This reprint from a collection of essays at Julian Simon.com is published in connection with the recent death of Paul R. Ehrlich (1932–2026). This piece was finalized in Simon’s treatise, The Ultimate Resource 2 (1996), pp. 604–607. Simon’s relative politeness to his adversary is a tribute to open, honest, and respectful debate (versus the infamous Ehrlich approach).
“When you launch a space shuttle you don’t trot out the flat-earthers to be commentators. They’re outside the bounds of what ought to be discourse in the media. In the field of ecology, Simon is the absolute equivalent of the flat-earthers.” (Paul Ehrlich, quoted below)
For economy of treatment of the matter of attack rhetoric, let’s focus on just one critic, Paul Ehrlich, who has directed a great deal of colorful language in my direction (see also his comments in the Afternote to Chapter 15, and my interchange with him in Simon, 1990, Selection 43).…
Continue ReadingThis post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, a free fortnightly published by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. Droz is also the author of the popular Substack Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues.
Greed Energy Economics:
*** The hidden costs of ‘100 per cent renewable’
Reliable Solar Has Larger Land Footprint Than Previously Thought
Wind Energy — Offshore:
Trump Already Won Gold For Stopping Offshore Wind
Wind Energy — Other:
*** French court ruling may open way for cases against wind turbines
CFACT helps organize Oklahoma rally opposing massive wind projects
New York Times Gives Wind Turbines a Free Pass to Slaughter Birds
Nuclear Energy:
*** The Most Expensive Science Lesson in European History
An American college student’s thoughts about education, cities, and energy
Miscellaneous Energy News:
*** Trump Checkmates China With Oil
Energy policies insure affordability problems
Electricity is about to become the most valuable commodity on earth
Alex Epstein: A transcendent vision for US energy policy
California will be a national security risk for the entire country!…
[Ed. Note: This post, pays tribute to William Niskanen, a principled classical liberal born on this day ninety-one years ago. His view on climate change, in particular, refute the current views of the Niskanen Center, funded by foes of classical liberalism. (The peculiar, revengeful story of founder Jerry Taylor is told here and here.)
The longtime chairman of the Cato Institute, William N. Niskanen (1933–2011), was an academic at the University of California at Berkeley and UCLA; chief economist at Ford Motor Company; noted Public Choice economist; an influential member of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisors (1981–85), and chair of the Cato Institute (1985–2008).
Bill and I shared the podium a few times on energy issues, and I admired his Enron project at Cato that resulted in two books, Corporate Aftershock: Lessons from the Collapse of Enron and Other Major Corporations (2003) and After Enron: Lessons for Public Policy (2005).…
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