Power Hour with Alex Epstein

By Alex EpsteinNews News Commentary

Power Hour with Alex Epstein episodes

June 10, 2021 Announcement: New Power Hour schedule
Power Hour will now be every two weeks. We've got some great guests coming up!
3 min
June 03, 2021 Climate Scientocracy
Alex Epstein interviews Dr. Patrick Michaels, climate scientist and policy expert, on how today’s climate “scientocracy”—the heavily government-funded and government-influenced field of climate science—works.

While those outside the field of climate science tend to think of it as consisting of independent researchers, free to pursue the truth wherever it leads them, Michaels argues that our climate scientocracy makes this impossible.

During the interview, Michaels answers questions including:

- How has government transformed climate research during Michaels’s career?
- How does government impact what research gets done?
- How does academic research get communicated with the general public?
- How do “consensus” statements come to be?

For more on how government distorts science, see Dr. Michaels’s book Scientocracy.
59 min
May 27, 2021 The many myths of "energy transition"
On this week's Power Hour, Alex Epstein interviews Terry Etam, an energy industry veteran who is one of the savviest energy analysts today. They debunk the claim that the world is going through a rapid "energy transition" away from fossil fuels by discussing many energy realities, including:

- China's fossil fueled dominance of "green energy"
- China's, Russia's, and India's plan to use more fossil fuel going forward
- How California is "transitioning" to more and more blackouts
- How Ontario's "transition" led to skyrocketing electricity prices
- How Canada's "transition" is a senseless sacrifice of Canadian prosperity and security
- How the same anti-human-impact forces that oppose fossil fuels also oppose the mining necessary for solar, wind, and batteries
59 min
May 21, 2021 Alex Epstein Congressional testimony and Q&A, May 19, 2021
On May 19, 2021, Alex Epstein testified in front of the House Natural Resources committee and answered numerous questions. This video features his testimony and Q&A, plus the backstory of the hearing and Alex’s answers to follow-up questions by Representative Lauren Boebert.
1 hr 7 min
May 14, 2021 Best-of Power Hour: Onkar Ghate on Earth Day
From Alex Epstein: “10 years ago, I recorded what is still my favorite Earth Day Power Hour with philosopher Onkar Ghate, a long-time mentor of mine. Before we recorded the episode, Onkar suggested to me that we take a positive approach, explaining how much better human beings have made the Earth. That suggestion, and much of what we discussed in that episode, has affected my thinking ever since.

"This best-of-episode features a new intro by Alex, including an update on Fossil Future.
1 hr 2 min
May 05, 2021 How Climate Science Gets Distorted
On this week's Power Hour, Alex Epstein interviews economist Ross McKitrick, famous for debunking Michael Mann's once-ubiquitous "hockey stick," about how climate science gets distorted--so that what the public hears about climate science is a wild exaggeration of what most climate scientists actually believe.

McKitrick explains:
- How the "hockey stick" became ubiquitous despite widespread concerns about its (in)validity.
- The real track record of climate models.
- Why climate economists are coming under attack for rejecting climate catastrophism.
- Why climate catastrophists face a reckoning over the next 10 years.
- What we can expect from the UN IPCC's upcoming AR 6.
- Why we almost never discuss the benefits of fossil fuels, including their role in driving progress.
1 hr 5 min
April 29, 2021 Brent Bennett on the physics of energy progress and the politics of Texas electricity
On this week's Power Hour, Alex Epstein interviews Brent Bennett, a materials scientist by training and Policy Director of Life:Powered.

In the first half of the interview, Brent shares how his background in physics and materials science has informed his views on the future of energy. In the second half, he summarizes the politics of Texas electricity--before, during, and after the recent mass-blackouts.

Some of the specific topics covered include:
- Alex's analogy between drug addicts and "renewable" power sources.
- How Moore's Law is not a physical law, and how treating it that way distorts thinking about batteries.
- The limitations of batteries given existing physics knowledge.
- The proper relationship between physics and economics, and how today's politicians invert it.
- How Texas did not have enough electricity generation to avoid rolling blackouts even if zero natural gas and coal plants had gone down.
- Why today's Texas electricity "market" is totally unfair to reliable producers of electricity.
- What reforms are needed to make Texas electricity "markets" fair and reliable.
- How large financial institutions and tech companies are advocating policies that double down on unreliable electricity when Texas desperately needs reliable electricity.
- The powerful lobbyists that shape Texas electricity policy.
57 min
April 22, 2021 Obama administration physicist explains why climate catastrophism is unscientific
On this week's Power Hour, Alex Epstein interviews Steve Koonin, a highly accomplished physicist and author of the new bestselling book "Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't and Why It Matters"

In 2014, Koonin, who had worked in the Obama administration, began to question climate catastrophism when he led a panel of physicists assessing the current state of climate science.

In his new book he summarizes what he regards as the actual state of climate science--which does not support claims of climate catastrophe at all.

In this interview, Koonin discusses:
- His conclusion that "Humans exert a growing, but physically small, warming influence on the climate."
- Why "The net economic impact of human-induced climate change will be minimal through at least the end of this century."
- Why "Government and UN press releases and summaries do not accurately reflect" scientific research reports.
- How the US National Climate Assessment manipulated data to create an extreme heat pattern in the US that doesn't exist.
- Why "the working scientists are often embarrassed by the way the IPCC winds up describing the state of the science."
- Why "many of the senior climate scientists think that by the time now we've gotten to the sixth [IPCC] assessment report, it's no longer the A team that is preparing the reports."
- How Koonin's career has enabled him to do a deep dive both into climate science and into energy economics.
- The private response Koonin has gotten from other scientists.
- What Koonin thinks of Bill Gates's book ("I think Bill wrote a pretty good energy book...but I think Bill's discussion of the climate is wrong and I would relish the chance to point out to him at some point.")
- Why Koonin is eager to debate any climate scientists who disagree with him.
56 min
April 15, 2021 China’s Power Play
On this week’s Power Hour, Alex Epstein interviews John Robson of Climate Discussion Nexus, about how the green energy movement is weakening free countries like the United States and increasing Communist China’s odds of achieving its goal of being the world superpower by 2049.

They discuss:
- John’s excellent video The Red-Green Menace
- China’s openly stated goal of world superpower status
- China’s continuing embrace of fossil fuels
- How US “green energy” is inferior energy produced largely by Communist China using fossil fuels
- How the corporate world plays into China’s hands
- How US companies should stand up to climate catastrophism
- The virtues of speaking the unpopular truth
- How John debunked the 97% consensus myth
57 min
April 07, 2021 Why "the armchair economist" is "not an environmentalist"
On this week's Power Hour, Alex Epstein interviews economist Steven Landsburg, professor of economics at The University of Rochester, about how economics can help us understand many realms--including today's "religion of environmentalism."

They discuss:
- How Landsburg's popular book The Armchair Economist came about.
- Why Landsburg regards "people respond to incentives" as the foundation of economics.
- How understanding incentives makes sense of seemingly counterintuitive outcomes, such as recycling programs leading to fewer trees.
- How understanding economics could have vastly improved vaccine distribution in the US.
- The science of ecology vs. the religion of ecology.
- How human beings ability to adapt to climate changes is largely ignored in today's discussions--and why economists don't speak up about it.
- How "environmentalists" treat their personal preferences as morally superior to others' preferences.
- Landsburg's economics-based approach to species extinction.
52 min