Articles by Stephen Heins
World-class dilettante, knowledge of art, photography, poetry, music, literature, & history. I am articulate, business writer, published poet, and energy maven.
The Truth About EPA’s “Mass Advisory Board Firings”
|By Stephen Heins
What role should appointed (i.e. not-elected) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) boards have with respect to environmental regulations in our country? It’s a valid question and timely, given the recent negative news coverage over EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s action in not automatically reappointing some board members. The way the press howls about it you would think board members have a Divine Right to be on those boards. Did you know there are 20 such “advisory boards” at the EPA?
[Net neutrality is such a misuse of language. It invites an under-informed mob to take political actions that are so far from civil behavior, which drives me crazy. The agitators are picketing FCC Chairman Pai's neighborhood, his house and his young family. These tactics sound like they are out of a George Orwell novel. There has been a lot moral rectitude and pontificating about the Internet, the environmental, science denial and climate change lately.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Who will write the final word on President Obama's economic and environmental legacy?
Much has been made of the environmental record of the previous administration. But upon a closer review of the White House's record, I must agree with New EPA Director Scott Pruitt in his recent interviews. President Obama was "no environmental savior." Although, I have a couple of advantages that Director Pruitt didn't have: I have had time to think about the Obama legacy and I have had time write about it in more detail.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Another Crucial Competitive Action for the Internet of Things!!!
[Thanks in part to this great piece by former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, the musty old arguments about "net neutrality" and "managed competition" will recede into history as more well-intentioned, but antiquated ideas. Actually, the FCC has been practicing managed competition since Tom Wheeler was the Chairman. It is interesting to note that FCC isn't really doing anything more that removing the FCC's 2009 restrictions.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Thinking Globally, Clean Water and Reliable Electricity Make the Planet a Cleaner Place
8 years ago, By Stephen HeinsLinkedIn
[Stella Artois/Anheuser Busch, with the aid of Matt Damon, has started a new ad campaign, "Help end the global water crisis at Water.org," that is likely to turn the current debate over climate change on its ear. It will likely become a rallying cry for the brewing and bottling industries throughout the entire world.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
[EPA's Gina McCarthy "didn't mince words" in interview with Rachel Maddow, although Gina's sense of history isn't good and her memory is even worse. Consequently, I am writing up a list of the things she said in this interview, along with the many counterpoints to her. Counterpoint/ While the US has reduced its carbon emission 12.2 percent for the last decade without you, you stated at a Congressional Hearing that the Clean Power Plan would reduce emissions only 00.01 percent.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
F.C.C. Invokes Internet Freedom While Trying to Kill It
[For the record, "Net Neutrality" is just another way of saying that the FCC should be micromanaging the Internet, including wired and wireless broadband. My first question for those parties, including the New York Times, who are advocating net neutrality: How can an agency regulate an industry, when it is five years or more behind in terms technology, infrastructure and human capital. The short answer is: They can't.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Ajit Pai's FCC moves to roll back political control of the web.
[Former FCC Chairman Wheeler's rushed out a final 300-page order to avoid public scrutiny, very much like the Gina McCarthy's EPA did, but Mr. Pai and Mr. Pruitt have promised to put the 8 armed-octopus of federal regulations back into the aquarium of failed micro-management schemes.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
African families and hospitals cannot rely on limited solar power, instead of electricity"
"In his latest article, aspiring Ugandan college student Steven Lyazi explores efforts by a number of companies and entrepreneurs to bring solar ovens and photovoltaic panels to Uganda and other African countries. As Steven points out, these technologies are much better than the open fires Africans currently rely on. However, most families live on a few dollars a day and cannot possibly afford the ovens and panels.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Put the 'consensus' to test, improve public understanding, using an open, adversarial process
[I think that Steven Koonin's proposal is an elegant solution to help untangle the discussion about climate science, without the usual shrill rhetoric, politics, and name calling. It could be an intellectual debate worthy of its name. Steve]Put the 'consensus' to a test, and improve public understanding, through an open, adversarial process. Tomorrow's March for Science will draw many thousands in support of evidence-based policy making and against the politicization of science.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
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By Paul Driessen, Stephen Heins
[Paul Driessen recaps the testimony by four scientist witnesses at the recent House Science Committee hearings on assumptions, policy implications and scientific principles of climate change. He makes a thought-provoking and compelling case that the supposed “consensus” or “settled” science on “dangerous manmade climate change” is still much in dispute and has been driven by faulty computer models and other major deficiencies.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Will Elon Musk Become the First Master Builder of Clean Energy?
