“Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.” – Milton Friedman

Even since the Great Texas Blackout of February 2021, I have tried to engage classical liberal scholars with the lost tradition of free market electricity in theory, practice, and public policy. An interesting exchange with economist Steve Postrel on social media some months ago is worth preserving, in this regard.

Postrel is very critical of Lynne Kiesling’s uber-technical optimism with governmental chess pieces (wind, solar, batteries, another story). But he rejects a free market in electricity.

I reproduce the exchange and then offer a critical comment. It began with my reference to my AIER primer: Free Market Electricity.

Postrel to Bradley: I am familiar with the old Primeaux and Demsetz [free market] arguments, but they have little concordance with each other or with the pre-regulation utopia you try to resurrect in your article.…

Editor’s Note: Trump Administration beware! This two-part backgrounder warns DOE Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin that their June 3, 2025, participation at Governor Mike Dunleavy’s fourth annual Sustainable Energy Conference is a set-up for Alaska’s Green New Deal. A course reversal for this state’s energy policy is in order.

Part II walks through my own testimony (Part I) against Alaska’s proposed Renewable Portfolio Standard; the hoops I had to jump through just to get my written remarks added to the public record; and the telling exchange I had with one of the main activists pushing this nonsense.  Spoiler: there’s been no official response or acknowledgement to the damning context they asked for—just the usual dodge-and-disappear routine.

After checking the Alaska Legislature website under the bill documents, I discovered my testimony was not posted. …

“Kiesling intellectually resides in the government sandbox, where dilute, intermittent, fragile, government-dependent wind and solar is coordinated by ISO/RTO planners. Add (subsidized) storage, then whatever is left on the supply side can be equilibrated on the demand side with ‘smart meters’ (another government play) in your home or business.”

She fancies herself a classical liberal, a free-market type fully conversant with the arguments against central economic planning (Mises, Hayek, Lavoie). But when it gets to government planning of the electricity market, her specialty, the veneer comes off. It is ‘market processes’ within the rigged, governmental market. Welcome to the woman of system, technocrat Lynne Kiesling.

Consider this exhibit:

Kiesling intellectually resides in the government sandbox, where dilute, intermittent, fragile, government-dependent wind and solar are coordinated by ISO/RTO planners. Add storage (another government play), and then whatever happens on the supply side can be equilibrated on the demand side with ‘smart meters’ (another government play) in your home or business.…

Earlier this year, Our World in Data published a Daily Data on global air pollution. Hannah Ritchie, deputy director and science outreach lead, wrote:

Global emissions of local air pollutants have probably passed their peak. The chart [below] shows estimates of global emissions of pollutants such as sulphur dioxide (which causes acid rain), nitrogen oxides, and black and organic carbon. These pollutants are harmful to human health and can also damage ecosystems.

It looks like emissions have peaked for almost all of these pollutants. Global air pollution is now falling, and we can save many lives by accelerating this decline. The exception is ammonia, which is mainly produced by agriculture. Its emissions are still rising.

Source: Community Emissions Data System (CEDS).

Hannah Ritchie notes that some countries are lagging, getting worse.…