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May 25, 2017
Jim Pethokoukis and the Incremental Value of Climate Policy Zero
My colleague Jim Pethokoukis deserves applause for his recent argument that the effects of increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations are uncertain, notwithstanding the loud assertions of many, and that incremental policy interventions are vastly to be preferred to “abrupt and expensive changes in public policy.” Incrementalism in this context reasonably can be interpreted (or defined) as adaptation over time…
May 25, 2017
The Absurdity That Is the Paris Climate Agreement
Let us put aside initially any dispute about the science and evidence underlying the Paris COP-21 agreement to limit global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Let us ask instead what the agreement ostensibly would achieve and what it would cost. If we apply the EPA climate model under a set of assumptions that strongly exaggerate the effectiveness of international emissions reductions, the…
May 18, 2017
Exxon Lied, People Died — or Something
Thee heat is on, not because summer beckons, but instead because of a pressure campaign now being aimed at the new California Attorney General, Xavier Becerra. An alliance of environmentalists, plaintiff attorneys, public-sector spending interests, public officials, and others is attempting to induce him to investigate the fossil-fuel industry in general and Exxon in particular. The argument is…
May 16, 2017
Don’t Subsidize Rooftop Solar Customers
Is it “discriminatory” to trim the subsidies bestowed upon a given class of power consumers by everyone else? Would those customers be transformed into second-class citizens? That is the gist of the recent criticisms of the proposal by El Paso Electric to impose a “demand charge” on customers with rooftop solar systems. Well, no and…
May 3, 2017
How Much Is Saudi Aramco Worth?
Saudi Aramco has announced its intention to sell up to 5 percent of itself to investors as part of a larger plan by the House of Saud to diversify the Saudi economy through government investments in some group of industries yet to be specified. It is no secret or surprise that government officials generally, and those surrounded…
April 21, 2017
Earth Day and the Divestment Campaign Against Humanity
Is it confusion? Or is it malevolence? “It” is the driving force underlying the loud clamor for divestment from fossil fuel assets, a political pressure campaign that is growing in sound and fury—and international jet-setting—even as actual government actions to reduce the production and use of fossil fuels are proving futile. @vinnikava via Twenty20 The answer: It is both, so that divestment will be a central theme of…
April 11, 2017
Sticky Tar of Climate Politics Oozes over Oil Reserve Valuations
Environmentalist ideology and political ambition in combination make for a dangerous blend, and nowhere is that truth clearer than in the context of climate politics, the valuation of fossil-fuel reserves and accusations of “fraud.” With the deregulatory decisions of the Trump administration, in particular in the context of a severe prospective reduction in federal efforts…
April 5, 2017
No Compromise Is Perfect: Time to Accept Puerto Rico Debt Agreement
Pain is painful, in particular for policymakers confronted with tough decisions and difficult compromises. And so kicking the can down the road is a time-honored fallback position for the political class, especially when voters prefer to see “wins” on their behalf as distinct from nuanced solutions to difficult problems. Related Content: Puerto Rico Needs Compromise, Not…
March 27, 2017
Real Reform for Indiana Power Consumers: SB 309
Energy policies in the U.S. historically have been shaped by poor analytic arguments, resulting in an incoherent policy environment driving costs and prices upward. The adverse resulting effects have afflicted economic growth, employment, and consumer wellbeing generally and in the electricity market in particular. Indiana Senate Bill 309 would reform the net-metering system of subsidizing…
March 13, 2017
Does It Really Matter If Exxon Mobil Changes Its Reported Oil Reserves?
The latest quarterly earnings reports season looms on the horizon, providing full employment for business reporters, accountants, attorneys, various species of number crunchers, prognosticators, kibitzers and pizza delivery firms catering to all of them as they burn the midnight oil. And that is before the reports are submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)…