The Power Hungry Podcast: Recent Episodes
Robert Bryce
The Power Hungry podcast spotlights energy, power, innovation, and politics. Author and journalist Robert Bryce talks with top thinkers, writers, and influencers.
Thank you for listening to the Power Hungry Podcast. But after nearly four years and 223 episodes, I am putting the podcast on hiatus. I have enjoyed doing the podcast, but I’ve been stretched too thin lately and needed to reduce my workload. Therefore, I will focus more time and energy on my public speaking and writing, particularly on Substack. Please follow me there: robertbryce.substack.com.
Ken Girardin is an engineer who has been researching and writing about energy policy issues in New York for over a decade. In this episode, Ken talks about his new report for the Empire Center, Green Guardrails, which found that the state’s Climate Act could cost taxpayers $4.9 trillion by 2050, the soaring cost of the offshore wind projects, land-use conflicts, and the “absolutism” that is driving much of the state’s climate policy. (Recorded March 5, 2024.)
Doug Sandridge has spent his entire career in the oil and gas sector, but about three years ago, he became a staunch advocate for nuclear energy. In this episode, Sandridge explains why more than 100 hydrocarbon executives have signed onto a declaration in support of nuclear energy, the challenges facing nuclear deployment around the world, spent nuclear fuel, and why the domestic nuclear sector will need strong government backing to succeed. (Recorded February 22, 2024.)
Michelle Bloodworth is the CEO of America’s Power, a trade association representing the companies that supply fuel to and operate coal-fired power plants. In this episode, Bloodworth discusses the war on coal, the federal regulations that could shutter most of the remaining coal plants in the country, and why regulators at the state and federal levels need to be more focused on electricity reliability. (Recorded February 8, 2024.)
In his second appearance on the podcast (the first was December 6, 2022), Peter Zeihan, a geopolitical strategist and the author of four books, including most recently, The End of the World is Just the Beginning, talks about deglobalization, demographics, and why he still believes “the American system will thrive.” In addition, he discusses the catastrophic decline of Germany’s industrial sector, the “exorbitant privilege” the U.S. dollar has as the world’s reserve currency, and why, in his view, China is facing “national oblivion.” (Recorded February 22, 2024.)
In his second appearance on the podcast (the first was in February 2022,) Brent Bennett, policy director for Life:Powered, an initiative of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, talks about his recent report on electric vehicles and the challenges facing the Texas electric grid, three years after Winter Storm Uri. Bennett explains why climate activists have an almost religious attachment to EVs, why wind and solar are “holy fuels,” the problems with batteries, and why policymakers should think of electricity not as a commodity, but a service. (Recorded January 30, 2024.)
Edgardo Sepulveda is a Toronto-based economist who studies telecommunications and electricity markets. In this episode, Edgardo explains why the U.S. nuclear sector is shrinking in states with deregulated electricity markets, the need to align “patient capital” with societal goods, why nuclear energy needs strong government support, and why Ontario is leading the world in the nuclear renaissance. (Recorded February 2, 2024.)
In his third appearance on the podcast (his most recent was May 31, 2022), Emmet Penney, the editor of Grid Brief, and host of the Nuclear Barbarians podcast, talks about “environmental apocalypticism,” the staggering complexity of America’s electric grid, and why writing about electricity and energy has been intellectually humbling. (Recorded January 17, 2024.)
In her sixth appearance on the podcast (her last appearance was January 13, 2023), I welcome back Meredith Angwin, the author of the 2020 book Shorting the Grid: The Hidden Fragility of Our Electric Grid. In this episode, Meredith discusses the physical and the policy grids, why no one is responsible for electricity reliability, and why facts are finally “intruding on the narrative” about decarbonization and the electric grid. (This episode was recorded on January 16, 2024.)
Judith A. Curry is a climatologist, the founder of Climate Forecast Applications Network, and the author of a new book: Climate Uncertainty and Risk: Rethinking Our Response. In her third appearance on the podcast (the last was December 27, 2022) Curry talks about her new book, the “oversimplified analysis” of climate that’s being used by legacy media and policymakers, censorship, the importance of Twitter, and why we need to see the global climate as a “complex, chaotic, non-linear system.” (Recorded August 18, 2023.)
