Category Archives: Political Commentary

Business, Political Commentary

A Victory For Due Process

11 Comments

SCOTUS has slapped down the EPA. It’s insane that this case even had to be brought in the first place.

[Update a few minutes later]

Here’s Scalia’s majority (actually, unanimous, that’s what I meant by “slapped down”) opinion. It should be noted that it was not just the EPA that was slapped down, but (once again) the Ninth District.

[Update a while later]

They get their day in court, but they may still lose. As noted in comments, they need a legal fund, though I suspect they’re getting pro bono support from free-market places.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Science And Society

Is Climatology Pseudoscience?

11 Comments

Some thoughts from Judith Curry (and indirectly, Gary Taubes).

I think that it’s become pretty clear that regardless of the status of climatology per se, many of its leading practitioners, or at least, most-public proponents, have shown themselves to be pseudoscientists. And specifically, I mean Michael Mann, Phil Jones, and James Hansen among others (not to mention the disgraceful and disgraced Peter Gleick).

Economics, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

The Coming Helium Shortage

52 Comments

Because we’re wasting it on party balloons. It really is a critical strategic resource; it’s nuts to be selling off the reserve. It’s vital for a lot of rocketry.

But here’s my question, that a quick search doesn’t answer. With the increase in natural gas production from fracking, are they capturing the helium along with it? Does this solve the problem? Or is the artificially low prices making it not worthwhile to do so? The other question is, are there places where it’s easy to mine in the solar system? For instance, how practical would it be to skim Saturn’s atmosphere for it?