A Carbon-Powered Shot

CITY JOURNAL ………….. Global jubilation greeted images of a United Airlines jumbo jet being loaded for the first flights carrying the Covid-19 vaccine for distribution. Much will be written about the unprecedented efforts in developing the vaccines so rapidly. One of the least noted aspects of that story is the carbon footprint associated with the vaccination…

The Green New Deal Can’t Break The Laws Of Physics

DAILY CALLER ………. Elections, as everyone now says, have consequences. But they can’t change the laws of physics.That matters, even in this hypertrophied political season, because one of the policy choices in play this election is whether or not to embrace a Green New Deal or one of its variants. But the Green New Deal…

The myth of the great ‘energy transition’

WASHINGTON EXAMINER MAGAZINE …………. For those who profess the belief that a great “energy transition” is underway, Tesla is the talisman. And why not? No single product that we use in everyday life consumes more energy than a car. The furnace in the average home basement is a distant second, and there are far more…

Technology and the City

CITY JOURNAL ………… Technology built the world’s great cities. As Lewis Mumford chronicled in his 1961 opus, The City in History, technology played the central role in expanding the metropolis, beginning in the Middle Ages and accelerating with the Industrial Revolution. But will digital technology—specifically telecommuting, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic—finally hollow out New…

Green Energy’s Overseas Dependence

NATIONAL REVIEW …………    Children scrabbling with bare hands, never mind shovels, and carrying bags of rocks is not the image Elon Musk wants for his wildly successful green-car company. So, in early June, Tesla signed a deal with global miner, Glencore, to help “ethically” source an increased supply of cobalt.

The Global Economy’s Fuel Gauge

CITY JOURNAL …….. China is about one month ahead of the United States in exiting the Covid-19 shutdown. That country’s rush-hour traffic jams now equal or exceeded pre-lockdown levels, even in Wuhan. This quick reversal happened despite claims that telecommuting would “change everything,” especially old-fashioned commuting and, thus, oil demand.