Jessica Weinkle studies climate science and how interpretations of it affect the financial sectors and public policy. In this episode, Weinkle, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, explains why insurance is “ubiquitous in society,” how climate models affect insurance rates, the “protective wall” around the NGO-climate-industrial complex, and why the catastrophic dialogue around climate change is “clickbait.” (Recorded July 7, 2023.)
Seaver Wang’s academic training in oceanography makes him a knowledgeable source for discussing Japan’s release of tritiated water from Fukushima Daiichi into the Pacific Ocean, a process that began last week. In addition, Wang, the co-director of the climate and energy program at the Breakthrough Institute, discusses future demand for metals and minerals, “radiophobia,” the challenges facing nuclear power, solar supply chains, and China’s “cultural erasure” of the Uyghur population in Xinjiang province. (Recorded August 28, 2023)
Dan Poneman heads Centrus Energy, the only company in the United States that is licensed to produce High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) which will be needed to fuel some of the advanced reactors now being developed for commercial deployment. Poneman talks about Russia’s dominance of the global nuclear supply chain, why a strong nuclear sector is imperative for national security, the chicken-and-egg problem with producing enriched uranium, and the many hurdles facing new reactors. (Recorded August 16, 2023.)
Phil Goldberg is a Washington, DC-based lawyer who is helping defend the oil and gas industry in the more than two dozen climate-related lawsuits that have been filed against it by local governments across the U.S. Goldberg talks about the history of climate litigation, why the public nuisance claims being made against the industry are “unimaginably broad,” the NGOs that are funding the litigation, and why those NGOs “want to have judges set energy policy.” (Recorded July 26, 2023.)
Hügo Krüger is a South African-born civil engineer, podcaster, and writer, who is now working in Paris. In this episode, Krüger talks about green colonialism, the collapse of Eskom, South Africa’s state-owned utility, how South Africa modeled its electricity system on the New Deal, and why his home country needs to burn more coal. (Recorded July 21, 2023.)
Doomberg is the nom de plume of the team that writes the top-earning finance publication on Substack. In the famed green chicken’s third appearance on the podcast, Doomberg talks about why they are quitting the platform formerly known as Twitter and focusing solely on Substack, why it’s “better to be ideological than partisan,” America’s fiscal cliff, “peak China,” and why despite the many challenges in the world, “citizen advocacy can still work.” (Recorded August 1, 2023.)
Jacob Williams is an electrical engineer who heads the Florida Municipal Power Agency, a joint action agency that provides wholesale electricity to 32 municipal utilities in the state. Williams explains why the EPA’s proposed greenhouse gas rules will cause huge cost increases for FMPA’s customers, why it will reduce reliability, and why the federal agency is “naïve to think” it can force the electric sector to overhaul its generation fleet in just eight years. (Recorded July 28, 2023.)
Danny Rice is the CEO of NET Power, a newly public company that uses natural gas in a patented oxy-combustion process that allows it to capture almost 100% of the CO2 emissions from its power plant. In this episode, Rice explains how his company’s technology (the Allam Cycle) works, why the market potential for it is “beyond incredible,” why their first plant will be located in the Permian Basin, carbon sequestration, and why “clean doesn’t just mean renewable.” (Recorded July 14, 2023.)
Bill McKibben, the author of 20 books, as well as the founder of 350.org, is one of the most famous climate activists in America. In this episode, he discusses his latest book, The Flag, The Cross, and The Station Wagon, patriotism, why he wants “energy from heaven instead of energy from hell,” why he doesn’t support the construction of new nuclear plants (“nuclear is slow and expensive”), and why climate change is the “first truly time-limited problem we’ve come up against.” (Recorded June 29, 2023.)
Jusper Machogu lives in Kisii, Kenya, where he and his family grow corn and other crops on a one-acre plot of land. In this episode, Jusper, who writes about his daily life on Substack, explains how little electricity his family uses, (less than 200 kilowatt-hours per year), why Africa “cannot develop without fossil fuels,” what climate activists get wrong, the soaring cost of fertilizer, and why if farmers like him don’t have “access to fertilizer, we are doomed.” (Recorded July 11, 2023.)
