Michael Giberson Congressman Ed Markey recently sent a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu inquiring into the possibility that natural gas exports may be harmful to the public interest (see press release, copy of letter). Markey’s concern is that exports will tend to push U.S. gas prices (currently around $3 or $4 per mmbtu) to …
Congressman Markey Worries About U.S. Natural Gas Exports Read More »
Michael Giberson The Des Moines Register has one version of the story – the agribusiness industry decided it could do without the subsidy since the renewable fuels mandate seemed securely in place: So established is corn-fed ethanol that the industry allowed the expiration of the 45 cents-per-gallon tax credit for ethanol production, as well as the …
The KP Chicago contingent is still on vacation, barely recovered from the end-of-term rush and grading, and the KP Texas contingent is still head-down-pen-moving over the aforementioned grading; thus the relative calm here. In the interim, I cannot recommend highly enough David Henderson’s recounting of his talk at Occupy Monterey. David’s notes contain substantive and …
Michael Giberson The Economist is hosting an online debate on the motion, “This house believes that subsidising renewable energy is a good way to wean the world off fossil fuels.” Matthew Fripp of the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University has presented the affirmative case for the motion, Robert Bradley, Jr., of the Institute for …
Is Subsidising Renewable Energy is a Good Way to Wean the World off Fossil Fuels? Read More »
Michael Giberson The Gas Exporting Countries Forum is meeting in Qatar. From a few news stories I gather they want to boost output and obtain higher prices, and they don’t want to issue quotas or be a cartel. My thought is that, unless they’ve discovered an end-run around basic economic principles, they will be unsuccessful in …
Gas Exporting Countries Forum Wants Higher Output and Higher Prices Read More »
Michael Giberson Discovering that renewable power mandates can be expensive, California-style: “California Approves Solar Contract Despite High Cost“: Ultimately, the commissioners voted for Abengoa’s contract mainly because Abengoa already has spent five years and $70 million to develop Mojave Solar and has gotten all the permits and financing to start construction. They noted that getting …
Michael Giberson A few days ago, Geoffrey Styles was assessing the potential role of energy issues in the 2012 U.S. presidential election: Even though $4 gasoline was still fresh in the minds of voters, energy played only a minor role in the outcome of the 2008 election, overshadowed by two wars and a crippling financial crisis. Will …
Lynne Kiesling A cynical, but I think accurate, political economy analysis for a Friday afternoon: One of the declared presidential candidates in the Republican primary is a successful two-term Governor of a majority Democrat state who retains a positive rating in his home state. In that office this candidate improved the fiscal standing of the …
Michael Giberson At Reason.com, social psychologist Jonathon Haidt writes about the foundational moral concerns that animate the Zuccotti Park protestors. Working from a Moral Foundations Theory* perspective, which Haidt and several others have developed, he said, “In my visit to Zuccotti Park, it was clear that the main moral foundation of OWS is fairness, followed …
What Do the Occupy Wall Streeters Care About? Haidt on the Moral Foundations of Ows Read More »
Lynne Kiesling Steve Horwitz continues to provide excellent focal point arguments about political protests and crony corporatism. In his Freeman column yesterday, he elaborated on the arguments that I developed here earlier in the week and that others have made elsewhere, that the core problem underlying corporate power is its connection to government power: The …
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