Free Republic

As a Texas oilman and major contributor to the Republican Party, you’ve just launched yourself, at 80, into green stardom by devising an energy plan that relies mainly on wind power. How does it feel to be in the company of Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi and other leading Democrats? If they’re on my side, that’s good. We’re working on a nonpolitical venture here. Why do you think your energy plan is superior to others’ plans? My dad once said to me, “Son, a fool with a plan can beat a genius with no plan.” I’ve used that here in this...

On Tuesday, state regulators shut down the Sunshine Energy Program which allowed Florida Power & Light ratepayers to contribute to the utility’s investments in renewable energy. Regulators found that, at best, 24% of the $9.75 each customer voluntarily added to his or her bill was actually invested in renewable energy. Commissioner Nathan Skop concludes that about $9 MILLION went “into a black hole where there is no transparency. . . . Clearly this is not right.” He went on to note that “no reasonable person would have contributed to this program knowing that 80 percent” of their money “was not...

The eastern Colorado wind turbine tapped for the Democratic National Convention's carbon-offset program has one problem: It doesn't generate any electricity. Convention organizers are now being questioned for their eagerness to market those credits to delegates. The DNC has contracted with Vermont-based NativeEnergy to offer delegates "Green challenge" carbon offsets to soften the environmental impact of convention travel. That money is then invested in carbon-free "green" energy sources around the country, including a wind turbine installed this year by the Wray School District RD-2. But a Face The State investigation reveals the district's turbine has never produced marketable energy due...

If you watch cable TV, chances are you've seen an ad promoting T. Boone Pickens' plan for reducing the vast sums we're spending on imported oil. Hearts quickened in the Democratic Party because Mr. Pickens says in the ad: "this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of." That's what Democrats say when they block drilling off our coasts and in Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. But the budding romance cooled when Mr. Pickens made it clear he supports lifting those drilling bans. Mr. Pickens' plan has two key elements. The first is to build a massive series of...

One of these words is not like the others. But then again, T. Boone Pickens isn't like the others either. Today, Stephen Marche examines a typical quote from a delightfully atypical enviro-crusader --- The general rule, that everything before the but is bullshit, does not apply in the case of T. Boone Pickens, the ex-wildcatter and current hedge-fund manager from Texas. Pickens' is the latest, and perhaps strangest, voice calling for a radical change in America's relationship with the environment. He has decided to spend $58-million of his own money on an ad campaign to promote a new American energy...

Green Hegemony What if there were a lie that was so big and so widely accepted that it was defended and promoted by the rulers of the world's nations, and those nations governments had huge agencies with billion dollar budgets based on that lie, and whole industries developed with no other purpose than pursuing and promoting the lie; and what if the lie became so pervasive that it was taught and promoted in every school and university until that lie was was embraced by almost all scientists, social and political leaders, news commentators, experts and authorities in the world and...

Carbon credits' dirty secret Energy companies and speculators make windfall profits while consumers are hit hardAt the bottom of the house of sand on which the Kyoto accord and world carbon trading markets are built, there's a leaking foundation. Otherwise known as a carbon credit. A carbon credit is a permit or, alternatively, a unit of currency, allowing a country or corporation to emit one metric tonne of carbon dioxide, linked to man-made global warming. Carbon credits are the main mechanism by which Kyoto transfers wealth from developed nations like Canada to developing ones like China. They are also the...

Americans have at long last seen some leadership on Capitol Hill on the energy crisis. The bad news is, that leadership had to come from outside Washington. Famed billionaire oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens brought a clear vision and a reverberating sense of urgency to Congress this past week in promoting his plan for energy independence. The plan includes a huge shift to wind energy for electricity and to natural gas for cars and trucks. He suggested the government should lead the way, by mandating that government agencies switch to natural gas vehicles. "This is an emergency," he said. "This...

The average American voter understands no more about the contributing factors of the current price of gasoline, than they do the falling value of their national currency. That makes them easy targets for political manipulation in a very important election year. Simple Supply and Demand Economics Most Americans kind of get this one, though they are often misled about the ups and downs of natural free market cycles and how much impact government has, or should have, on the matter. In short, the cost for one gallon of gas (or one loaf of bread) is dramatically increased when there is...

Note to readers who may not understand my position regarding climate change and environmentalism: I support conservation and responsible ecology and action. I do not support alarmism, pseudo science, hypocrisy concerning special interest and excessive governmental intervention into matters which a free market will easily handle much better without imposing additional and unecessary taxes. Please read this post with that in mind. I haven't taken the time to put together a round up of the Enviro-nitwit Supreme and all the other fun, so now seems like a good time. I do want to note one thing though, and that...