In his fifth appearance on the podcast, Chris Keefer. a Toronto-based medical doctor and president of Canadians for Nuclear Energy, talks about the historic announcements made last week by Ontario Power Generation that will expand the province’s nuclear capacity by some 6,000 megawatts. He talks about the reasons behind the move, the advantages of the CANDU reactor, and why Ontario has a “track record of kicking butt.” (Recorded July 7, 2023.)
Arjun Murti has been tracking global energy markets for three decades, including a stint as co-director of Americas equity research at Goldman Sachs. In this episode, Murti, who writes the Super-Spiked column on Substack, talks about rising global energy demand, the reasons for declining investment in the oil sector, “peak China,” gasoline as an “absolute miracle,” the exploitation of Africa’s mineral wealth, and why “oil demand will be the last thing to go away.” (Recorded July 3, 2023.)
Peter St. Onge, an economist at the Heritage Foundation, has become something of a phenom on TikTok, where he has 96,000 followers. In this episode, St. Onge explains why he expects a severe global recession in the coming months, why he’s bullish on gold and Bitcoin, why the “alt-energy agenda” will be “crippling” for Western economies, why the Constitution is America’s “superpower” and why despite the many challenges ahead, he remains bullish on the United States. (Recorded June 26, 2023.)
Lisa Linowes is a New Hampshire-based energy policy analyst and the author of a report for the Fiscal Alliance Foundation which found that renewable-energy mandates in New England have resulted in dramatic increases in electricity costs. In her second appearance on the podcast, (the first was on April 25, 2022), Linowes explains why renewable mandates are costing Massachusetts ratepayers at least $1 billion per year, the causes of the natural gas shortages in New England, the death of environmentalism, and why the biggest climate NGOs in the country are silent about the impact offshore wind development is having on whales and other marine mammals. (Recorded June 19, 2023.)
In his second appearance on the Power Hungry Podcast, Steve Brick, (who last appeared in February 2021), talks about what he has learned over his 40-year career in the power sector. He explains the challenges facing countries in Africa as they try to build more generation capacity, why microgrids are often more expensive to operate than large grids, and the “regulatory patchwork” that governs the U.S. electric grid. (Recorded June 6, 2023.)
Paris Ortiz-Wines didn’t plan to be a nuclear advocate when she graduated from the University of California-Santa Cruz a few years ago. In this episode, the 28-year-old native of California explains how she became the head of a non-profit that advocates for nuclear energy all over the world, why millennials are more open to nuclear, why California’s politicians decided to keep Diablo Canyon open, and which countries are likely to build new nuclear reactors over the next few years. (Recorded May 8, 2023.)
Over the past two years, Irina Slav emerged as one of the bluntest critics of Europe’s climate policies and the “energy transition.” In this episode, Slav, who lives in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, says that there’s a new Iron Curtain, but this time “the totalitarianism is on the western side,” she also talks about the growing cracks in the EU over energy, “transition crusaders,” propaganda, legacy media, Substack, and what she sees happening in Europe over the next few years. (Recorded June 2, 2023.)
Matt Wald has been writing about the energy and power sectors for decades, including 38 years as a reporter at the New York Times. In this episode, Wald talks about his recent articles for the American Nuclear Society on the nuclear fuel “Gordian knot,” why the U.S. quit enriching uranium and in doing so, empowered Russia, SMRs, HALEU, and why he believes the federal government will have to step in to assure long-term supplies of nuclear fuel for the domestic fleet of reactors. (Recorded May 25, 2023.)
On April 26, 2023, Ashley Nunes testified before Congress about electric vehicles, saying that just because EVs “can lower emissions doesn’t mean that they necessarily will.” In this episode, Nunes, who in addition to his position with the Breakthrough Institute is also a researcher at Harvard Law School, explains why EV prices are rising, why EV makers haven’t demonstrated a “viable path to profitability,” and why the federal government’s lavish support and mandates for EVs are an “unworkable policy.” (Recorded May 2, 2023.)
Ruy Teixeira is the author or co-author of eight books, as well as a prolific writer on politics in America, including his recent essay, “The Working Class Isn’t Down With the Green Transition.” In this episode, Teixeira talks about how the climate change issue came to dominate Democratic Party politics, how the party lost its connections to rural Americans, the “insularity of the elites” who dominate both parties, the attacks on free speech that are coming from the Left, and why more Hispanic voters are attracted to the Republican Party. (Recorded April 20, 2023.)
