I just started reading your wonderful book in the cab ride over. [laughter] so i notice that one of the topics you touch on maybe at great is crony capitalism. And when youre talking about the morality of fossil fuels, the extent of crony capitalism for the alternative Energy Sector is just through the roof. So i wonder if youd have any insights to share with us about that. Well, i would just reiterate what i said as far as we have not only we get into that, yes, we do, crony capitalism. But the contrast between that, i mean, without subsidies and the loan guarantees and the outright grants from the federal treasury and all kinds of guaranteed contracts, you know, we wouldnt have the renewable installations going on at the speed which they are now. And the great contrast to that, again, is that how many people know this for a fact . How many people know that 95 of all the oil and natural gas produced in this country is from small and medium, independent companies, not the global majors . How many did everybody know that . Everybody seemed to know that. [laughter] anyway, but thats, thats a very different economic dynamic. I find it refreshing, its so classically expressed in texas. People that dont want any help from the government at all, they want to be able to make decisions about what Financial Risks theyre going to take on, and theyre remarkably generous when they are successful. But the magnitude of subsidies, and all we need is to look across the pond as they say in d. C. At whats going on in germany and the u. K. To see how subsidies balloon. Because if we have only if rei new bls now only renewables now only provide less than 4 of our energy, and were going to need, you know, unbelievable amounts more, the subsidies just balloon. You know, one of my favorite new yorker cartoons is, has all these windmills, a wind mill farm. Theres this giant, these giant fans that are blowing air into the windmills to make the turbines turn. [laughter] its just amazing to me. 150 billion is the best statistic to use over the past ten years on what weve spent on subsidies, almost all have gone to wind and solar, some have gone to the Renewable Fuels like ethanol. Thats a lot of money, 150 billion. We had a big debate last year. I think republicans made a big, big mistake, they renewed all the subsidies. This is a powerful industry, you do war with them every day at competitive enterprise institute. Their livelihoods truly depend on you know, what the wind Farmers Association does, if you dont renew these tax credits, were going out of business. What kind of Business Model is that, that they cant survive without federal subsidies . Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry for all the talk theyre not paying their fair share of tax, and maybe there are some giveaways to the oil and gas industry, but the oil and gas industry pays more taxes than virtually any other industry in the united states. Theyre incredibly high taxed. We ought to use what works. My recommendation, just shut down the department of energy, right . I mean, seriously. What good does it do . Today, be gone all right. Do we have another, final question here . All right. Right there, the lady in the front row of the back section. Hi. Elizabeth mcgowan with energy intelligence. I just wanted you to comment on the success that the fossil fuel industry has had in this country. I mean, you mentioned natural gas displacing coal. Its been enormous over the last several years, but theres such a glut now, the layoffs have been absolutely phenomenal. And texas is one of the prime places. We report on this stuff all the time. Yeah. How do you answer, i mean, those people are out of work, and what do do you say . Well, were going to drill more and have more of a glut . Its a great question. No, its a really great question. The shale oil and gas produce beers have been victims of their own producers have been victims of their own success. Its an amazing story. From 2007 through 2012 or so, we doubled the amount of oil and Gas Production in this country. Over a fiveyear period, we troubled our production. It was almost we doubled our production. It was almost all shale oil and gas. All the net new jobs and net enclose in gdp were all attributable to the oil and gas industry. So, you know, when i give talks to the oil and gas industry, i was in texas, i said congratulations, youre the people who reelected barack obama. They didnt like that very much because they dont like him, and he doesnt like them very much. [laughter] but it is true, without the shale and oil gas reelection, barack obama would not have been reelected because the economy feel would have been in recession. That still would have been in recession. This is the whole history of the oil industry. It goes through these boom and bust cycles now. Its in a bust cycle now, although the price has gone from 30 to 50 if folks say, look, at a price of 50 to 60, we can start making some money. It went up as high as 110. But heres the cool thing about this story. This, these inventions, horizontal drilling and fracking which were the two big ones but there were other ones, they were all made in the united states, all done by, as you say, these wildcatter small entrepreneurial oil and gas producers. Its been there for millions of years, its just we finally figured out how to get at this stuff. And my point is that over time this technologys just going to get better and better can and better. Its going to get better and better and better. Right now they can make money at 60, and i would guess in two or three years, they can make money at 50 and 40. So oil and gas are going to keep getting cheaper, and were going to see these companies able to make money. And thats by the way, when you made this point, marlo, about why is it that we keep, why is it that we keep making these wrong bets on the Renewable Energy, and we go back to the 70s, remember . In the 70s, Renewable Energy was the big thing. What all these people get wrong, i think, marlo, look at all the Technological Progress thats going to happen with solar and wind. What they never take into account is the oil and gas industrys Getting Better at what they do. They didnt count they were thinking that the price of oil wouldnt be 50, they thought it would be 200 a barrel. And thats why the solar and wind industry keep losing more and more money. Its just a vicious cycle. We should get rid of those subsidies. My only point is, yeah, i think the oil and gas industry is going to come back very soon at these low prices. Id like to adjust because im in texas, i dont consider it a bust. Okay. For reasons that we actually both said, because its a different type of boom. Great point. Its a very different type of boom. I think its worth noting that in a 2005 federal energy bill that had some of the first ethanol be mandates and then they became fullfledged with all the bells and whistles and tariffs, that was the wind and shale revolution. We were adopting a policy to end our addiction to foreign oil