Reason Foundation

Recent Research and Commentary

Cap and Trade is Dead

Long live cap and trade.

March 2, 2010

Ronald Bailey

The great newspaperman H.L. Mencken allegedly once said, “For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple—and wrong.” But in the halls of Congress, complex carbon rationing schemes are multiplying, and they are good counterexamples to Mencken’s observation. When it comes to Congress, you can generally bet that its complex solution to a complex problem is worse than the simple solution.

Everyone Who Knows What They're Talking About Agrees with Me

And everyone who doesn't wears a tin foil hat

February 23, 2010

Ronald Bailey

Is man-made global warming happening? Can nuclear waste be stored safely? Do concealed handguns reduce violence? Think about those questions for a minute. Then think about your thinking: Why do you hold those particular views on these controversial issues? And do scientific experts agree with you?

The Yale Cultural Cognition Project has been probing the question of cultural polarization over scientific risk issues for a number of years. The project’s latest working paper, “Cultural Cognition of Scientific Consensus,” analyzes the question: “Why do members of the public disagree—sharply and persistently—about facts on which expert scientists largely agree?” As examples of strong expert scientific consensus, researchers led by Yale University law professor Daniel Kahan selected three recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) reports dealing with climate change, nuclear waste, and gun possession.

Remember Electricity Deregulation? In Texas, it is Still Working.

January 28, 2010, 1:07pm

Adrian Moore

Overpaying for Green Power

Americans are adopting a failed type of clean energy subsidy—the feed-in tariff—just as Europeans are abandoning it.

January 26, 2010

Ronald Bailey

“How can California encourage investors to generate renewable electricity? How about a guarantee that if they generate the power, they'll be paid at a good price?” suggests Ray Pingle of the Sierra Club. Fair enough. But the price proposed by the Sierra Club and some members of Congress is three to five times more than the current average price of electricity.

Cringing Over Climategate

A major scandal was exposed. So why won't Obama acknowledge it?

December 4, 2009

Shikha Dalmia

A complete airing of the science of global warming, which is looking less and less avoidable by the day, might eventually vindicate the claims of climate warriors. Or it might not. The only thing Obama can control in this matter is which side he will support: The truth, or—what he accused his predecessor of—ideology.

Emissions Cuts Would Cost India Dearly

The poor can't afford a big tax on energy usage, or a return to the License Raj of times past

December 4, 2009

Shikha Dalmia

As a developing country, India can least afford to give up its right to consume as much energy as is necessary to deliver all Indians a living standard comparable to the one that rich countries take for granted. There is every reason to believe that the new License Raj will damage India's economy every bit as much as the old one in the preliberalization days, when India's growth rate remained stuck at around 2%. This would be unfortunate at any time, but especially now, when the West itself is in the middle of a huge rethinking on this issue.

More »