Over the past few years, Helsinki-based Wärtsilä has made inroads into the U.S. power generation market with its huge gas-fired reciprocating engines, including a 190-megawatt deal it struck with the Lower Colorado River Authority in February. In this episode, Karl Meeusen, who directs Wärtsilä’s legislative and regulatory team in the U.S., explains why his company’s fast start-and-stop engines are a good match for grids that need to offset the variability of wind and solar, the ongoing challenges of building high-voltage transmission capacity, and why Texas “is a big focus” for his company. (Recorded April 17, 2023.)
The Texas Legislature is now in the final days of considering a spate of bills that could change how the state’s electricity market functions. In this episode, Doug Lewin, who has been tracking energy-related legislation at the Texas Capitol for more than 20 years, explains the surge in distributed generation, the huge amounts of solar and storage coming onto the ERCOT grid, the prospects for a Texas capacity market, and why his first priority would be to “weatherize, weatherize, weatherize” the state’s gas plants, homes, and businesses. (Recorded May 5, 2023.)
Xu Chen has spent 15 years in the solar sector, including a stint at GCL, a major producer of polysilicon. In this episode, Chen explains why costs for solar projects are increasing (up 8.5% in the first quarter alone), how enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and tariffs are impacting supply chains and prices, the increasing efficiency of solar panels, and why pairing solar with batteries could ease congestion challenges on the electric grid. (Recorded April 19, 2023.)
Roger Pielke Jr. is a professor at the University of Colorado, as well as a writer on Substack where he focuses on climate policy, sports governance, and the messy “place where science and politics collide.” In his fifth appearance on the podcast, (his last appearance was July 28, 2022) Pielke talks about his recent essay on the “pathological politicization of science,” the mistakes in the latest IPCC report, the “long plateau” in global emissions, adaptation, and why media coverage of climate change is “broken.” (Recorded April 11, 2023)
Jim Murchie heads Connecticut-based Energy Income Partners, an investment firm that focuses on “poles, wires, pipes, and tanks.” In this epsiode, Murchie talks about why the best investing returns come from “natural and legal monopolies,” why shareholders took “the credit card away” from oil and gas drillers, and why despite its many challenges, the U.S. energy sector continues to lead the world. (Recorded March 24, 2023).
Zabrina Johal is a former U.S. Navy officer who, among other jobs, managed nuclear operations on the carrier USS Carl Vinson. In this episode, Johal talks about her work at General Atomics, including the firm’s work on fusion, the supply chain issues that must be overcome for fusion to be commercialized, thermo-nuclear propulsion, TRIGA reactors, and why the Navy plays a critical role in projecting American power around the world. (Recorded March 28, 2023.)
Scott Sheffield heads Irving-based Pioneer Natural Resources, a $47 billion company that is the largest oil producer in Texas. In this episode, Sheffield discusses the challenges facing drillers in the Permian Basin, why the industry is increasing the length of its laterals, the use of “damp sand” in fracking, flaring, capital discipline, and why OPEC producers will continue to dominate the global oil sector in the years ahead. (Recorded March 29, 2023.)
Alina Chan is a molecular biologist, scientific advisor at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and the co-author of Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19. In this episode, Chan says that more than three years after the start of the pandemic, there still has been “no credible investigation” of the origins of Covid, the continuing resistance among some scientists for a full investigation, the key role that Twitter has played in the investigation, and her views on the wet market, lockdowns, masks, and Anthony Fauci, and why she’s still pushing for a full investigation. (Recorded April 3, 2023.)
Matt Brandrup heads the Rural Electric Supply Cooperative, a Wisconsin-based coop that provides utility products to electric coops in several states in the Midwest. In this episode, Brandrup talks about the “staggering increases” he is seeing in the cost of transformers, conductors, and other utility products (up an average of 18% in 2022 alone), transformer shortages, labor shortages, the special types of steel needed by the industry, and why tight market conditions are likely to persist for years to come. (Recorded March 23, 2023.)
