The False Promise of Green Energy

I just started reading this book for a couple reasons. First, I've been somewhat interested in global warming and energy policy lately. Second, one of the authors (Andrew Morriss) is an Orthodox Christian and AOI linked to one of his lectures. I can already tell how this will go. Namely, he's a very smart fellow, smarter than me. He has a lot of great facts and I agree with a lot of his arguments. There are four authors, sure, and I don't think he's even the main one, but he makes a lot of these arguments in his own speeches. The "green energy" proponents have been overstating the economic benefits of "green energy", sure. Where we differ is in interpreting some of these facts. The introduction quite rightly points out that switching to green energy, especially if done soon, will require an increase in cost of energy and/or a decrease in energy consumption, leading to a decrease in quality of life for Americans and perhaps the rest of the world. He is quite right in pointing out that a lot of green energy proponents are either incapable of realizing this or gloss it over. He views a decrease in quality of life as a bad thing to be avoided (oversimplifying), I see it as a regrettable necessity. Well, that's the introduction. I really do look forward to reading it and am not embarrassed in the least to find large portions of it very valuable even if I disagree with the ideology of the authors.

EDIT: Anyway, this delightful article is the basis of much of my rejection of his position: http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/10/the-energy-trap

Large negative externalities involved and the markets are very short-sighted. Sure, current government interventions can have plenty of holes poked in them. Green energy sources are inadequate and expensive right now. This makes it more important to invest in them, not less. Otherwise, we'll stay with profitable cheap coal until it's too late. "Politically, the Energy Trap is a killer. In my lifetime, I have not witnessed in our political system the adult behavior that would be needed to buckle down for a long-term goal involving short-term sacrifice. Or at least any brief bouts of such maturity have not been politically rewarded. I’m not blaming the politicians. We all scream for ice cream. Politicians simply cater to our demands. We tend to vote for the candidate who promises a bigger, better tomorrow—even if such a path is untenable." If you believe in the Energy Trap, which I do, you end up dismissing a lot of economic and political arguments with a hand-wave.