at the time of the shale i mean, the folly of that, i think, and how the many problems of energy policy. I think that and i believe you implied this, but the boom and bust cycles are the small and independent oil and gas people know about. And what you had going, i think this has been somewhat missed by what i consider some of the most Intelligent EnergyMedia Coverage is the production levels didnt really go down at all. I mean, there was a little blip, and theres still a little blip now finally. But in 2015 we increased production at 15 million barrels. And what you had is fewer rigs. Rigs are not a good, to me, indication of oil product it. Productivity. You had fewer wells that were much more productive operated by people who have done some really nimble, rapid costcutting things. So its still and geologys different and all of that. Rigs are going back to field in texas at 50, and those same wells, those that operate three or four years ago, they said thatd be impossible, but they have figured out how to reduce their cost of production. I like to say we have, weve had a little skirmish if nota war between opec and the ascendant power, the united states, and i say round one we won. Yep, thats for sure. All right. Now, im going to ask the final question here, and then were going to wrap up. We have some books out here for sale. One of the challenges we have i believe you alluded to earlier, steve, is the lack of knowledge by our citizens, by our students, Young Americans about energy in general. Tell us a little bit about who your book is aimed to, what is the youngest student who could realize your book and comprehend it, and what is the plan for trying to get this book into the hands of people so they will have knowledge . Boy be, thats a you know, first of all, we did write it for the layman. So this is not for energy experts. You know, my big worry is that people arent going to realize what the real green agenda is until its too late, frankly. And weve shut down our oil and gas and coal industry, and we will have blackouts and brownouts and well have catastrophic effects. I was kind of making light of people not having access to, you know, their gameboys and so on, but think about hospitals, think about schools. You cant operate anything if you have brownouts and blackouts. I just wish there was a way to hit people over the head and say look at what theyre talking about. This is not a tease be bl alternative. We ought to use the free market and energy, and we want this in schools. That would be one of our greatest objectives. Middle schools . High schools . Grade schools . In all of them. Ill say a politically incorrect thing. Now everybodys listening. [laughter] the energy industry, the global majors, the biggest or the smallest independent and all the Service Industries and financial that surround this industry have been apologetic about their they have, youre exactly right. For decades. Exactly right. I think epitomized by British Petroleum deciding to call itself beyond petroleum because they werent going to keep drilling for oil and selling it, but they were going to get into the renew bl business as well which didnt last long. But i think its important to get in the hands of the you know, there are organizations, not very sexy in d. C. , the International Association of drilling contractors, they had 57,000 members across the country that can, i think, really on the local level first with people this know the Energy Business and their livelihoods surrounded. I think they need and deserve that kind of information to tell their story. And then i think in just localities, the people at the local levels, even city governments and Economic Development councils that dont understand what tonight what opportunity we had from the shale gail and what propaganda we are feeding our children and our policymakers about environmental and energy threats. So the bottom line is if you love liberty and you love economic growth, people need to read this book to figure out how to have both in the future. Well put. All right. Wheres tom . Tom, the editor. Tom, you have a plan, right . [inaudible] [laughter] well, the plan begins today, so there are books out here for you to purchase and have the authors sign. Thank you very much for joining us. [applause] [inaudible conversations] booktv recently visited capitol hill to ask members of congress what theyre reading this summer. Well, i have a variety of things on a Summer Reading list, so its hard to say exactly what the list will be, because im kind of a spontaneous book reader. I will start reading the a book, and usually ive got a couple of them at one time, and then i will run across an article or a reference to a book, and i say ive got to take a look at that one. Its never really planned as i move forward. But as far as my plans for this summer, one theme that i have going in fact, im reading a book that i hadnt read since i was in college, back when i was studying in college. I read a book called zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance which i was drawn to because im a passionate motorcyclist because i love to do that in my free time. I plan to do that as much as i can this summer. The book is isnt really about motorcycles or maintenance, its also a philosophical book. I have a masters in philosophy, and thats an intellectual interest of mine. I remember being taken by that book in the late 1970s when i read it, so i thought its time to pick it up and read it again. Its about a mans journey with his son in country and gets in depth with our relation with technology and a much broader discussion about some of what were big issues, pressing, philosophical issues in the late 70s but just as relevant today. And im reading it was im going to do a crossmichigan motorcycle ride as part of my activities this summer to get in connection with folking. Ive got a harley davidson. Im going to be doing town Hall Meetings in some of our more Rural Counties in michigan. Im going to be at coffee shops. People can join me for part of the ride if they like as were going from town to town. So i thought it was time to pick that book up and read it again. The other book that im reading right now is by the eminent biologist wilson, mr. Wilson, edward wilson, and his social conquest of the earth which talks about really are humans journey and our development over the years and how individual selection and Group Selection really form who we are. And it talks about how societies are really constructed that are strong as a result of some of these evolutionary avenues that we have taken as a species. And ive just ordered the meaning of human existence from him which is his capstone book. Dont we all want to know the meaning of human existence . Im looking forward to reading the continuation of his social conquest book. But then well see where the rest of the summer leads. Im sure therell be other topics that are going to pop up that are going to keep me reading. Booktv wants to know what youre reading this summer