Back in 1954 journalist Darrell Huff published How to Lie with Statistics. The book exposed many different ways in which people use statistics, even true ones, to foist off falsehoods.Today while looking for data on trends in the numbers of operating coal- and natural gas-fired power plants in the United States I came across an interesting example of lying with statistics, this one promulgated by the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA). The discussion that follows is rough; I don't claim … [Read more...]
EPA Now Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place on CO2
There are lots of happy reports on the Supreme Court’s ruling throwing out EPA’s so-called Clean Power Plan. Some go so far as to suggest that EPA is barred from regulating power plant CO2 emissions.It is not quite that simple and the result is rather amusing. EPA is still required to regulate CO2 under the terms of the Clean Air Act, but that Act provides no way to do that regulation. The Clean Power Plan attempted to expand an obscure minor clause in the Act to do the job but SCOTUS correctly … [Read more...]
The SEC’s Climate-Disclosure Rules Violate the First Amendment
This article summarizes the argument of the author’s more technical article, “What’s ‘Controversial’ About ESG? A Theory of Compelled Commercial Speech under the First Amendment.”The SEC is on the cusp of enacting rules to compel companies to disclose “climate risk.” Commentators have critiqued the rules as misguided and beyond the SEC’s statutory authority. But the proposed rules have a more fundamental flaw that will doom them when the inevitable court challenges are filed. The rules … [Read more...]
Biden’s Gas Tax Suspension: Meager Help and Deficit Spending
Today President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass legislation suspending the federal tax on gasoline for July through September, “to give Americans a little extra breathing room as they deal with the effects of Putin’s war in Ukraine.”Not Much SavingsPut the emphasis on “little.”The average driver drives 1,125 miles per month, and the average car gets about 25 miles per gallon, so the average driver uses about 45 gallons per month. The federal gas tax is 18 cents per gallon. Multiply that by … [Read more...]
Persistent Lies About Green Power
When drug companies try to sell you a particular cure for what ails you, the television ads typically consist of 10 seconds of saying how good the drug is and 20 seconds of disclaimers and warnings about possible negative side effects. If only renewable energy companies were that honest!To my great annoyance and disgust, a power company in Texas promises the state’s electricity users can choose a plan that delivers electricity 24 hours a day powered by the sun. Solar power.As anyone exercising … [Read more...]
Indian Coal Makes Electricity as Wind Farms Sit Idle
Amidst the clamor surrounding the intensive use of coal in China and India, one may not realize that these nations have some of the world’s largest renewable energy installations.In fact, I hail from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu which is often compared to Scandinavia for its large number of wind farms. Accounting for 25 percent of the country’s wind capacity, the state has the largest share of such generating assets in a nation of 1.3 billion people.Yet even Tamil Nadu relies heavily on coal … [Read more...]
India’s Coal Proliferation Contradicts Global Climate Drama
We have a crisis in India, and it is not with the climate. Power plants for the world’s second-largest consumer of coal are running out of stock, leaving a billion people at the risk of blackouts and forcing industries to close facilities.To resolve the situation, the Indian government has authorized increased importation of thermal coal, removed all import duty on coal, is reopening hundreds of closed coal mines, and has asked existing domestic mines to produce at unprecedented rates. … [Read more...]
Elon Musk Calls ESG a “Scam”
Guest writer Jerry Bowyer is is the chief economist of Vident Financial, editor of Townhall Finance, editor of the business channel of The Christian Post, host of Meeting of Minds with Jerry Bowyer podcast, president of Bowyer Research, and author of The Maker Versus the Takers: What Jesus Really Said About Social Justice and Economics. He is also resident economist with Kingdom Advisors, serves on the Editorial Board of Salem Communications, and is senior fellow in financial … [Read more...]
States’ Opposition to Federal Social Cost of Carbon Use Survives Supreme Court Decision
For years the federal government, especially its Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has sought to use “social cost of carbon” (SCC) as justification, at the cost of billions of dollars, for regulations making it more difficult to drill for and use fossil fuels. That practice can continue—for now.On May 26, the Supreme Court declined a request from 11 states to block the Biden Administration from using the estimated SCC in regulatory activities. The states had argued that the modeling to … [Read more...]
Germany’s Green Energy Fixation Should Teach US a Lesson
Germany’s new Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government vice chancellor and economic minister Robert Habeck, a leading member of his country’s Green Party, has experienced a rude lesson regarding the disastrous consequences of his years of naïve opposition to fossil fuels.After tasking his top officials to assess the energy security implications of Germany’s dependence on Russian supplies in the event of a then-looming Ukraine invasion, their conclusions were desperately dispiriting.Habeck reportedly … [Read more...]
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