The silver lining in the cloud of high energy prices is the growing public support for domestic development of natural resources. Opinion polls, including data from California, show Americans are increasingly inclined to support drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf and in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In an effort to increase the domestic supply of oil and also to pressure Congressional Democrats not to extend the offshore ban, which expires September 30, on July 14 President Bush eliminated the executive order preventing offshore drilling. Not surprisingly, Democratic congressional leaders and their special interest allies oppose adding new areas for...

Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain travelled to Oregon in mid-May to deliver the definitive climate change speech of his campaign. He spoke in Portland, at the U.S. headquarters of Vestas Wind Systems AS, a Danish company that markets wind turbines around the world. He started on a self-deprecating note. “Today is a kind of test run for this company,” he said. “They've got wind technicians here, wind studies and all these wind turbines. But there's no wind. So now I know why they asked me to come and give a speech.” It was perhaps his most perceptive statement of...

- Jerry Taylor is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. Virtually every claim made by T. Boone Pickens to justify the lavish subsidies he is seeking for his wind energy investments is flat wrong. First, oil imports are not the cause of high gasoline prices. On the contrary, oil imports serve to keep gasoline prices down. After all, we import oil for a reason -- it's cheaper than the domestic alternative. If we were to restrict our energy diet to energy produced in the United States, it would make domestic energy producers (like Mr. Pickens) far richer and energy...

A whole new industry is springing up that will dwarf Al Gore's ripping off of the population through Global Warming. Companies are figuring out how to work the ridiculous "Carbon Credits" debacle to make big bucks. Rhodia, is a French Company, makes adipic acid which is a chemical used in the production of nylon. They have moved their operation to South Korea and Brazil. Why? A by-product of their manufacturing process is the creation of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that is over 300 times more potent as an atmospheric warming agent than carbon dioxide. Rhodia destroys the nitrous oxide...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Oil prices will hit $300 a barrel in 10 years if the United States fails to reduce its dependence on foreign imports, billionaire oil investor T. Boone Pickens told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday. The United States imports nearly 70 percent of its oil and Pickens said the world's top petroleum-consuming nation would import 80 percent in a decade if it does not aggressively tap its own natural gas and renewable resources. "If we continue to drift, oil will hit $300 a barrel in 10 years," Pickens testified at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and...

Al Gore gave a speech last week "challenging" America to run "on 100% zero-carbon electricity in 10 years" -- though that's just the first step on his road to "ending our reliance on carbon-based fuels." Serious people understand this is absurd. Maybe other people will start drawing the same conclusion about the man proposing it. The former vice president has also recently disavowed any intention of returning to politics. This is wise. As America's leading peddler of both doom and salvation, Mr. Gore has moved beyond the constraints and obligations of reality. His job is to serve as a Prophet...

DENVER - Planners of the Democratic National Convention are limiting the party's carbon footprint through a unique partnership with an Indian-focused environmental business. The Democratic National Convention Committee began working with NativeEnergy Inc. this spring to purchase carbon offsets for the dozens of convention staff who are flying, driving and otherwise polluting Denver as they carry out the big event. Party organizers are now asking that delegates, members of the media and other political officials who will be attending the late August gathering do the same. Delegates to the convention with the highest percentage of members offsetting their carbon emissions...

What's gotten into T. Boone Pickens? Apparently, a lot of wind and gas. Anyone who has watched any amount of cable television lately has seen his commercial, which concludes: "I've been an oil man my life, but this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of. I have a plan..."Not only does he have a plan, but Pickens also has a flair for the theatrical. He has adopted the Deomocrat talking point that "we can't drill our way out of this" and is repeating it every time the ad airs, which, if the Fox News Channel is any...

For many months, NewsBusters has been reporting the financial interest Nobel Laureate Al Gore has in advancing global warming hysteria, and has continually wondered when media will raise this issue to the American people. On Sunday's "Meet the Press," Gore gave host Tom Brokaw the perfect setup to ask him about his investments in renewable fuel technology when the former Vice President mentioned how much money T. Boone Pickens has put into windmill farms. Predictably, Brokaw missed this opportunity to be the first major, mainstream media member to ask the Global Warmingist-in-Chief about his own investments, and just how much...

Dick Mull’s letter attacking Al Gore, Mull evidently used old information from Fox News and Matt Drudge. According to climateprogress.org and greendaily.com, the Gores bought an 80-year-old house and spent 3 years renovating it to decrease energy use. Gore installed 33 solar panels, a rainwater collection system and a geothermal pump. He has replaced all incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs or light-emitting diodes. The Gores buy their electricity through their utility from Green Power Switch Energy Program, which means it comes from solar and wind power and methane gas. For this he has received a LEED Gold Certification...