A Free-Market Energy Blog

Milton Friedman: Climate Realist, Not Alarmist (no carbon tax support here)

By -- October 30, 2014

“Of all my father’s accomplishments, I believe the one he was proudest of was his role in ending military conscription. I do not think he would be happy to be conscripted, posthumously, for someone else’s cause [of climate alarmism].”

- David Friedman, “A Case of Posthumous Conscription,” October 18, 2014.

Bob Inglis, Executive Director of the Energy and Enterprise Initiative based at George Mason University, continues a quest to get conservatives and the Republican interested in a carbon tax. Recently, he chaired a forum at the University of Chicago titled, “What Would Milton Friedman Do About Climate Change?” At the event, two Chicago economists argued that Friedman (1912–2006) would have applied the textbook analysis of “negative externalities” to the issue of climate change, and therefore would have supported a carbon tax.…

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Vote NO on Big Wind

By -- October 29, 2014

“The debate is no longer about the fear of change or aesthetics. It’s about preserving the health, safety, and welfare of communities from developers hell-bent on sticking turbines on every free acre with transmission access no matter who’s in the way. More than twelve active lawsuits are pending against wind projects in as many states, and more are sure to follow.”

U.S. voters are unhappy with the direction of the country. The big ticket issues — ISIS, Ebola, the sluggish economy — are dominating the national dialogue and will sway votes.

But for many thousands of Americans, next week’s election is deeply personal. For them it’s their best opportunity to drive back the spread of industrial-scale wind power that’s plowing through quiet communities and destroying families. On November 4th, they will be checking the box next to those candidates who promise to permanently end the wind production tax credit (PTC).

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“Voltage Collapse and Blackout Conditions”: EPA’s Power Plant Rule Trashed by SPP

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 28, 2014

“As a result of the assumed EPA retirements with no resource additions, the SPP network was so severely stressed by large reactive deficiencies that the software used in the analysis was unable to produce meaningful results, which is generally indicative of voltage collapse and blackout conditions.”

- Southwest Power Pool, “Reliability Impact Assessment of the EPA’s Proposed Clean Power Plan,” October 8, 2014.

The states and their multistate organizations are weighting in against the Obama administration’s proposed new regulations aimed at reducing emissions from existing electric powerplants 30 percent from their 2005 levels by 2030. They are doing the math, and both cost and reliability are computing negatively.

Last week, MasterResource highlighted pushback from the Virginia State Corporation Commission, which stated: “As currently drafted, the carbon emission rates that EPA proposes for Virginia are arbitrary, capricious, and unlawful.…

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‘Energy Independence’: A Dirty Dozen (Economist Grossman’s list)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 27, 2014
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Why The World Will Not Agree to Pricing Carbon (Part II)

By Peter Lang -- October 24, 2014
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Why The World Will Not Agree to Pricing Carbon (Part I)

By Peter Lang -- October 23, 2014
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Solar PV Subsidies: Criticism Mounts (U.C. Berkeley’s Borenstein has had enough)

By Wayne Lusvardi -- October 22, 2014
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Virginia to Gina: Your Power Plant Rule Is “Arbitrary, Capricious, and Unlawful”

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 21, 2014
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AWED Energy & Environmental Newsletter: October 20, 2014

By -- October 20, 2014
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US-EU Free Trade Is Good for the Economy and for the Climate (Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership treaty deserves broad support)

By Carlo Stagnaro -- October 17, 2014
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