Center for Industrial Progress

Power Hour: “How Oil Improves the Planet” at Michigan State University

Adam Edmonsond — Fri, 24 May 2013 06:07:13 +0000

This episode of Power Hour is Alex Epstein’s recent talk at Michigan State University, on the subject of “How Oil Improves the Planet.”

Download Episode 53 – “How Oil Improves the Planet” at Michigan State University

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Power Hour: Travis Fisher on Electricity

Adam Edmonsond — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:28:56 +0000

On this episode of Power Hour, Alex Epstein talks with electricity expert Travis Fisher about the basics of electricity, and about some of the lesser known facts about how this now-ubiquitous form of energy came to be the go-to resource for light, then for operating machinery in factories, and now for almost every technology we count on today. This is the first full episode of Power Hour devoted to electricity, and it’s not to be missed.

Download Episode 52 – Travis Fisher on Electricity

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Power Hour: Michael Binnion on the Canadian Oil and Gas Industry

Adam Edmonsond — Fri, 10 May 2013 01:55:15 +0000

On this week’s Power Hour, Alex Epstein discusses the state of the Canadian oil and gas industry with Michael Binnion, CEO of Questerre Energy. Binnion combines a lot of experience with an uncommonly insightful historical and philosophical perspective that make his observations of the industry particularly valuable.

Download Episode 51 – Michael Binnion on the Canadian Oil and Gas Industry

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Power Hour: Myron Ebell on the Rise and Fall of Cap and Trade

Adam Edmonsond — Tue, 07 May 2013 05:51:05 +0000

On this week’s Power Hour, Alex Epstein interviews Myron Ebell, Director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), about the various forms of control that governments in the United States and Europe have taken over the energy industry on the premise of catastrophic global warming—particularly the rise and fall of “cap and trade” policies.

Download Episode 50 – Myron Ebell on the Rise and Fall of Cap and Trade

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Alex Epstein on the Frank Beckmann Show

Adam Edmonsond — Tue, 07 May 2013 04:43:03 +0000

On this episode of the Frank Beckmann Show, Alex Epstein talks about the subject of his upcoming talk at Michigan State University: How Oil Improves the Planet. Topics covered include: how oil improves the environment, how to talk to people about energy issues in a way that changes minds, and the difference between the fallacy of “sustainability” and the real driver of ongoing human success on earth: ingenuity.

Power Hour: Stanley Kurtz on the Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement

Adam Edmonsond — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 05:57:55 +0000

On this episode of Power Hour, Alex Epstein interviews Stanley Kurtz, author of a series of recent articles in the National Review on the fossil fuel divestment movement, its leader, Bill McKibben, and what the conduct of the members of the movement on college campuses tells us about the state of liberal education today.

Download Episode 49 – Stanley Kurtz on the Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement

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Power Hour: CIP vs. Sierra Club at Stanford University

Adam Edmonsond — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 21:37:18 +0000

On this episode of Power Hour, Alex Epstein goes to Stanford University to debate Bruce Nilles, Senior Campaign Director for the Sierra Club’s “Beyond Coal” campaign. The subject of the debate is: “Should the government restrict fossil fuels?”

Download Episode 48 – CIP vs. Sierra Club at Stanford University

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Alex Epstein on The Source with Ezra Levant: “Fossil Fuel Fight” (SunNews)

Adam Edmonsond — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:37:45 +0000

Thought Emissions Threaten Intellectual Climate at Vassar

Adam Edmonsond — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 17:56:34 +0000

On March 29, Alex Epstein’s talk, “Fossil Fuels Improve the Planet,” at Vassar College was interrupted by a student reading a prepared statement which denounced the consumption of fossil fuels as entailing, among other things, “intimidation.” The incident followed a week during which posters for the talk were ripped down, the home of the talk’s organizer was vandalized, and a threat was made by one student to disrupt the talk by physically harming himself.

Since then, an article by Stanley Kurtz has highlighted what happened at Vassar as symptomatic of a larger deterioration of the values of liberal education in American universities, in the favor of political indoctrination and intellectual conformity. A follow-up piece points to the weak-kneed response by Vassar’s administration, whose flimsy comments imply that far from raising concern about the free flow of ideas, such attempts to silence exponents of unpopular views on campus are now to be expected and tolerated.

Kurtz claims that the climate of intellectual conformity and intimidation at Vassar precedes this particular event, and I can certainly confirm that this problem is not unique to Vassar. I recall very clearly the message conveyed when an English professor at my own alma mater stood up during a lecture by a visiting pro-capitalist philosopher and attempted hysterically to shout him down. The message was that some moral-political truths are beyond the scope of thought, and that those who wish to challenge them should be forcibly prevented from gaining an audience.

This attitude is implied by the last sentence of the Vassar student’s rant: “Those of you who prefer a friendly and intelligent discussion about divestment, fossil fuels and sustainability, stand up now and follow me . . .” In other words, thought and discussion of these issues is only “friendly” and “intelligent” if it is in basic agreement with the ideas held by the majority today.

This approach to disagreement is made necessary by the fact that these students’ views are accepted and held as articles of faith. Those who have the intellectual independence to come to their conclusions by reason do not attempt to bypass the minds of those they aim to convince.

Power Hour: Energy Panel at Duke University

Amy Chou — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 13:37:36 +0000

On this episode of Power Hour, Alex Epstein and CIP’s nuclear expert, Thomas Eiden, visit Duke University to participate on an energy panel. Alex and Thomas discuss oil, nuclear, and the future of energy.

Download Episode 47 – Energy Panel at Duke University

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