Robert Michaels has specialized in electricity and natural gas over the decades, in addition to antitrust law. Professor of Economics at California State University, Fullerton, Dr. Michaels is an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and has contributed many posts to MasterResource.

Q. Robert, you have spent decades in the regulatory fields of antitrust and of energy. How did it all begin?

A. Like so many of life’s better stories, it started with randomness.  Around 1980 I moved from Washington, DC to the reality of a southern California mortgage.  At the time I was working on the industrial organization of the mainframe computer market for some academic publications to help me get tenure at California State University, Fullerton.

I got a call from a former classmate about my possible interest in expert work in what would turn out to be a major antitrust case regarding an electric utility.…

“… the climate crusade has central planning and totalitarianism written all over it. It is a ‘road to serfdom.’ The settled science is more on the side of CO2 emissions/concentrations being positive, not negative (CO2 fertilization; 1.2C primary warming). And yes, the greenest fuels are fossil (as in mineral energies).”

I am a historian of thought on many things energy and climate, including on myself. I want to be as clear as possible about my positions and ideas for the future to judge. There are interviews and biographical entries on me to this end.

So it was of interest when I came across some mentions of me on Twitter (which I do not partake in). My comments follow the mentions.

This is from August 14, 2019.

It’s time to move the debate past the dogmatic view that carbon dioxide is evil and toward a world view that accepts the need for energy that is cheap, abundant and reliable. (Robert Bryce)

“Despite the endless hype about electric cars, vehicles that plug into the grid remain a niche product that is sold almost exclusively to the affluent…. Lower-income taxpayers should not be subsidizing wealthy motorists who buy EVs. (Robert Bryce)

From time to time, MasterResource has posted on the profiles by DeSmog Blog: climatologist John Christy, Reaching America’s Derrick Hollie, and myself. Strangely, the targets of DeSmog can agree with the profiles in a guilty-as-charged way. The litmus test seems to be that if you do not agree with climate alarmism and forced energy transformation, you are ipso facto wrong.…

Many readers of MasterResource are undoubtedly aware of the ‘Featured Analysis‘ blogs at the Institute for Energy Research (IER). I blog at IER (my employer) in addition to my MasterResource work.

Below, my posts at the IER website are linked. In addition, my ‘Political Energy‘ posts at Forbes.com are listed as a reference guide. Here are the links to my 2017 work for those interested.

IER Posts

“Kathleen Hartnett White: A Scholar for CEQ” (October 18)

“Scary Sea Level Rise? Check Your Science” (September 8, 2017)

“Al Gore’s Energy Problems” (August 25, 2017)

“Climate Optimism, Energy Realism for the Next Generation” (August 11, 2017)

“Milton Friedman on Energy” (July 31, 2017)

‘Deep Decarbonization’ vs. Direct-Use Natural Gas (July 14, 2017)

“James Hansen’s Failed Ultimatums: A Free Market, Anyone?”…