A discussion with Doomberg about the European Energy Crisis and solar’s scalability problems

The Biden Administration has just announced $51/ton "Social Cost of Carbon." On this week's Power Hour, Alex Epstein interviews David Kreutzer, Senior Economist at the Institute for Energy Research, about the many methodological and moral problems with this metric, including: - How the SCC overestimates negative climate impacts - How the SCC underestimates positive climate impacts - How the SCC underestimates adaptation - How the SCC ignores the unique cost-effectiveness of fossil fuels - How the SCC is radically changed by arbitrary decisions about its "discount rate"

5 Mars 20211h 2min

Alex Epstein interviews Maxwell Goldberg, an entrepreneur and industrial analyst, about our little-known dependence on China for dozens of materials that modern life requires. They cover topics including: - How Maxwell got interested in this issue at such a young age. - Just how dependent the US is on China. - China’s proven track record of exploiting its control of the “rare earths” supply chain - China’s goal - The sincerity of China’s “net-zero” by 2060 pledge - What policy changes are necessary Maxwell (Max) Goldberg is an industrialist and investor developing materials, manufacturing, and industrial companies, products, and services. In 2021 Max is focused on investing in and acquiring United States based manufacturing companies and helping United States industrial businesses dissect “where stuff comes from”, particularly the critical minerals and value-added-commodity-products that are ubiquitous throughout their value chains. Max is an engineer by training, with a B.S. in Materials Engineering and and M.S. in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since 2018, Max has hosted the Next Frontier Podcast, a show devoted to understanding how innovation resources enable industrialists and entrepreneurs to innovate faster than ever before. Max formerly worked as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Dr. Peter Diamandis, executing technical due diligence and business development across the XPRIZE Foundation, Singularity University, Bold Capital Partners, Fountain Therapeutics, and Peter’s recent book launch. His website is https://maxwellgoldberg.com/

25 Feb 20211h 5min

Alex interviews Michael Lynch, the renowned debunker of “peak oil,” to discuss Lynch’s new essay on “peak oil demand”—the idea that the post-pandemic world will mean “the end of oil.” https://eprinc.org/2021/02/the-pandemic-and-the-end-of-oil-the-pandemic-peak-oil-demand-and-the-oil-industry-by-michael-lynch-and-ivan-sandrea/ In this interview they cover: false past predictions of a green future, the real economics of EV batteries, what post-pandemic culture will look like, how much oil exists in the world, and much more.

18 Feb 202147min

Alex brings on Steve Milloy, a fellow green energy whistleblower and creator of JunkScience.com, to discuss the massive power outages in Texas and how they were brought about by “green energy” policies. They also discuss the failure of green energy around the world this winter. Near the end of the show Alex asks Steve about his remarkable success countering “ESG” efforts and his views on the recently-publicized “fossil fuels cause 1 in 5 deaths” claim.

18 Feb 202159min

On this week’s Power Hour Alex Epstein shares a recent interview of him by Heidi McKillop, a Candian filmmaker who went from an opponent of the Candian oil and gas industry to a champion of it. This is his first wide-ranging interview in many months. He shares new thoughts on the world of energy including how to think about our environment, how to stand up to the anti-fossil fuel movement, and the miracle of “machine labor.”

11 Feb 202141min

Alex Epstein interviews Yaron Brook about the origins, rise, and unprecedented power of today’s anti-fossil fuel ESG movement in investing. They cover: - Larry Fink’s latest influential letter - The shareholder value theory of the purpose of a corporation - What’s wrong with the “stakeholder value” theory of the purpose of a corporation - How government coercion increases the power of the ESG movement - How the culture gives the ESG movement most of its power - What companies can do to fight back against the anti-fossil fuel ESG movement? Yaron Brook is a former finance professor, an investor, Executive Chairman of the Ayn Rand Institute, and host of The Yaron Brook Show.

4 Feb 20211h 2min

On this week’s Power Hour Alex Epstein interviews Meredith Angwin, author of Shorting the Grid, on the precariousness of today’s electric grid. They discuss: - Why the so-called competition of today’s electric grid is a myth. - The strengths and weaknesses of the old regulated monopoly system. - Why “deregulation” increased costs and regulation. - How today’s pseudo-competitive RTO (Regional Transmission Organization) works. - How today’s RTO system devalues reliability. - How New England’s inability during a cold snap to provide electricity without using massive amounts of oil (and some Russian gas) is a sign of things to come. - What policies can improve the system. - What the average person (ratepayer) can do to make a difference.

28 Jan 202151min

On this week’s Power Hour Alex Epstein interviews Professor Pierre Desrochers of the University of Toronto, about the history of environmental catastrophism, including but not limited to climate catastrophism. Today we are told that our use of fossil fuels is causing a global environmental catastrophe, and that the solution is for government to dictate what kind of energy we should use, namely solar and wind. Both this prediction and this policy, we are told, are the conclusions of the best experts, especially environmental experts like climate scientists, and thus should not be questioned. Pierre Desrochers explodes this idea by chronicling in depth the track record of our designated environmental experts. For more on the history of environmental catastrophism, read Population Bombed, which Professor Desrochers wrote with collaborator Joanna Szurmak.

21 Jan 202154min