Tribute for Twelve in the Energy/Climate Debate (Part I)

Ed. Note: This repost from seven years ago (January 4, 2018) is reprinted for its relevancy today. Part II tomorrow lists 12 more.

“And now that the Obama era has turned into the Age of Trump, each has reaped a modicum of fame (but not fortune!) by tiptoeing into the mainstream of today’s energy/climate debate.”

There are no MacArthur awards for our side of the energy and climate debate. But there are individuals that deserve a place in the history of energy thought and related public policy. These persons have blazed the trail where courage and patience, not only scholarship, were required. And now that the Obama era has turned into the Age of Trump, each has reaped a modicum of fame (but not fortune!) by tiptoeing into the mainstream of today’s energy/climate debate.

I have identified twelve (12) worthy individuals, presented in alphabetical order. This list should in no way diminish the contributions of the rest of us (including the present writer). In Part II, I’ll post a second group of worthies, after which other names can be stated in the Comments section.

JOSEPH BAST: Where would the contra-IPCC movement be without the founder and head of the Heartland Institute, whose many conferences have given hope and solace to the critics of the fake consensus of climate alarm and forced energy transformation? Joe Bast went where fellow libertarians feared to tread, and it appears that (via his Jay Lehr) he captured the attention of the 45th and current President of the United States (priceless!).

JUDITH CURRY: Persistence, professionalism, truth-seeking, and old-fashioned courage have made this scholar perhaps the most influential and trusted climate scientist in the world (see my profiles of Curry here).

PAUL DRIESSEN: The prolific op-ed writer and little-person advocate now writes with the satisfaction that his is a voice whose time has come. Expect an op-ed about every week from Driessen.

JOHN DROZ, JR: An indefatigable logician and idea activist, Droz of Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions  (profiled personally here) continues to inspire. MasterResource is pleased to share his triweekly summaries of the trade press and scientific developments.

ALEX EPSTEIN: Epstein has combined the penetrating  insights of Objectivist philosophy with irrefutable logic, personal passion, and an undaunted work ethic to redefine energy advocacy. He has dedicated himself to educating the open-minded one audience at a time, and to become, arguably, the most important single voice in the energy-policy debate today.

MARLO LEWIS: For three decades, this patient, polite scholar has been a consistent voice of sound analysis on the physical science, economics, and politics of energy and climate change. Lewis, a Harvard PhD, is a man for the ages in the energy debate. His analyses, based on the best available information and always emotion-free, never go out of date.

LISA LINOWES: The scholarly anti-wind warrior labors with passion, careful research and documentation. She is a national treasure deserving of new audiences and opportunities in the energy debate.

MICHAEL LYNCH: The “Peak Oil” slayer–with weapons ranging from New York Times op-eds to a treatise–has kept alive the proud tradition of M. A. Adelman, who was the leading energy economist of his generation. The fixity/depletion paradigm is always in trouble with Lynch in action.

ROBERT MURPHY: This Austrian-school economist and libertarian polymath has focused on the “social cost of carbon” debate to become one of the most important voices in climate economics. How much longer can pro–carbon-tax groups such as Resources for the Future (RFF) keep Murphy away from their seminars?

GLEN SCHLEEDE: Late and great, his was a non-compromising voice during some very inhospitable decades in the energy debate (see the tribute to Schleede here).

TOM TANTON: The lonely California voice of free-market common sense at the California Energy Commission, the Institute for Energy Research, Reason Foundation, and (now) the Energy & Environmental Institute (Director, Science and Technology Assessment) is in fine form in the Age of Trump (see more here).

GUILLERMO ‘BILLY’ YEATTS: Yeatts has been a one-man band for one of the world’s most profound, philanthropic causes–the privatization of the subsoil throughout South/Latin America. May the future of energy debate go his way, substituting  mineral rights for the masses in place of climate alarmism and forced energy transformation for the political elite.

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Again, this list is neither exhaustive nor ranked. Part II with Bryce to Zycher is to come.

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Source: https://www.masterresource.org/biographies-energy-writers/tributes-energy-climate-debate-1/