The next time an environmentalist warns us of a pending disaster or that we are running out of something, we ought to ask: When was the last time a prediction of yours was right?
Archive | Science
Science and Technology
Sierra Club “forward on climate” rally is a “blackout rally” opposition leader says
On Sunday, February 17, the Sierra Club will lead what is being billed as the world’s largest ever “climate rally.” “This is a blackout rally,” said Alex Epstein, President of the Center for Industrial Progress (CIP). “The Sierra Club doesn’t just want to outlaw the Keystone Pipeline, which would by itself be a horrible economic [...]
Interventions Beget Interventions
It has long been noted that government intervention seldom, if ever, accomplishes the stated purpose. When the failure of some regulation, subsidy, or program becomes clear, legislators respond with further interventions. As an example, consider the solar panel industry. Solyndra, which received more than $500 billion in federal loan guarantees, is only one of many [...]
Big Oil: Please, Please Let Us Drill
The headline on CNN.com said it all: “Big Oil’s promise: Let us drill, we’ll hire 1.4 million workers.” The article goes on to say: With job creation taking center stage in American politics, the oil industry Wednesday made a pitch for drilling more widely. With looser restrictions, the industry says it could deliver 1.4 million [...]
The EPA’s RRP Rule isn’t About Safety
I wrote this in May 2010. It remains relevant. On April 22, 2010 an EPA regulation governing renovation, repair, and painting (RRP) took effect. The regulation governs any activity that will disturb paint containing lead and applies to all homes built before 1978 and “child-occupied facilities”. On Wednesday I took the certification course mandated by [...]
Ethics of Energy Companies
Energy companies, particularly those producing fossil fuels—oil, natural gas, coal—are under attack by the environmentalists and their sympathizers in the media. It is one thing to criticize companies such as BP, deservedly, for lax safety procedures or lacking emergency preparedness that lead to disastrous pollution. But it is entirely different to attack these companies precisely [...]
Wealth Creation and Property Rights: Good For the Planet
Last week, I was writing about the first UN World Happiness Report and how it pits wealth creation and wealth against happiness. I promised to discuss why wealth creation is not only good for people’s happiness but also for the planet. Wealth creation without the right to private property would be much diminished, for the [...]
The Real Meaning of Earth Hour
The lights of our cities and monuments are a symbol of human achievement, of what mankind has accomplished in rising from the cave to the skyscraper. Earth Hour presents the disturbing spectacle of people celebrating those lights being extinguished. Its call for people to renounce energy and to rejoice at darkened skyscrapers makes its real meaning unmistakably clear: Earth Hour symbolizes the renunciation of industrial civilization.
The “Limits” of Economic Progress
A few weeks ago I caught a portion of a radio program in which a commentator argued that economic progress has limits. He used a hamster as an example: For the first few weeks of his life, a hamster doubles in size each week. If he did this for a year, he would weight nine [...]
No Easy Fix for Gas Prices
This month, as unleaded gasoline prices increased for 17 consecutive days (to a national average of $3.647 per gallon – up 11% thus far this year) and West Texas Intermediate crude joined Brent crude in breaking through a $100 per barrel level, energy prices emerged as a full blown political issue. While President Obama conveniently [...]