When Forbes editor Steve Forbes calls a book “one of the most important … in decades defending capitalism,” it’s time to sit up and take notice. Rainer Zitelmann’s In Defense of Capitalism: Debunking the Myths (USA, Republic Book Publishers, March 2023) fully deserves Forbes’s praise.In 10 relatively short chapters constituting the first half of the book, Zitelmann conclusively debunks ten myths, e.g., that capitalism is responsible for hunger and poverty or for environmental destruction, … [Read more...]
Why Can’t Renewables Power Modern Economies? Physics
Image: Creative Commons under UnsplashTo understand why wind and solar power, even with battery backup, will not be sufficient in the near future to supply the electric power needs of any modern industrial economy, much less an economy the size of the United States, one must first understand how the electric power system works.Note: I’m not talking about costs. Although the media regularly reports demonstrably false claims that wind and solar power are cheaper than traditional power sources such … [Read more...]
An Easy Guide to Rational Energy Policies
There are extensive technical and lengthy discussions and proposed solutions—both pros and cons—about climate change, rising oceans, extreme weather events, the impact of emissions, net-zero, EV mandates, wind and solar mandates, pollution, temperature change, and energy subsidies.The elephant in the room that is seldom discussed is the simple and an easy-to-understand fact of life that the world is facing shortages of the same products and fuels manufactured from crude oil that were the basis … [Read more...]
NOAA Proposes Hammering 208% of Vanishing Right Whales
Okay, it is a trick headline because they can only hammer 100% of the severely endangered North Atlantic Right Whale population. The point is that NOAA is proposing, for offshore wind development, to authorize a horrific 706 cases of physical harassment of Right Whales, whose dwindling population is down to just 340 magnificent critters.Image: Creative Commons under UnsplashThe average whale will get hammered roughly twice. The Right Whales migrate along the coast twice a year. Migration … [Read more...]
Climate Change Papers You Should Read
This is an annotated anthology of published, refereed papers that, in my view, are fundamental to an understanding of the science of climate change. Millions of papers are published each year, and thus it is difficult to reduce the myriad of articles to just forty-four fundamental papers. Moreover, this annotated anthology is compiled from a climate change realist perspective, rather than an alarmist one. Its purpose is to present a list of the cadre of articles that convey the current … [Read more...]
Legalized Climate Grifting
Grifters have long fascinated us. Operating outside accepted moral standards, they excel at persuading their “marks” to hand valuables over willingly. If they ever represented a “distinctly American ethos,” they’ve been supplanted by con artists seeking bank accounts for funds abandoned by Nigerian princes.Their artful dodging is epitomized by Frank Abagnale daring the FBI to “catch me if you can,” Anna Delvey inventing Anna Sorokin, Redford and Newman masterminding their famous Sting, and … [Read more...]
Breakthrough! A Big Utility Says Net-Zero May Not Be Reliable
Dominion Energy, the big Virginia utility, has finally admitted that net-zero may not work. I have been writing about Dominion, which operates under the net-zero Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), for a while now. VCEA requires Dominion to shut down all gas, oil, and coal-fired power by 2045.My point has been that VCEA cannot be done. Now Dominion has met me halfway, saying in their new Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) that maybe it cannot be done. So far, so good.In their new 2022 IRP, the VCEA … [Read more...]
Get Ready for Higher Electricity Bills to Fund Vehicle Charging
Charging at home is a favored feature of electric vehicles (EVs). But public charging stations are needed for long trips and to maximize EV market penetration. However, it’s unlikely that charging fees can cover the capital and operating costs of public chargers or make money for investors.Image: Creative Commons under UnsplashAccording to Kelly Blue Book, Americans purchased more than 800,000 new electric cars last year, or about 5.8 percent of all new cars sold. EV sales grew by 65 percent … [Read more...]
The Economic Case for Net Zero Is Zero
Implementing net zero will depress the global economy more than the atmospheric warming that the campaign against carbon dioxide emissions is supposed to prevent, according to a comparison of research by recognized experts. In other words, abandoning efforts to eliminate the greenhouse gas emissions of fossil fuels likely would make virtually everybody richer.The comparison is presented in a short 12-minute video titled “How human disruptions impact GDP” by Dr. Lars Schernikau, an energy … [Read more...]
Achieving Net Zero
According to the clerics of the Green Cult, once we blow up our last coal mine, send all diesel engines to the wreckers, stop using concrete, reinvent sailing clippers, cover the grasslands with solar clutter and the hills with wind machines and then slaughter all of our cattle. . . global climate will become serene - not too warm, not too cold. Wild weather will cease, and there will be no more droughts, floods, cyclones or snow storms and no more plant and animal extinctions.But the records … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- …
- 17
- Next Page »
