T. Boone Pickens: Contra-Capitalist (a ‘man of system’ sought more fame and fortune)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 31, 2018 7 Comments

“The two greatest enemies of free enterprise in the United States … have been, on the one hand, my fellow intellectuals and, on the other hand, the business corporations of this country.”

– Milton Friedman. “Which Way for Capitalism?” Reason, May 1977, p. 21.

“To put it plainly, T. Boone Pickens is out to save America.”

– Carl Pope (Sierra Club). Quoted in Dean Calbreath, “Pickens Pitches Plans to Shift U.S. Away From Oil,” San Diego Union Tribune, June 25, 2008.

They are not against capitalism. They can be very charismatic, in the know, and mainstream. They may be industry leaders. They are always politically correct and receive good press. And they can, often do, pledge allegiance in the abstract to the American way of free enterprise.…

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Halloween Thoughts from a Harvard Man (Holdren can play himself tonight)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 31, 2017 1 Comment

“Some form of ecocatastrophe, if not thermonuclear war, seems almost certain to overtake us before the end of the [twentieth] century.”

– John Holdren and Paul Ehrlich (1971) [1]

Doom and gloom—repeatedly falsified—hallmark the long career of John P. Holdren, neo-Malthusian and President Obama’s start-to-finish science advisor. Back at Harvard University, the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy has been been quiet. He avoided making specific, apocalyptic predictions during his Obama years (January 2009– January 2017) and has rarely made the news since. But his many written and spoken statements beginning in the 1970s, never disowned, remain for the record.

Today is a good time to refresh memories of the man who just might be the scariest man in Boston/Cape Cod on this day.

Read—but don’t be frightened.…

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Back to Climate Science: Obama’s EPA ‘Endangerment’ Finding Under Legal Review (TPPF plays offense re the green greenhouse gas)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 4, 2017 5 Comments

“In its rush to regulate greenhouse gases in 2009, the Obama Administration missed an important step. It utterly failed to submit the greenhouse gas endangerment finding to the Science Advisory Board for peer review, as required by statute, and that violation is fatal to the endangerment finding.”

– Robert Henneke, director, Center for the American Future. Texas Public Policy Foundation Press Release. May 2, 2017

It is time to play offense. Legal issues aside, numerous lines of evidence have come together to strengthen the intellectual case that the increasing atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) is a net planetary benefit, or a positive externality in the jargon of economics.

This week, the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) filed a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency challenging the EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding designating man-made greenhouse gas emissions as a danger to human health.…

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American Bird Conservancy: Wind Power, Solar Farms Must Play by Federal Rules, too

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 10, 2016 1 Comment

” … building renewable energy infrastructure need not – and must not – be at the expense of birds and wildlife. Migratory birds face many threats and poorly sited renewable energy facilities and their associated infrastructure, notably power lines and towers, are killing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of birds annually, including species of conservation concern.”-

– Open Letter to the US Department of Interior (below)

The American Bird Conservancy (ABC) has actively complained to state and federal authorities about a double standard applied to politically correct, environmentally incorrect wind farms and central-station solar farms cited in bird-sensitive areas. The letter below is the latest attempt of ABC to apply existing statutes to energy infrastructure.

Dear Secretary Jewell and Acting Manager Goldfuss,

2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty, a landmark and unparalleled international agreement that has protected, recovered, and maintained abundant bird populations for many groups of birds, especially shorebirds, waterfowl, and herons, and has helped maintain the spectacle of bird migration throughout the hemisphere.

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Model Wind Ordinance: Leveling the Playing Field

By -- April 7, 2016 No Comments Continue Reading

Resources for the Future: How Far Is Left? (energy statism on full display)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 20, 2016 2 Comments Continue Reading

T. Boone Pickens: Still More from the ‘Man of System’

By -- May 18, 2015 5 Comments Continue Reading

Carbon Taxation: Remembering When Ken Green (AEI) Went from Aye to Nay

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 13, 2015 6 Comments Continue Reading

Enron: Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Corporate Climate Champion?

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 3, 2014 1 Comment Continue Reading

Kenneth P. Green: 20 Years in the Energy/Environmental Movement (Part II)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 7, 2014 1 Comment Continue Reading