In this issue:
- Biden’s immoral and illegal 50% emissions reduction pledge
- Rubin Report panel
- New Prager University interview
- Power Hour: Brent Bennett on the physics of energy progress and the politics of Texas electricity
- Quick updates
Two quick developments as I go to press with this week’s newsletter…
1. The video of my Earth Day event with Greenpeace cofounder Patrick Moore is now live. The first 12 minutes is the best explanation I’ve ever given about how to think about climate issues. If you can only watch one of my Earth Day videos, watch this one.
2. I rarely see any Congressional effort I can support, but I just publicly supported the efforts by Representatives Chip Roy and Lauren Boebert that would reverse President Biden’s unconstitutional and immoral moratoria on oil and gas development. If you agree with my reasoning, encourage your Representative to support these efforts–technically called a “discharge petition”–as well.
Biden’s immoral and illegal 50% emissions reduction pledge
Joe Biden has announced that he is committing (unilaterally, no law passed by Congress) to a 50-52% reduction in US CO2 emissions by the year 2030.
I posted a lengthy Twitter thread on this, with lots of references.
Rubin Report panel
Last Friday I participated in The Rubin Report’s post-Earth Day panel on climate change and the Green New Deal.
The other participants were Bjorn Lomborg, author of False Alarm, and Benji Backer, head of the American Conservation Coalition.
Dave encouraged us at the outset to disagree with each other, and I certainly took him up on that offer when it came to the positions that Backer took–which, I argued, are based on the false “delicate nurturer” premise underlying today’s climate catastrophism.
New Prager University interview
On Earth Day I did a 10-minute interview for Prager University on the real state of the Earth from a human flourishing perspective.
The video has 139,000 views so far.
Some points I covered were:
- Why so many of us believe the Earth is being destroyed when it is in fact becoming a better and better place to live.
- What climate scientists do and don’t know about climate.
- How to address the false assumptions that cause people to catastrophize about climate.
Power Hour: Brent Bennett on the physics of energy progress and the politics of Texas electricity
Here’s the official description of this week’s Power Hour, which features Brent Bennett, a rising star in energy policy.
On this week’s Power Hour, Alex Epstein interviews Brent Bennett, a materials scientist by training and Policy Director of Life:Powered.
In the first half of the interview, Brent shares how his background in physics and materials science has informed his views on the future of energy. In the second half, he summarizes the politics of Texas electricity–before, during, and after the recent mass-blackouts.
Some of the specific topics covered include:
- Alex’s analogy between drug addicts and “renewable” power sources.
- How Moore’s Law is not a physical law, and how treating it that way distorts thinking about batteries.
- The limitations of batteries given existing physics knowledge.
- The proper relationship between physics and economics, and how today’s politicians invert it.
- How Texas did not have enough electricity generation to avoid rolling blackouts even if zero natural gas and coal plants had gone down.
- Why today’s Texas electricity “market” is totally unfair to reliable producers of electricity.
- What reforms are needed to make Texas electricity “markets” fair and reliable.
- How large financial institutions and tech companies are advocating policies that double down on unreliable electricity when Texas desperately needs reliable electricity.
- The powerful lobbyists that shape Texas electricity policy.
You can watch on YouTube or listen on Apple Podcasts.
Quick updates
- On August 6th I’ll be speaking at Young America’s Foundation annual student conference. Some of the other featured speakers are Ted Cruz, Congressman Bryon Donalds, and Lt. Col. Allen West.
- As the country opens up I am now fully available for live, in-person events (and I’m fully vaccinated). I’m also still doing virtual events. If you’re interested in booking an event, reply to this email directly and let me know what you’re thinking of.
- Last week I posted the following announcement without links. Here it is with links.
A very savvy reader of this newsletter, Paul Arends, has been doing some innovative work in the realm of how people can explore disagreements. He thinks (and I agree) that what he’s working on could help facilitate better discussion of energy and climate issues among many, many others. Here’s a 3-minute (link) and 15-minute (link) summary of his project. If you are interested in contacting Paul about this project you can reach him here.
Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter. This week I’m doing my latest edit on Part 4 of Fossil Future, which lays out the path to “a flourishing fossil future”–both the policies we need to get there and how we can persuade people to adopt those policies.
As I wrap up this project I am reminded of a comment Glenn Beck made about me 6 years ago when I was on his show:
Glenn Beck: He was a fascinating, fascinating guy. Obviously he has spent very little time for the last 5 years around people, and just around facts. I mean this guy has really done a lot of …
Stu Burguiere: He seemed personable, I don’t know why you’d frame it that way.
Glenn Beck: No, no, no, I just mean he’s done a ton of …
Stu Burguiere: Yes he has.
Glenn Beck: You’re not getting to his knowledge level on this by not just sitting at home and just reading and researching.
I appreciate Glenn’s comments, and it’s true that I spend a lot of time “sitting at home and just reading and researching.” But the real secret to how much factual knowledge was in The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, and the 5X more factual knowledge that’s in Fossil Future, is that I am good at putting together a team of people to help me learn and think through issues at a far faster rate than I could do on my own.
Chief among these individuals is Steffen Henne, who is very busy these days helping me get every fact right for Fossil Future as well as for Energy Talking Points.
So thanks to Steffen, and thanks to all the Accelerators who make it possible for me to have such a capable team.
To Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Energy,
Alex