Robert Bryce (writer)

Robert Bryce
Robert Bryce, pictured in 2011
Residence	Austin, Texas
Nationality	American
Education	B.F.A.
Alma mater	University of Texas
Occupation	Writer and Journalist
Employer	Manhattan Institute
Organization	Manhattan Institute
Known for	Writing
Notable work	Power Hungry (2010) Gusher of Lies
Website	RobertBryce.com

Robert Bryce is an American author and journalist in Austin, Texas. His articles on energy, politics, and other topics have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Counterpunch, and Atlantic Monthly.

Bryce has been writing about the energy business for more than two decades. He spent twelve years writing for The Austin Chronicle. In 2006, he began working as the managing editor of the online magazine, Energy Tribune. From October 2007 to February 2008 he was a fellow at the Institute for Energy Research, and is now a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. He regularly appears on TV and radio shows ranging from the BBC to PBS and CNBC to Fox Business.

Bryce has written frequently about the infeasibility of the United States becoming energy independent.

In March 2009, he testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources to discuss the limits inherent in renewable energy, saying "no matter how you do the calculations, renewable energy by itself, can not, will not, be able to replace hydrocarbons over the next two to three decades, and that’s a conservative estimate".

Bryce writes regularly about energy and power systems. In 2007, he criticized the dangers of cheap oil.

In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal in March 2009 he denounced the energy polices of former United States President George W. Bush and the current president Barack Obama, claiming their rush for renewable energy will not be sufficient to cover the country's future energy needs.

He took issue with James Hansen, who wrote in The Guardian, that "coal is the single greatest threat to civilization and all life on our planet" and that trains carrying coal were "Death Trains" — responding (also in The Guardian), "Hansen doesn't offer a single idea as to what the world will use to replace the coal that he abhors. Coal currently provides about 28% of the world's total energy use. And it is the cheapest source of fuel for electric power production. That's why developing countries – China and India in particular – are using so much of it."