8 years ago, By Stephen Heins,
Verified
Will Elon Musk Become the First Master Builder of Clean Energy? Many have probably heard a lot about Tesla lately, including the dust up with the “Autopilot” accidents. Beneath the headlines, the recently announced Tesla and Solar City merger will be an interesting experiment: Can massive government spending stimulate its own economy, without the usual worry about return on investment or real market demand.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Bets on the biggest purveyors of technology - companies like Amazon, Google and Microsoft - powered three of the top-performing funds of the fourth quarter. The Fidelity OTC Portfolio, for example, can invest anywhere its manager, Gavin S. Baker, sees promise, but by charter, it tilts toward well-recognized growth companies trading on the Nasdaq. Apple was its biggest stake at the end of November, accounting for nearly 9 percent of the portfolio.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
9 years ago, By Andrea Thompson, Stephen Heins
[One more hysterical headline with prejudice and hyperbole. When will the climate media stop putting its ham-handed finger on the scales of the climate debate? Steve]A key Atlantic Ocean current could be more likely to slow drastically because of global warming. The large, looping Atlantic Ocean current that keeps northwestern Europe fairly warm and influences sea levels along the U.S. coast is a key component of the Earth's climate system.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
[They see black and white and I see red. It is hard not to notice the obvious bias of the BBC writer. How can there be any real debate about "global warming" or its Siamese twin, "climate change." In fact, this "report" may be an example of funding bias. First, I confess to being a "lukewarmer," who believes that the tangible pollution in Asia and many population areas of the world (see recent satellite photos) needs to be addressed by the international community.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
The Real War On Science: Sneer and Smear isn't an Argument
[This is a perfect time to discuss which "war on science" has hindered a scientific debate about climate science the most. It is worth repeating that "sneer and smear isn't an argument." Steve]The Left has done far more than the Right to set back progress. My liberal friends sometimes ask me why I don’t devote more of my science journalism to the sins of the Right. It’s fine to expose pseudoscience on the left, they say, but why aren’t you an equal-opportunity debunker?
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
[Dear Gina, the current political situation is not a matter whether "clean energy" can be stopped; and, I think that most Americans understand that the US is already on a Clean Energy glide path, even without the Clean Energy Plan. Frankly, the EPA's sense of certainty and moral rectitude is unbecoming of any federal agency.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
[I wrote a piece entitled "It's Time for a National Debate on Fracking," First Posted on May 26, 2015 and Reposted on January 31, 2016 On April 8th, 2015, the Wall Street Journal headline read "Bloomberg Criticizes New York Fracking Ban.” During his interview, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that he was donating an additional $30 million to the Sierra's "anti-coal" campaign, but that he also made special provision that none of his donated money would go to the Sierra Club's...
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
"Why Obama’s top scientist just called keeping fossil fuels in the ground ‘unrealistic," Wash Post
(President Obama walks with John Holdren, assistant to the president for science and technology, at the White House in March 2014. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)Energy and EnvironmentWhy Obama’s top scientist just called keeping fossil fuels in the ground ‘unrealistic’White House science adviser John Holdren’s comment Monday that it was “unrealistic” to halt fossil fuel extraction altogether in the U.S. may have seemed like stating the obvious.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
The President hails the Paris Agreement again-even though it will solve nothing and cost trillions.
[Energy activists have used hundreds of millions of words, tens millions of hours studying and discussing and many billions of dollars reviewing the three iterations of the Clean Power Plan-- which seems to be a full employment contract for lawyers, accountants and lobbyists. The major clash over the CPP has yet to happen. After the November elections, the bruising climate debate between "alarmists" and "lukewarmers" will begin.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Let's Have Full Disclosure on Harvard's New Health Study
10 years ago, By Stephen Heins
As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. That's the lesson one might well draw from the remarkable but yet not so surprising coincidences that have emerged regarding (A) the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its "Clean Power Plan" to reduce carbon emissions from existing coal-fired power plants, and (B) an academic study released two months ago by some half-dozen PH.D's from Harvard, Syracuse University, and other schools and NGOs that purports to justify the CPP.
