What George Clooney Can Teach Us About Climate Change

Well it’s just a stupid argument. If you have 99 percent of doctors who tell you ‘you are sick’ and 1 percent that says ‘you’re fine,’ you probably want to hang out with, check it up with the 99. You know what I mean? The idea that we ignore that we are in some way involved in climate change is …

The Church Of Climate Scientology: How Climate Science Became A Religion

“Science” is perhaps the most abused word in the English language. The word used to name the method of Galileo, Newton, and Einstein has also been used to rationalize some of the most destructive political policies in human history, such as socialism and population control. The Nazis invoked the once-renowned “science” of eugenics to justify a Holocaust of “scientifically inferior” races. How …

North Dakota Ingrates Want to Be Paid for Worthless Natural Gas

When I visited North Dakota recently, activists were starting to raise a stir over safety flaring–the practice of burning dangerous natural gas that comes out of the ground during oil drilling. Having studied the history of the oil industry extensively, I have a great appreciation for safety flaring; before it existed, many oil workers died from natural gas explosions. But …

Real Alternative Energy

“Alternative energy” conjures up the idea of a superior alternative but in practice is used to promote inferior alternatives–namely, solar, wind, and biofuels. At this point in technological and economic history, those are “alternatives” to coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, and hydro in the way that wood is an “alternative” to steel and cups attached to strings are “alternatives” to iPhones. Advocates of …

Is “Acidizing” the Next Fracking?

For the last several years, opponents of oil and natural gas have tried to convince the public that the “fracking”—hydraulic fracturing—used in much of modern production is “unsafe.” As claim after claim has been debunked and debunked, the “oil and gas production shouldn’t be allowed because it involves fracking” argument has lost some momentum. Unfortunately but predictably, a new argument …

What Atlas Shrugged Can Teach Us About Climate Change

I’m in the middle of rereading my favorite book, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Every time I read the book, I am amazed by how much it illuminates today’s controversies, even though Atlas Shrugged is a) over 50 years old and b) a novel. Consider the following passage, where industrialist-philosopher Francisco d’Anconia remarks to steel magnate Hank Rearden how dangerous the climate …

Obama Lied, People Thrived

Great news in the world of energy today: “US is Overtaking Russia As World’s Largest Oil-and-Gas Producer.” By now, everyone knows the cause: using technologies such as hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and horizontal drilling, America’s oil and gas industry is producing life-giving oil and gas at levels few thought possible even 10 years ago. But there is another cause. Our incredible energy …

Rolling Stone Attacks Global Warming ‘Deniers’ As Anti-Science, Then Commits Big Scientific Blunder

Last week,  I learned that I had achieved every young musician’s dream–I made a Rolling Stone Top 10 List. Unfortunately, I am no musician and it was no compliment. I was, along with the Koch Brothers and ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, named one of the magazine’s “Global Warming’s Denier Elite.” “President Obama has vowed to take action to fight global warming,” Rolling Stone says. …

Rolling Stone’s Carbon Cover-Up

Yesterday, when reading a Rolling Stone feature on “Global Warming’s Denier Elite” (I was number 4) I noticed an embarrassingly crude scientific error. In an article condemning me and 9 other supporters of fossil fuel energy as scientific ignoramuses, the editors featured a picture of a coal plant emitting some smoky-looking substance described as “carbon emissions.” Problem: Carbon dioxide was not …