JERRY POURNELLE:

For an exceptional look at what happens to countries where the overall energy policies are dictated by imbeciles, lackwits, and lawyers (although I may be redundant in listing all three), look to South Africa, formerly an economic and industry powerhouse (pun intended) on the African continent. The country is now in a deepening economic crisis because they let all of the released inmates from the environmental asylum dictate policy, didn’t build new power plants or maintain the existing ones appropriately, and so now they can’t mine gold, platinum, and palladium at anything near normal production rates. A good part of the recent run ups on those metals’ prices is because of the reduced production. There are rotating power outages around the country for everyone, and SA industry is being reined in significantly, obviously reducing the quality of living for the ordinary person.

Okay, the lawyer remark hurts. But lawyers who think they know how to run energy policy probably qualify.