Jeff Gibbs is the director of Planet of the Humans, a feature-length documentary released in 2019 which generated controversy because of its full-throated criticism of alternative energy, and even led some academics -- including Michael Mann. Leah Stokes, and Mark Jacobson -- to demand that Michael Moore, the executive director of the film, issue an apology. In this episode, Gibbs talks about what has happened since the film was released, why “green energy is delusional energy,” why he believes we are “in denial that we are reaching” the limits of the planet to sustain so many humans, and why he sees climate activist Bill McKibben as the “environmental Jesus.” (Recorded on January 26, 2023)
B.F. Randall is a Utah-based lawyer who has gained traction on Twitter and Substack for his views about mining, metals, and the importance of diesel fuel (“crude oil is like raw milk, and diesel fuel is the cream) to the global economy. In this episode, Randall explains why he calls wind and solar energy “random Uber,” why the mining industry loves wind energy, and his unstinting support for nuclear energy, which he explains by asking “ “why are we mining atoms when we could be splitting them?” (This episode was recorded on February 13, 2023.)
Isaac Orr researches and writes about environmental issues, mining, and energy for the Center of the American Experiment, a think tank based in Golden Valley, Minnesota. In his third appearance on the podcast (his last was on July 12, 2022) Orr talks about the impact that Senate File 4, a new law that mandates Minnesota utilities be delivering 100-percent carbon-free electricity by 2040, the NGOs that pushed the legislation, why it will cost ratepayers an additional $300 billion, and why it will likely lead to blackouts and leave Minnesota in a “reliability hole.” (Recorded on February 22, 2023.)
Brett Rampal is the director of nuclear and power strategy at Veriten, a Houston-based energy advisory firm. In this episode, Brett, a nuclear engineer, talks about the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s recent approval of NuScale Power's reactor design, why the agency could soon be overwhelmed by the number of companies trying to get permits for their reactors, the emerging fuel-supply challenges, and why the “biggest opportunity for nuclear in the U.S. might be for thermal output, not electricity.” (Recorded January 25, 2023.)
Kelly Wanser heads Silver Lining, a nonprofit “dedicated to ensuring that society has information and options to address near-term climate risk.” In this episode, Wanser explains why she prefers to use the term “climate intervention” instead of “geoengineering,” how an “aerosol parasol” placed in the stratosphere might help reduce the danger of catastrophic climate change, and the many technical and political challenges facing climate intervention efforts. (Recorded February 9, 2023)
Rusty Towell is a professor of engineering and physics, and the director of the NEXT Lab, at Abilene Christian University, which applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last August for a construction permit that may allow it to build the first new research reactor of any kind in the U.S. in more than 30 years. In this episode, Towell walks us through the design of the molten salt reactor ACU wants to build, the hurdles it faces at the NRC, why the university may have an advantage in obtaining the enriched-uranium fuel it needs, and why, if the project succeeds, it could lead to commercial success in the small modular reactor market. (Recorded January 27, 2023.)
Anne Brande is a fourth-generation Wyomingite and the founder of the Laramie-based Albany County Conservancy, a non-profit which is opposing several proposed wind projects including Rail Tie, Two Rivers, and Rock Creek. Brande explains why her group may sue the federal government for possible violations of the National Environmental Policy Act and Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, why “we need biodiversity” and why in her words, “I’m not going cower” despite the prospect of costly litigation.
Doomberg is the pseudonym of the team that runs the top-earning finance publication on Substack. In the famed green chicken’s second appearance on the podcast (the first was May 27, 2022) Doomberg talks about the “bipolarity” of the Biden administration on energy, the “two Chinas,” the formula the team uses for each Substack post, how they built the Doomberg brand, and why they are concerned about the growing political polarization in America.
Chris Wright is the CEO and chairman of Liberty Energy, a Denver-based company that provides hydraulic fracturing services to drillers. In his second appearance on the podcast (the first was September 22, 2020) Wright explains why his company’s Bettering Human Lives report is the right response to the ESG movement, how the current administration’s anti-hydrocarbon efforts have increased profits in the oil and gas sector, the mechanics of the hydraulic fracturing process, and why propane -- “the most-mobile hydrocarbon” – provides an answer for the 2.5 billion people today who are still using low-quality cooking fuels in their homes. (This episode was recorded on January 9, 2023.)