The Truth About EPA’s “Mass Advisory Board Firings”
What role should appointed (i.e. not-elected) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) boards have with respect to environmental regulations in our country? It’s a valid question and timely, given the recent negative news coverage over EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s action in not automatically reappointing some board members. The way the press howls about it you would think board members have a Divine Right to be on those boards. Did you know there are 20 such “advisory boards” at the EPA?
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
[Net neutrality is such a misuse of language. It invites an under-informed mob to take political actions that are so far from civil behavior, which drives me crazy. The agitators are picketing FCC Chairman Pai's neighborhood, his house and his young family. These tactics sound like they are out of a George Orwell novel. There has been a lot moral rectitude and pontificating about the Internet, the environmental, science denial and climate change lately.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Who will write the final word on President Obama's economic and environmental legacy?
Much has been made of the environmental record of the previous administration. But upon a closer review of the White House's record, I must agree with New EPA Director Scott Pruitt in his recent interviews. President Obama was "no environmental savior." Although, I have a couple of advantages that Director Pruitt didn't have: I have had time to think about the Obama legacy and I have had time write about it in more detail.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Another Crucial Competitive Action for the Internet of Things!!!
[Thanks in part to this great piece by former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, the musty old arguments about "net neutrality" and "managed competition" will recede into history as more well-intentioned, but antiquated ideas. Actually, the FCC has been practicing managed competition since Tom Wheeler was the Chairman. It is interesting to note that FCC isn't really doing anything more that removing the FCC's 2009 restrictions.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Thinking Globally, Clean Water and Reliable Electricity Make the Planet a Cleaner Place
[Stella Artois/Anheuser Busch, with the aid of Matt Damon, has started a new ad campaign, "Help end the global water crisis at Water.org," that is likely to turn the current debate over climate change on its ear. It will likely become a rallying cry for the brewing and bottling industries throughout the entire world.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
[EPA's Gina McCarthy "didn't mince words" in interview with Rachel Maddow, although Gina's sense of history isn't good and her memory is even worse. Consequently, I am writing up a list of the things she said in this interview, along with the many counterpoints to her. Counterpoint/ While the US has reduced its carbon emission 12.2 percent for the last decade without you, you stated at a Congressional Hearing that the Clean Power Plan would reduce emissions only 00.01 percent.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
F.C.C. Invokes Internet Freedom While Trying to Kill It
[For the record, "Net Neutrality" is just another way of saying that the FCC should be micromanaging the Internet, including wired and wireless broadband. My first question for those parties, including the New York Times, who are advocating net neutrality: How can an agency regulate an industry, when it is five years or more behind in terms technology, infrastructure and human capital. The short answer is: They can't.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Ajit Pai's FCC moves to roll back political control of the web.
[Former FCC Chairman Wheeler's rushed out a final 300-page order to avoid public scrutiny, very much like the Gina McCarthy's EPA did, but Mr. Pai and Mr. Pruitt have promised to put the 8 armed-octopus of federal regulations back into the aquarium of failed micro-management schemes.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
African families and hospitals cannot rely on limited solar power, instead of electricity"
"In his latest article, aspiring Ugandan college student Steven Lyazi explores efforts by a number of companies and entrepreneurs to bring solar ovens and photovoltaic panels to Uganda and other African countries. As Steven points out, these technologies are much better than the open fires Africans currently rely on. However, most families live on a few dollars a day and cannot possibly afford the ovens and panels.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Put the 'consensus' to test, improve public understanding, using an open, adversarial process
[I think that Steven Koonin's proposal is an elegant solution to help untangle the discussion about climate science, without the usual shrill rhetoric, politics, and name calling. It could be an intellectual debate worthy of its name. Steve]Put the 'consensus' to a test, and improve public understanding, through an open, adversarial process. Tomorrow's March for Science will draw many thousands in support of evidence-based policy making and against the politicization of science.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
8 years ago, By Paul Driessen
Verified
[Paul Driessen recaps the testimony by four scientist witnesses at the recent House Science Committee hearings on assumptions, policy implications and scientific principles of climate change. He makes a thought-provoking and compelling case that the supposed “consensus” or “settled” science on “dangerous manmade climate change” is still much in dispute and has been driven by faulty computer models and other major deficiencies.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Will Elon Musk Become the First Master Builder of Clean Energy?
