In this issue:
- Manuscript completed!
- New Talking Points
- The fallacious “Social Cost of Carbon” with David Kreutzer
Manuscript completed!
I wanted to delay this newsletter until I could write the following words: I just sent the manuscript of my new book on fossil fuels to Penguin Random House (my publisher).
The working title is Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Fossil Fuel, Not Less.
I’ve been working on this book, day-in/day-out for over two years now. It’s been challenging, fun, sometimes stressful, and phenomenally educational.
The book is not yet finished–there is still a thorough editing process with the publisher. But it is right on track for the finish line, and my publisher should announce the publication date soon.
Special thanks to Steffen Henne for leading the crazy amount of research and documentation this book involves–as well as staying up very late in Germany to answer a couple dozen last-minute queries by me. And thanks to all the Accelerators who made it possible for me, Steffen, and other contributors to spend so much time on this project.
New Talking Points
I’ve been posting a lot of talking points to Twitter lately. Here are some of my favorites.
The fallacious “Social Cost of Carbon” with David Kreutzer
I had a fun Power Hour discussion this week with economist David Kreutzer about the “Social Cost of Carbon,” a pseudoscientific metric that is being used to justify mass restriction of fossil fuel use. I have long had many suspicions about deep problems with this metric, and it was great to have the opportunity to run my suspicions by a genuine expert on the topic.
Here’s the official description.
Power Hour: The fallacious “Social Cost of Carbon” with David Kreutzer
The Biden Administration has just announced $51/ton “Social Cost of Carbon.” On this week’s Power Hour, Alex Epstein interviews David Kreutzer, Senior Economist at the Institute for Energy Research, about the many methodological and moral problems with this metric, including:
- How the SCC overestimates negative climate impacts
- How the SCC underestimates positive climate impacts
- How the SCC underestimates adaptation
- How the SCC ignores the unique cost-effectiveness of fossil fuels
- How the SCC is radically changed by arbitrary decisions about its “discount rate”
You can watch on YouTube or listen on Apple Podcasts.
That’s it for this week. Since I’m sending the newsletter so late this week, let me wish you a happy, rejuvenating, and, of course, high-energy weekend.
To Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Energy,
Alex