Why do so many influential voices spend their time policing the manners of the left while the right dismantles democracy? In this episode, Michael Hobbes — cohost of the much-celebrated “If Books Could Kill” podcast — joins me to discuss the “reactionary centrist,” a type of commentator who believes that both sides are to blame for everything and demonstrates this by spending every waking moment scolding Democrats.



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All about "reactionary centrism"

Rooftop solar costs nearly three times as much in the US as it does in Australia, largely due to the "paperwork tax" imposed by thousands of fragmented local jurisdictions. I talk with Nick Josefowitz of Permit Power and solar veteran Andrew Birch about how to slash these soft costs through automated permitting and standardized interconnection. We discuss how these bureaucratic fixes could unlock dirt-cheap energy for American families without the need for subsidies.



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How to make rooftop solar power as cheap in the US as it is in Australia

Everyone is talking about virtual power plants, but as I discuss with EnergyHub CEO Seth Frader-Thompson, not all VPPs are created equal. We get nerdy on the various stages of VPP maturity and the specific technical requirements that VPPs must meet to truly compete with conventional power plants rather than just acting as “enhanced demand response.”



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Let's dig a little deeper into virtual power plants (VPPs)

I’In this episode, I chat with Swedish tech entrepreneur Jonas Birgersson about his radical plan to apply the architecture of the internet—packet switching, buffering, and decentralized routing—to the electricity grid. We explore how his “EnergyNet” concept uses power electronics to create galvanically separated microgrids that stop cascading failures and allow neighbors to share power directly. It is a mind-bending look at how treating electrons like data could lead to unlimited energy for a low fixed fee.



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Making the electricity grid work like the internet

Conventional geothermal energy is limited to specific hot spots, but “closed-loop” geothermal, by going deeper and confining water to sealed boreholes, promises to work almost anywhere; it amounts to building a giant radiator, deep underground. I’m joined by Jeanine Vany and Mark Fitzgerald of pioneering closed-loop startup Eavor to discuss their newly operational plant in Germany and the many advantages of a system that requires no fracking and consumes no water.



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What's the deal with closed-loop geothermal?

In this episode, I’m joined by Kate Slevin of the Regional Plan Association to discuss the triumphant first year of congestion pricing in Manhattan. We explore how the program defied its critics by boosting business and pedestrian traffic while reducing gridlock, without evident traffic spillover onto adjacent streets. We also cover the money that’s been raised for public transit and what the future holds for the congestion relief zone.



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NYC's congestion pricing has been running for a year now. How's it doing?

Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz joins me to discuss the energy policy landscape facing Democrats and how they should respond. We touch on the shift in messaging from “climate” to “affordability,” current Congressional Republican efforts on permitting reform in light of Trump’s anti-renewables crusade, the role of green groups in climate politics, and much more.



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Sen. Brian Schatz wants permitting reform, but not like this

Why can Australian homeowners get rooftop solar installed in a week or less, for roughly 50 cents a watt, while Californians pay $3.30/w and wait months for interconnection? In this episode, I ask inimitable Australian energy expert Saul Griffith to walk us through the entire process — from quote to interconnection — to pinpoint exactly where the US system is broken and how we could fix it.



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What's the real story with Australian rooftop solar?

The problem of misinformation in the current age, argues political scientist Samuel Bagg, is not that reliably truth-producing institutions and practices don’t exist, but that people have ceased to trust them. Changing that requires something deeper than factchecking or media literacy. It’s a matter of social identity, and solving it will mean reconfiguring the social identity landscape. I talk with Bagg about that daunting conclusion and its implications for democracy.



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The cure for misinformation is not more information or smarter news consumers

Senator Ruben Gallego (AZ) joins me to discuss his new energy plan, which combines elements of the Inflation Reduction Act with a new focus on permitting reform and small modular nuclear reactors. We get into all of it, from the promise of nuclear energy to the role community consultation.



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Sen. Ruben Gallego has a new energy plan

Volts is a podcast about leaving fossil fuels behind. I've been reporting on and explaining clean-energy topics for almost 20 years, and I love talking to politicians, analysts, innovators, and activists about the latest progress in the world's most important fight. (Volts is entirely subscriber-supported. Sign up!)

www.volts.wtf [https://www.volts.wtf?utm_medium=podcast]

david roberts

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