I was trying to preserve my sanity by avoiding the endless hyperbolic news stories on cringeworthy science-based policy. But, despite my best efforts, the tale of the Dutch farmers came to my attention. Those poor folks have their backs against the wall because their government has declared war on nitrogen! They might lose their land […]
“Virtue science” reigns Learn More »
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has announced that from now through August 15 it will use infrared cameras mounted on planes to identify large emitters of methane from oil and gas wells in the Permian Basin, an area spanning west Texas and east New Mexico that supplies about 43 percent of the oil produced in
EPA Takes Aim at Permian Basin in Continued War on Fossil Fuels Learn More »
We are living in an era steeped in faith-based science. Deep trust in science, as defined by those perceived to be authoritative scientists in very complex scientific areas, has become blatant with the coronavirus crisis. To make sure we stayed healthy in addition to staying alive, we trusted what the scientific experts were telling us
‘Trust Us, We’re Experts’ Has Returned To A World Of Faith-Based Science Learn More »
When citizens in London, Vienna, and Berlin are at risk of blackouts due to energy shortages, their governments turn to coal-fired plants to rescue them. We witnessed this as the Russian gas embargo forced European states to suppress their revulsion to coal — a bit like a produce shortage causing vegans to run to steak
End Carbon Imperialists’ Impoverishment of Africa Learn More »
Eight-and-a-half years ago, E&E News called Joseph Goffman a “law whisperer” because “His specialty is teaching an old law to do new tricks.” The epithet was well enough deserved that Harvard Law Today repeated it five years later. Now, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is considering Goffman’s nomination to become Assistant Administrator for
Should an Environmental Regulator Teach Old Laws to Do New Tricks? Learn More »
(Listen to this article on the Cornwall Alliance’s Created to Reign podcast.) My first contact with Dr. Patrick Michaels was around 2006 or 2007, in the early, formative days of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation. I had, over the previous two or three years, read at least five or six of the books he
A Tribute to Patrick Michaels Learn More »
(This article, published on July 18 and reporting on Manchin’s action July 14, celebrated his action. Alas, the celebration was premature. Abandoning his commitment to oppose any such bill until inflation declined, Manchin embraced a new bill July 27—two weeks before the new monthly inflation rate is to be published and despite the fact that
The Man Who Saved Your Economy Learn More »
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
Lying with Statistics About American Electric Energy Sources Learn More »
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
EPA Now Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place on CO2 Learn More »
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
The SEC’s Climate-Disclosure Rules Violate the First Amendment Learn More »
