Oil “worthless”? Under this standard, the commercial airline and cruise industries are worthless, as are the people who can’t effectively work from home.

Normalcy is not the future the anti-oil Houston Chronicle wants to see, an extreme editorial position that combines Green New Deal advocacy with Trump Derangement Syndrome in an election year.

On Sunday April 26, the Editorial Board of the Houston Chronicle published “Remember the People Behind Industry; Put Those Working in Oil and Gas First, Above Free Market Ideology.” The lead Sunday op-ed was meant to soften up the entrepreneurs, politicians, and citizens of the oil capital of the nation and world.

The op-ed was bad, even offensive, penned by a monolithic editorial board (no conservatives or libertarians allowed) that is beholden to climate alarmism and government-forced energy transformation.…

“Why should utility customers continue to pay for bad programs that increase their rates at the benefit of a few? We should be mindful of the words of Milton Friedman:  ‘One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.’ “

In the real world, “free lunches” that benefit society are as rare as snow in Phoenix. Even when given a free meal, one often has to listen to an often boring sales pitch or speech.

Only in fantasy land are socially-beneficial “free lunches” ubiquitous. As one example, Amory Lovins once remarked that energy efficiency is the “lunch you are paid to eat.” Using the label “no-regrets,” policymakers frequently push actions that they endorse as unequivocally good – everyone wins, no one loses.…

“With a clean electricity system comes opportunities to reduce fossil fuel usage in these sectors: for example, electric vehicles displace petroleum use and electric heat pumps avoid the use of natural gas and oil for space and water heating in buildings.”

–  The While House, United States Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization, (November 2016)

“Assuming we all want to avoid an American repeat of the French “Mouvement des gilets jaunes” (yellow vest movement) the economic realities of ‘deep decarbonization’ through ‘electrification’ must be a priority for public debate and discussion.” (below)

As Senator Everett Dirksen is credited with saying: “A million here, a million there, and pretty soon we’re talking real money.” Not much has changed, except for inflation. Now it’s more like $40 million here and $50 million there.…

“[Our groups] look forward to working with you to address the gravest environmental crisis humanity has ever faced, to protect all present and future generations around the world, while centering the rights of those communities and workers most impacted.”

Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute called it the “Back to the Dark Ages Manifesto.” It is so drastic and far-reaching that major environmental groups do not dare to touch it, much less sign on. (The smart Statists know not to reach too far too fast, instead taking gains incrementally and preparing for the next run up the Hill.)

Too much, too soon (as in a carbon tax) loses in a democracy where voters are energy users, and fossil-fuel scares in a distant future compete with here-and-now problems.

But the January 10, 2019, letter from 626 Left groups is a remarkable “coming out” moment for the fringe, anti-energy, anti-industrial, anti-freedom cabal.…