Free Republic

America is on the verge of energy independence. We now pump as much oil as Saudi Arabia. Investments in new technologies are paying off, buoying our economy with new jobs and lower energy prices. What's not to like? Well plenty, if you are an activist who takes your lead from an organization called 350.org that wants to end the use of oil, gas and coal. The "350" comes from the group's goal of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere from its present level of 400 parts per million to 350. Its unclear what good such a...

As Watchdog.org report Bruce Parker vividly reported Sunday from inside the environmentalist carnival that was the People’s Climate March through midtown Manhattan, this pre-game show to Tuesday’s going-green confab in New York City showcased an array of left-loving characters. His greenness himself, former Vice President Al Gore was in attendance. So was Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio. The vegans, the shamans, the commies, big labor, the socialists, and probably more than a few sociopaths all were on hand at what was billed as the largest climate-related protest in history. Along the parade route, from Central Park West to West 34th Street,...

If Americans want some cheap fuel for the economy, it would be best to vote GOP this time around because only the GOP has a plan for inexpensive, reliable domestic energy production. Combined with a lifting of restrictions on exportation of unrefined oil, fuel prices could be significantly lower than they are now. And where they are now—lower—has helped the economy greatly in the last month. For years I’ve puzzled over how so many Americans have lost the connection between inexpensive, reliable energy sources and a robust economy. But this month’s retail sales numbers make the connection clear. Retail sales...

A group called Fossil Free UC wants regents to divest the University of California's endowment fund of all fossil fuel holdings. "As one of the leading public institutions in the world, we have the privilege and the responsibility to take action where we can influence change," Fossil Free UC explains on its website. This is the global-warming movement at its most honest. Its goal is not change, which requires sacrifice in a plugged-in age; its goal is to "influence change" -- to wit, wag a finger at others and demand they do something symbolic and politically correct. What better...

A teen said he was cyberbullied for wearing an “I Love Fossil Fuels” shirt on Earth Day. John Digiacobbe said he loves fossil fuels because they’ve been around for millions of years and provide for more than 80 percent of energy. Some of his classmates, however, don’t seem to share that view. Digiacobbe said wearing the shirt prompted comments at school and a “firestorm of negative tweets.” …

MSNBC host Chris Hayes is getting an alarming amount of attention for his latest effort in The Nation, a stemwinder arguing that the abolition of fossil fuels is like the abolition of slavery.The argument may sound forced, but Hayes has a logical premise that goes something like this: Socrates does not wear sandals; a potato kugel does not wear sandals; therefore Socrates is a potato kugel. It’s also tricked out with quasi-erudition and broad claims such as this one: “Before the widespread use of fossil fuels, slaves were one of the main sources of energy (if not the main source)...

~snip~ "Let there be light," said the Lord. And there was light and there was energy, and there was solar energy for all of us. You and I are born equal under the sun, with equal rights to the use of our sun's energy. Unless the path in the delivery of solar energy changes, some of us will be making rent payments to some of our neighbors for the use of solar electricity for the rest of our lives, making the wealth divide even more isolating. This article attempts to throw some light on this reality. The fossil fuels that...

After fomenting fears of fracking and fossil fuels, the administration's campaign to put food in our gas tanks has wiped out millions of acres of conservation land, destroyed habitat and polluted water supplies. Ethanol was supposed to save the earth and pave the way to energy independence. It has done neither. We are getting closer to energy independence but it is thanks to the technology known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, that has unleashed our vast reserves of oil and natural gas formerly trapped in shale formations underneath much of the U.S. Fracking was supposed to be environmentally dangerous, a...

STOCKHOLM — Scientists working on a landmark U.N. report on climate change are struggling over how to address a wrinkle in the meteorological data that has given ammunition to global-warming skeptics: The heating of Earth's surface appears to have slowed in the past 15 years even though greenhouse gas emissions keep rising. For years, skeptics have touted what looks like a slowdown in surface warming since 1998 to cast doubt on the scientific consensus that humans are cooking the planet by burning coal, oil and natural gas.

CALGARY • An anti-Keystone XL pipeline commercial funded by President Barack Obama supporter and hedge-fund billionaire Tom Steyer confirms what many Canadians have long suspected — American anti-oil activists have gone mad. The commercial was intended to be aired Tuesday evening on WRC-TV, an affiliate of NBC in Washington, D.C., to coincide with the president’s appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The commercial is so offensive the station refused to air it. While intended as a parody, it insults TransCanada Corp. CEO Russ Girling, whose company is proposing Keystone XL; it’s a low blow to Canada; and it...

