Energy & Environment

“Socially Conscious” Energy Investing Will Hurt in the Long Run

Is your retirement plan safe? No, I don’t mean from the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus. I mean from the political whims of self-serving investment managers and environmental activists. There’s a growing trend in the financial community, driven by boisterous public shaming campaigns, towards environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing — meaning giving more funds to...

July 26, 2020

Energy & Environment

ERCOT’s Phantom Reserve Margins Spell Trouble for Summertime

Even with the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) reports Texans will need more power than ever this summer. News headlines claim wind and solar projects will help Texas meet its growing power needs. However, recent experience says Texans should be skeptical about giving credit to renewables, especially...

July 8, 2020

Energy & Environment

Transportation and Climate Initiative: the wrong idea at the wrong time

Late last year, 12 East Coast states were heralded as climate heroes for proposing a new Transportation and Climate Initiative, supposedly a groundbreaking new approach to stop catastrophic climate change. In reality, it’s nothing more than a poorly disguised gas tax that will have literally no environmental benefit. And it’s a bad idea at any...

July 7, 2020

Energy & Environment

‘Climate justice’ is anything but justice for communities of color

The tragic death of George Floyd has brought about a renewed focus on social justice, with so many of us thinking over the past few weeks, “Surely, we can do better.” As the dust settles from nationwide riots and inexplicable campaigns to defund the police, it’s time to take a serious look at the real-world...

June 25, 2020

Energy & Environment

Earth Day Hangover? Wait Until You See the Tab

Last week marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, a time when many take to social media to celebrate so-called “green” energy and call for broad government support. It’s for the children, after all. But the real numbers show that we have spent tens of billions of dollars on federal energy subsidies with precious little to...

April 28, 2020

Energy & Environment

On Earth Day, don’t celebrate pollution cuts from coronavirus

This Earth Day, the pollution reduction caused by the coronavirus pandemic is nothing to celebrate. Some radical environmentalists are glorifying the suffering and death caused by the pandemic, calling the coronavirus the “cure” for what plagues the planet — us. Even Pope Francis suggested the virus might be nature’s attempt to strike back at humanity: “Nature never...

April 22, 2020

Economy

Coronavirus budget constraints call for fiscal restraint in the Capitol

Texas is unlike our nation’s federal government in many ways, not the least of which is our balanced budget. But just because a budget is balanced doesn’t mean it’s fiscally responsible. With the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 crisis, and especially the steep decline in oil and gas production, Texas will be in for...

April 20, 2020

Energy & Environment

Trump’s Vehicle Emission Rules Will Save Americans’ Lives and Money

In a time when millions have been laid off in the wake of the coronavirus and too many families are struggling to make ends meet, the Trump administration’s new vehicle emission standards are a step in the right direction that America needs. The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule will cut the average price of new vehicles...

April 14, 2020

Energy & Environment

‘Stop the Money’ Anti-Energy Project Will Strap the Poor for Cash

The fossil fuel follies continue. The environmentalists’ latest publicity campaign is a new name for more of the same: Stop the Money Pipeline, designed to bully banks, investment firms, and insurance providers into cutting ties with energy companies. What the climate activists don’t realize is that divesting from fossil fuels won’t have any meaningful effect...

February 26, 2020

Energy & Environment

US Energy Dominance: The Case for Unbridled Optimism

One thing was clear from President Trump’s State of the Union address last week — there’s no stopping America’s energy dominance. The case for “unbridled optimism,” in the president’s words, was clear from last week’s hopeful and forward-looking remarks. “Thanks to our bold regulatory reduction campaign, the United States has become the number one producer...

February 12, 2020

Energy & Environment

Rick Perry Led Texas and The Nation to Energy Prosperity

The Houston Chronicle editorial board missed the mark in its recent criticism of our outgoing Secretary of Energy, slamming Rick Perry for—get this—doing his job. “It’s clear that promoting fossil fuels, especially coal, took up far more time than it should have,” wrote the editorial board, “for someone whose job also includes developing energy alternatives.”...

November 27, 2019

Energy & Environment

America, Not Paris, is the Environment’s Best Champion

President Trump recently shed light on a little-acknowledged but critical fact: Free-market American ingenuity, not the Paris Agreement, is improving our environment. “The Paris Accord would’ve been a giant transfer of American wealth to foreign nations that are responsible for most of the world’s pollution,” President Trump said at the Shale Insight conference in Pittsburgh....

November 15, 2019