Verified
Will Elon Musk Become the First Master Builder of Clean Energy? Many have probably heard a lot about Tesla lately, including the dust up with the “Autopilot” accidents. Beneath the headlines, the recently announced Tesla and Solar City merger will be an interesting experiment: Can massive government spending stimulate its own economy, without the usual worry about return on investment or real market demand.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Bets on the biggest purveyors of technology - companies like Amazon, Google and Microsoft - powered three of the top-performing funds of the fourth quarter. The Fidelity OTC Portfolio, for example, can invest anywhere its manager, Gavin S. Baker, sees promise, but by charter, it tilts toward well-recognized growth companies trading on the Nasdaq. Apple was its biggest stake at the end of November, accounting for nearly 9 percent of the portfolio.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
By Andrea Thompson, Stephen Heins
[One more hysterical headline with prejudice and hyperbole. When will the climate media stop putting its ham-handed finger on the scales of the climate debate? Steve]A key Atlantic Ocean current could be more likely to slow drastically because of global warming. The large, looping Atlantic Ocean current that keeps northwestern Europe fairly warm and influences sea levels along the U.S. coast is a key component of the Earth's climate system.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
[They see black and white and I see red. It is hard not to notice the obvious bias of the BBC writer. How can there be any real debate about "global warming" or its Siamese twin, "climate change." In fact, this "report" may be an example of funding bias. First, I confess to being a "lukewarmer," who believes that the tangible pollution in Asia and many population areas of the world (see recent satellite photos) needs to be addressed by the international community.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
The Real War On Science: Sneer and Smear isn't an Argument
[This is a perfect time to discuss which "war on science" has hindered a scientific debate about climate science the most. It is worth repeating that "sneer and smear isn't an argument." Steve]The Left has done far more than the Right to set back progress. My liberal friends sometimes ask me why I don’t devote more of my science journalism to the sins of the Right. It’s fine to expose pseudoscience on the left, they say, but why aren’t you an equal-opportunity debunker?
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
[Dear Gina, the current political situation is not a matter whether "clean energy" can be stopped; and, I think that most Americans understand that the US is already on a Clean Energy glide path, even without the Clean Energy Plan. Frankly, the EPA's sense of certainty and moral rectitude is unbecoming of any federal agency.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
[I wrote a piece entitled "It's Time for a National Debate on Fracking," First Posted on May 26, 2015 and Reposted on January 31, 2016 On April 8th, 2015, the Wall Street Journal headline read "Bloomberg Criticizes New York Fracking Ban.” During his interview, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that he was donating an additional $30 million to the Sierra's "anti-coal" campaign, but that he also made special provision that none of his donated money would go to the Sierra Club's...
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
"Why Obama’s top scientist just called keeping fossil fuels in the ground ‘unrealistic," Wash Post
(President Obama walks with John Holdren, assistant to the president for science and technology, at the White House in March 2014. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)Energy and EnvironmentWhy Obama’s top scientist just called keeping fossil fuels in the ground ‘unrealistic’White House science adviser John Holdren’s comment Monday that it was “unrealistic” to halt fossil fuel extraction altogether in the U.S. may have seemed like stating the obvious.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
The President hails the Paris Agreement again-even though it will solve nothing and cost trillions.
[Energy activists have used hundreds of millions of words, tens millions of hours studying and discussing and many billions of dollars reviewing the three iterations of the Clean Power Plan-- which seems to be a full employment contract for lawyers, accountants and lobbyists. The major clash over the CPP has yet to happen. After the November elections, the bruising climate debate between "alarmists" and "lukewarmers" will begin.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
Let's Have Full Disclosure on Harvard's New Health Study
As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. That's the lesson one might well draw from the remarkable but yet not so surprising coincidences that have emerged regarding (A) the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its "Clean Power Plan" to reduce carbon emissions from existing coal-fired power plants, and (B) an academic study released two months ago by some half-dozen PH.D's from Harvard, Syracuse University, and other schools and NGOs that purports to justify the CPP.