Full title: ‘Keystone oil will travel through America not to America’: Billionaire steps up anti-Keystone campaign with US$1M ad blitzThe author of the piece is with Bloomberg so it can not be posted on FR. However, the title says it all. Financial guru and billionaire Tom Steyer has re-invented himself as an anti-Keystone campaigner. He is sponsoring ads in a four-part, US$1 million advertising campaign to convince viewers the Keystone XL pipeline will hurt the economy and communities and should be blocked. Coincidentally (or not so) he is one of Obama's biggest campaign supporters and fund raiser. His activities aren't...

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its International Energy Outlook 2013 on July 25, reporting that global energy demand will grow by 56 percent between 2010 and 2040. According to EIA, most of this growth will come from the developing countries where strong economic growth is driving additional energy demand. EIA estimates that China and India will account for half of the world’s increase in energy consumption through 2040. China, for example, used 3.4 percent more energy than the United States in 2010, but is expected to double U.S. energy demand by 2040. Further, while nuclear and renewable energy are...

A noted climatologist and recently-retired NASA research chief has entered the EU’s energy policy debate, with a warning that any re-industrialization strategy that increases fossil fuels use can only be short-term, irrational and economically wasteful. In a wide-ranging interview with EurActiv, James Hansen branded the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) “ineffectual” and flawed, and accused energy firms of preferring government bribes over investments in clean technology. Hansen, whose Congressional testimony on climate change in 1988 first popularized the issue in the United States, also said that approving the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to bring tar sands fuel from Canada to...

Matt Ridley, author of The Red Queen, Genome, The Rational Optimist and other books, dropped by Reason's studio in Los Angeles last month to talk about a curious global trend that is just starting to receive attention. Over the past three decades, our planet has gotten greener! Even stranger, the greening of the planet in recent decades appears to be happening because of, not despite, our reliance on fossil fuels. While environmentalists often talk about how bad stuff like CO2 causes bad things to happen like global warming, it turns out that the plants aren't complaining. Approximately 19 minutes. Produced...

Video showing that the Earth is getting greener BECAUSE of more co2 in the atmosphere and that the use of fossil fuels is preserving nature, not destroying it.

LONDON (Reuters) - International climate scientists are more certain than ever that humans are responsible for global warming, rising sea levels and extreme weather events, according to a leaked draft report by an influential panel of experts. The early draft, which is still subject to change before a final version is released in late 2013, showed that a rise in global average temperatures since pre-industrial times was set to exceed 2 degrees Celsius by 2100, and may reach 4.8 Celsius. "It is extremely likely that human activities have caused more than half of the observed increase in global average surface...

It’s a bad omen for free enterprise, prosperity and liberty when normally warring special interest groups such as big business and progressive activists agree on public policy. During President Obama’s first term big business interests led by the pharmaceutical industry joined the union lobby in successfully making ObamaCare the law of the land. Shortly after Obama’s re-election, history may be repeating itself this time regarding energy policy. While it’s known that politics makes strange bedfellows none can be more bizarre than former White House green jobs czar Van Jones and Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson agreeing on a carbon tax....

Governor Mitt Romney strongly supports North American energy independence as the foundation of renewed US employment and prosperity. President Obama is waging war on fossil fuels, job creation, and efforts to end our economic recession and reduce dependence on Middle Eastern and Russian oil. Romney’s emphasis on careful analysis and due diligence brought him and Bain Capital notable winners like AMC Entertainment, Burger King, Burlington Coat Factory, Domino’s Pizza, Dunkin’ Donuts and Staples. Obama’s focus on ideology, political calculation, cronyism and campaign contributors produced losers and scandals like Abound Solar, Crescent Dunes, Ener1, Fisker, Mountain Plaza, Solyndra, Tesla, and a...

So there I am, pulling into a gas station in my town, and Tarek is smiling. He owns the station, and right now he's charging me $4.25 a gallon. American motorists may not be better off than they were four years ago, but Tarek certainly is. When President Barack Obama took office, the average price for a gallon of regular gas was $1.84. That means gas prices have more than doubled on Obama's watch. But why? The primary reason is that the system is rigged. Oil companies watch the worldwide speculation market, and if the traders are bidding the price...

Remember our post yesterday about your public servant Al Armendariz, regional director of the Environmental Protection Agency, who voiced his agency’s “philosophy of enforcement” in service to America? “I was in a meeting once and I gave an analogy to my staff about my philosophy of enforcement… I’ll go ahead and tell you what I said: It was kind of like how the Romans used to … conquer villages in the Mediterranean. They’d go in to a little Turkish town somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw and they’d crucify them. Then, you know, that town was really...