Patrick J. Michaels (Author at The Cato Institute)

Cap-and-Trade-War (Commentary)

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Despite indications that much of President Obama's agenda is meeting intra-party skepticism all over Capitol Hill, there is one policy nexus where congressional leaders are still doggedly determined to move the country left: energy and the environment. Speaker Pelosi will reportedly allow a vote on ...

No Warming Solution, Just a Pain in the Gas (Scholar Comments)

Tue, 19 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT

President Obama's imposition of new mileage standards for cars demonstrates that he is willing to circumvent the legislative process when it comes to global warming. Why he would do so is no mystery. According to the Rasmussen Report, the American people rank global warming dead last among potential priorities for the Obama administration, mainly because they understand that climate change takes place at a glacial pace, and "remedies" such as new mileage standards or "cap and tax" proposals in fact do nothing at all about global warming.

First 100 Days: Obama's Energy, Environment Ideas Are Cutting-Edge...for the 70's (Scholar Comments)

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT

For all his good intentions, President Obama's solution to our energy "crisis" is oil.

Snake oil.

Obama supports cap-and-trade proposals that he said would make the price of energy "skyrocket," and would "bankrupt" anyone who decides to build a new coal-fired power plant. In doing so he claims that he will create millions of green jobs and help America to become "energy independent."

Is this change? Presidents Nixon, Carter and George W. Bush also said there were miracle technologies out there that would end our dependency on dreaded foreign oil. Nixon and Carter proposed nuclear power. Carter threw in a synthetic fuel boondoggle, and Bush argued that if we just burnt up our corn supply, rather than using it for food, that the nirvana of independence would be within reach.

In each case, our use of foreign oil increased as our need for energy went up along with economic growth. Obama merely substitutes solar energy and windmills, which his own Energy Information Adminstration says will remain bit players in the power game.

What's "changed" on the energy front during Obama's first 100 days? Nothing.

Earth Day, 2009: The More You Know, the Less You Care (Commentary)

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT

What on Earth is going on in Washington? The public believes less and less that human beings are responsible for global warming, surface temperature shows no net change in over a decade, and there's still a bill about to be debated in the House that will require the average American in 2050 to have ...

The U.N.'s Global Green Raw Deal (Commentary)

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Day by day, our government is taking more and more control over once-private corporations, with plenty of green strings attached. GM will be required to produce more hybrid cars that people won't buy. Employee compensation will be determined by federal fiat. "Everyone will be better off." Not sur...

Climate of Extremes (Daily Podcast)

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST

Climate Scientists Blow Hot and Cold (Commentary)

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

Just about every major outlet has jumped on the news: Antarctica is warming up. Most previous science had indicated that, despite a warming of global temperatures, readings from Antarctica were either staying the same or even going down. The problem with Antarctic temperature measurement is th...

Climate of Extremes: Global Warming Science They Don't Want You to Know (Books)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST

There’s a whole new world of global warming science today, but few people hear about it. In recent years, an internally consistent body of scientific literature has emerged that argues cogently for global warming but against the gloom-and-doom vision of climate change. But those who merely call atte...

Inclusive Science (Commentary)

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST

Because their specialized knowledge confers authority, climate scientists should make every effort to be accurate and complete when communicating to the public about the politically divisive issue of climate change. Unfortunately, there are several points where Alexander Bedritsky's thought-provokin...