The Free Market and Energy

I have been a fairly strong free-marketer here on the CW, but I have often deviated from orthodoxy on the intersection of the free market and energy independence.  Here's a little story (courtesy Instapundit) on how relatively low gas prices are likely to impact the market for fuel efficient vehicles (badly).  Keep feeding us cheap gas and we'll never ween ourselves from the supplier--you remember them, don't you?  The fellas in the Middle East who take our money and then fund the actions of folks who want to kill us?  And don't come at me with the whole "we don't get that much energy from the Middle East" thing.  We get enough, and the rest of the world gets plenty from them--in a fungible market.

The Teddy Kennedy Wind Farm Approved

Now that Teddy Kennedy has moved to his eternal rest, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has approved the offshore windfarm that threatened to muss up the Kennedy compound view of the Atlantic.

Good for Salazar. I'm not a huge fan of wind power (simply doesn't scale well), but I am in favor of diversifying the supply to the electrical grid.

Gulf Of Mexico Oil Platform Explosion and Spill

Republicans were heartened by President Obama's State of the Union Address in which he gave the (mushy) green light to increased offshore domestic oil drilling (and nuclear power). It was a decision that went against his grain and that of a big part of his party, and it was one that many of us applauded.

This explosion and fire on the platform in the Gulf cannot be helping things. A tragic situation not unlike this in the late 60's dealt California's offshore oil business a crippling blow, and what we see here is exactly what those arguing against the President's expansion have pointed to. After years of talking about how all the platforms did so well even against Katrina-force winds, this explosion/spill is seriously undercutting industry credibility.

President Obama Decision on Offshore Oil Praiseworthy

Although I'm temperamentally inclined to these days to think that just about everything Barack Obama does is the next step to serfdom, his decision to open wide new areas offshore to oil drilling is the right one and should be celebrated. Now if he'd just wise up on ANWR, I'd really be hooting.

No liberal wags, this isn't just "Drill Baby, Drill". This is a recognition of the importance of developing domestic oil production as one of a number of options in energy diversification leading to an increased state of energy independence. "Shine Baby, Shine", "Blow Baby, Blow", "React Baby, React"--all useful forms of energy production should be encouraged.

Alternative Energy vs. The Environment, Round 59

Senator Feinstein (D-CA) acts to take prime solar/wind farm land out of contention.

Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) says it best: "I’ll believe it’s a crisis when the people who keep telling me it’s a crisis start acting like a crisis."

Some Biofuel Common Sense

Here's a link to an interesting blog piece on biofuels, specifically ethanol. Conflict of interest alert: I am an investor in an ethanol distribution business, so I am definitely interested in market news/forces that impact its uses.

One of the big hits that ethanol takes is the charge that the use of foodstuffs (mostly corn) raises food prices. Folks point to recent spikes in corn costs and say "see, there you have it". As the blog piece ably points out, those spikes were far more attributable to transport costs driven by OIL prices than they were by any demand issue driven by competition by ethanol distillers.

H/T Instapundit

This Is The Way Countries On The Rise Do Energy

Here's a story on Brazil's move to exploit massive oil deposits off its coast. This from a country that has already diversified its energy supply by indigenous production of sugarcane ethanol, to the tune of nearly 17% of its energy supply.

Should we be investing in wind and solar? Yes. But also nuclear and domestic oil production. There is no silver bullet--there is only the continuing prospect of petro-extortion from countries that want to kill us.

WaPost Reports on Growth In Nuclear Power's Popularity

Here's an interesting story about one of my favorite topics, nuclear power. The US--land of cheap coal and natural gas--has fallen way behind in our nuclear infrastructure. The spectacular startup costs are at least partially to blame, with a significant portion of that cost coming from the protests and lawsuits that are sure to attend new construction.

Hopefully that tide is turning. There are presently 22 reactors before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and many in the Obama Administration are seeking to stoke additional interest with federal loan guarantees--something of which I am very much in favor.

And from the Rahm Emmanuel school of never waste the opportunity created by a crisis--I'll turn a deaf ear to the anguished cries of the global warming crowd, as it is their frenzied kvetching that is causing the environmental movement to become less opposed to new nuclear--citing its abiding carbon neutrality.

We should move forward with nuclear energy for one reason and one reason only--diversifying our energy supply. We cannot ever hope to mitigate the control exercised over us by oil producing nations if we do not move to some kind of alternate energy for the movement of vehicles on our roads. To me, electricity is the natural path. To respond to an exploding demand for electricity (in a carbon neutral way, dearies), we must invest in nuclear power.