Politicians and pundits claim that oil companies' recent quarter of higher profits is mostly a "windfall"--which should be "given back" to society via a proposed $20 billion tax. As Representative Dennis Kucinich and others say, they seek "to tax only excess profits,...
Alex Epstein
Alex Epstein is a philosopher who applies big-picture, humanistic thinking to industrial and environmental controversies.He founded Center for Industrial Progress (CIP), a for-profit think tank and communications consulting firm focused on energy and environmental issues, in 2011 to offer a positive, pro-human alternative to the Green movement.He is the author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels and Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas—Not Less.He is the author of EnergyTalkingPoints.com featuring hundreds of concise, powerful, well-referenced talking points on energy, environmental, and climate issues.Follow him on Twitter @AlexEpstein.
The Unlearned Lesson of Enron–4 Years Later
Four years ago this month, Enron Corporation--number 7 on the Fortune 500--filed for bankruptcy, culminating a collapse that shocked America. It is commonly believed that Enron fell because its leaders, eager to make money, schemed to bilk investors. The ethical...
“Muslim Opinion” Be Damned: Hatred of America is Irrational and Undeserved
To listen to most of our foreign-policy commentators, the biggest problem facing America today is the fact that many Muslims are mad at us. "Whatever one's views on the [Iraq] war," writes a New York Times columnist, "thoughtful Americans need to consider . . . the...
Presumed Guilty: The Injustice and Destruction of Sarbanes-Oxley
Sarbanes-Oxley is a moral and economic atrocity. It is past time to repeal this monstrous law and start treating businessmen as American citizens: innocent until proven otherwise.
The “Animal Rights” Movement’s Cruelty to Humans
The "animal rights" movement has pulled off a deadly deception: promote a vicious, anti-human policy, while feigning benevolent, compassionate motives. The deception takes the form of opposing life-saving medical research--in the name of opposing cruelty to animals....
Fight the Root of Terrorism With Bombs, Not Bread
In light of the recent suicide bombings in London, and the general inability of the West to prevent terrorist attacks, there is much talk about fighting the "root cause" of terrorism. The most popular argument is that terrorism is caused by poverty. The United Nations...
A Culture of Living Death
Religious conservatives are calling the death of Terri Schiavo a betrayal of "the sanctity of human life." We must, they say, replace our existing culture with a new "culture of life." "It should be our goal as a nation," proclaims President Bush, "to build a culture...
Why Social Security Should Not Be Saved
The new report by the Social Security trustees, claiming that Social Security will go broke in 2041, is bound to fuel the nationwide debate over Social Security. One side, led by President Bush, says the system is in crisis and must be saved via "partial...
Drug Safety vs. the FDA
As studies continue to be released that explore the cardiovascular risks of Vioxx, Celebrex, Bextra, and other pharmaceuticals, the FDA has come under widespread criticism for failing to protect the public from "unsafe" drugs. The lesson commonly drawn from the...
Social Security: A Great Moral Failure
In his State of the Union Address, President Bush said that many options were "on the table" to deal with Social Security's problems, and that he "will listen to anyone who has a good idea to offer." But there is one idea he will not listen to: the idea that Social...
End Social Security
Throughout the nation, a fierce debate rages over Social Security. One side, led by President Bush, says the system is in crisis and must be saved via "partial privatization." The other side says the system is basically sound and can be saved with a little tinkering....
Loving Life: A Case-Study in Presenting Objectivism Objectively
Loving Life is an introduction to the Objectivist Ethics that assumes no prior knowledge of Ayn Rand’s ideas.
Environmentalism’s Dangerous Campaign for “Safety”
America's domestic shortage of natural gas is, as Alan Greenspan has observed, "a very serious problem." Fortunately, there is a proven technology that could enable Americans to access plentiful natural gas stores from overseas: Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)--natural...
The Meaning of the Right to Vote
Every Election Day politicians, intellectuals, and activists propagate a seemingly patriotic but utterly un-American idea: the notion that our most important right--and the source of America's greatness--is the right to vote. According to former President Bill...
Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative Is an Assault on the Wall Between Church and State
President Bush is very vocal about his religious beliefs; he likes to preach publicly about "the power of faith" and "the vital place of faith in the life of our nation." This does not bother most Americans, who believe that while the President personally wants to...
World Opinion Be Damned: America’s Attempts to Appease “World Opinion” Are Depraved and Suicidal
It is a testament to the perverse priorities of our politicians and journalists that the biggest American outcry over Abu Ghraib has been not about the gruesome decapitation of American Nicholas Berg by terrorists, but about the fact that many Arabs and Europeans are...
How to Choose a Career
The basic rule to follow in a process of identification is to choose the career in which you will spend the most time doing the activity you love to do the most.
To Ban Cloning Would Be a Moral Abomination
In a huge breakthrough for medical progress, scientists from South Korea have finally created a cloned human embryo and extracted its stem cells--a feat that makes life-saving embryonic stem-cell treatments that much closer to reality. Instead of taking this thrilling...
The Terror of “Animal Rights”
The "animal rights" movement is celebrating its latest victory: an earlier, more painful death for future victims of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease.Thanks to intimidation by animal rights terrorists, Cambridge University has dropped plans to build...
The Terror of “Animal Rights”
The "animal rights" movement is celebrating its latest victory: an earlier, more painful death for future victims of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease. Thanks to intimidation by animal rights terrorists, Cambridge University has dropped plans to build...
Cloning is a Pro-Life Technology
Biotechnological progress, long under moral and legal attack, was granted a two-year reprieve last Thursday when the United Nations announced that it is postponing consideration of an international ban on human cloning. Members of that body have been fiercely divided...
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