Science & Technology
Science & Technology
The Keystone XL and Senators Who May Need to Go
David Biederman November 17, 2014
The U.S. Senate will vote Tuesday on a bill to permit construction of the cross-border section of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. That this life-serving project has been blocked for six years is a moral obscenity. Oil producers have a moral right to transport their product across borders as they see fit.
Science & Technology
Alex Epstein’s The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels
Ari Armstrong November 13, 2014
Today fossil fuels—the lifeblood of modern industrial civilization—are under constant attack by environmentalists, including certain journalists, pundits, politicians, and activists. But, as Alex Epstein argues, the war on fossil fuels is impractical and immoral. He makes this case in his pathbreaking new book, The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels.
Science & Technology
Obama and Dems Dishonestly Claim Credit for Increased Oil Production
David Biederman November 4, 2014
With the mid-term elections upon us, President Obama and other Democrats are trying to take credit for lower gasoline prices and other economic benefits flowing from the record volumes of oil being produced by U.S. oil companies. But Obama and his Democrat cohorts don’t produce oil; they throttle those who produce oil.
Science & Technology
Lower Gasoline Prices? Thank you, Oil Industry!
David Biederman October 27, 2014
Petroleum is a fundamental fuel of our industrial economy. Gasoline prices are falling largely because many good people and businesses in the oil industry are and have for decades been developing technologies that increase production and decrease costs, which, in turn, render lower prices at the pump and elsewhere.
Science & Technology
Unlike Ezekiel Emanuel, I Hope Not to Die at 75
Ari Armstrong September 21, 2014
Although it is true that a person may reach a point when, given the diminished quality of his life, he no longer deems it worth living, the proper principle guiding such decisions—a principle Ezekiel Emanuel never states—is that the only person properly in a position to decide whether his life is worth living is the individual himself.
Science & Technology
Concrete: The Foundation of Modern Life
Ari Armstrong September 16, 2014
We typically go through our days without devoting a thought to this this magnificent material, concrete, that helps make modern life possible. The next time you enjoy a modern building, drive down a street, or so much as stroll down a sidewalk, you might think for a moment of the modern producers of concrete. Their thought and work literally support your life.
Politics & Rights, Science & Technology
Endangered Species Act Sacrifices People to Frogs
Ari Armstrong September 6, 2014
The Endangered Species Act empowers the federal government to effectively nationalize private property without even compensating the owners of the property. It should be unnecessary in civilized society to point out that frogs do not have rights. They don’t. People do. And government’s sole proper function is to protect people’s rights.
Science & Technology
Kids React to Apple II: “Look at How Humanity Has Used Their Intellect!”
Ari Armstrong September 5, 2014
A recent YouTube video, “Kids React to Old Computers,” is a fun and profound way to mark the rapid advance of computer technology. Children interviewed for the video have a variety of reactions to the Apple II, an innovative machine in its day—it was introduced in 1977—but now useful mainly as a museum piece.
Science & Technology
Mexico’s Oil Monopoly Looks to U.S. for Crude Oil Resulting from Non-Monopoly
David Biederman September 5, 2014
Under the control of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex)—Mexico’s State Run Oil Monopoly—oil production has declined to levels not seen since 1995. Fortunately for the people of Mexico, producers in the United States, operating in relative freedom, have, during that same time, massively increased their production of crude. Mexico may soon begin importing crude from the United States.
Philosophy, Science & Technology
Ice-Bucket Challenge Supports Embryonic Stem Cell Research—And That’s a Good Thing
Ari Armstrong August 28, 2014
If scientists rationally judge that they can make headway against ALS and other devastating diseases by engaging in embryonic stem cell research, that is what they should do—and those who voluntarily (and non-sacrificially) fund such research are morally virtuous in doing so.