, not only physical science, was crucial for public policy. Today, Horwitz’s views on the carbon dioxide (CO2) tax are revisited.

“First, finding the right tax/fee/price is not a simple thing…. Bureaucratically set prices or fees do not have the same powerful incentives for careful behavior, nor will they ever capture as much knowledge, as do real market prices. Given that, political battles over those taxes and fees are inevitable, and with such battles out goes any semblance of economic rationality.”

To say that he was a quick study was an understatement. The late Steve Horwitz imparted a lot of common sense to a lot of areas, including the climate change and carbon tax debates.…

Ed. Note: Mr. Jayaraj (below) continues his series on the energy situations of various countries and regions far removed from the U.S. (China, India, Japan, the Far East generally, the Middle East, Africa, Nigeria, The common denominator is the bedrock of oil, natural gas, and coal for affordability and reliability, with wind and solar investment being an appendage by government policy to appease climate activists.

The power demand in the country grew by 10 percent each year during the last one decade. Coal played a central role…. For Vietnam to surge ahead and sustain the hard-earned growth of the past decade, it must unequivocally support the growth and expansion of the fossil fuel sector, especially coal. (below)

“Vietnam” evokes an infamous place in history as a war zone.…

Ed. note: Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of Vision to Execution and author at WeThePeopleSpeaking.com. This post, Long-Range Strategic Planning & The Green Movement,” slightly edited, was recently published in ARRA News Service.

“All of this data leads us back to the question, can we spend trillions of dollars in support of a political-motivated soundbite that may or may not produce a net loss of carbon emissions and/or may not be feasible given the known quantities of minerals needed?”

“… the vast majority of the 195 countries cannot afford any of the Green movement. Do we print a few extra trillion dollars to bankroll them into Green compliance?” 

President Biden has set goals for the U.S. to “Achieve 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035″, “Net-zero emissions by 2050,” and “Cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030”.  …

“Japan is the fifth largest energy consumer in the world (2019) and has the third highest electricity demand in Asia. Fossil fuels accounted for 70 percent of its electricity generation in 2019.”

“Dependency on wind and solar will not only be insufficient to meet Japan’s energy demand, but also will disrupt grid stability and raise energy prices steeply as has occurred in California and Germany.”

For many of us in Asia, Japan has set an economic standard that others strive to achieve. Besides, Japan is one of the active funders of developmental projects across the emerging countries in Asia.

I myself have worked on a Japanese funded railway corridor project in India, which will likely support both electric and diesel trains. But all that could be about to change.

Japan has announced that it will be moving away from fossil fuels and reducing its dependency on coal and oil for energy.…