Mark Nelson, the managing director of the Radiant Energy Fund, joins the podcast for the fifth time, tying the record held by Meredith Angwin. (Mark’s last appearance was on March 3, 2022.) In this episode, Mark he talks about Germany’s expansion of the Garzweiler lignite mine, how warm weather has given Europe’s economy a “stay of execution,” Belgium’s plans to close its nuclear plants, and why it’s “almost impossible” to build new high-voltage transmission projects in the U.S.
Adam Rozencwajg is a managing partner at Goehring & Rozencwajg, a New York City-based investment firm that focuses on natural resources. In this episode, he explains why the “undercapitalized and underloved” oil and gas sector is going to continue seeing big profits, why rising interest rates and higher commodity prices are slamming the renewable sector, why EROEI -- energy return on energy invested -- is key to understanding our energy and power systems, and why, in his words, “nuclear power really gives me hope.”
In her fifth appearance on the podcast, we welcome back Meredith Angwin, the author of Shorting the Grid: The Hidden Fragility of Our Electric Grid. (Her last appearance was on February 18, 2022). In this episode, Meredith talks about the blackouts that hit the eastern U.S. over the Christmas holiday, why grid reliability is getting worse, why generators in New England are having to burn more oil to produce power, why “’renewable’ is a marketing term,” and why trying to “electrify everything” and “run all that electricity on renewables and natural gas...No. That’s a really bad idea. We are putting too many eggs in those baskets.” (This episode was recorded on January 5, 2023.)
David Keith is a professor of applied physics at Harvard University and a leading thinker on energy and geoengineering. In this episode, Keith explains why we should be thinking seriously about injecting sulfur or other materials into the atmosphere to reduce the amount of solar radiation that hits the surface of the Earth, why the science of geoengineering needs more funding, and some of the issues that will have to be resolved to allow more robust experimentation with the technology. (Recorded September 28, 2022.)
Judith A. Curry is a climatologist and former academic who is “appalled at the state of both the scientific and policy debates surrounding climate change.” In her second appearance on the podcast (the first was on October 20, 2020) Curry, the president and founder of Climate Forecast Applications Network, talks about her recent essay, “The climate ‘crisis’ isn’t what it used to be,” why we have to get better at understanding risk, the “propaganda machine” that promotes climate catastrophism, the “toy models” used by academics to justify all-renewable schemes, and why Twitter is an “indispensable tool for wicked scientists.” (Recorded December 12, 2022.)
Ray Rothrock is a California-based professional venture capitalist with 34 years of experience in the industry. In this episode, Rothrock, who holds a degree in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University and has a portfolio of investments in nuclear startups, explains why the recent breakthrough in fusion is a “Kitty Hawk moment,” the many challenges facing commercial use of fusion, the “labyrinth of regulations and red tape” impeding new fission reactors, and why the U.S. will need strong leadership from Congress and the president if it wants to lead in the deployment of the next generation of nuclear reactors.
Jesse Ausubel is the director of the Program for the Human Environment at Rockefeller University and the recent winner of the prestigious Nierenberg Prize. In his second appearance on the podcast (the first was on October 12, 2021), Ausubel talks about his new work on “peak human” and “peak humans,” why we appear to be reaching the limits of human potential, immunity to disease, “nature deficit disorder,” and why -- after a lifetime of being a fan of the New York Yankees -- he has quit watching sports. (Recorded December 7, 2022.)
Peter Zeihan is a geopolitical strategist and the author of four books, including most recently, The End of the World is Just the Beginning. In this episode, Peter talks about the civil unrest – and pending demographic collapse -- in China, why “Apple has refused to see the writing on the wall” in China, Mexico as America’s most important trading partner, why he is investing in commodities, and why -- despite the unraveling now underway in many parts of the world -- he believes “the American system will thrive.” (Recorded December 2, 2022.)
Robert Rapier is achemical engineer with more than 25 years of international engineering experience in chemicals, oil and gas, and renewables, who writes for Forbes and Utility Forecaster. In this episode, Rapier talks about the ongoing diesel shortage in the U.S., the mismatch between domestic crude production and domestic refining capacity, his stock-investment strategies, Vinod Khosla’s stupid bet on biofuels, why cellulosic ethanol has never worked, and why he believes ExxonMobil is “going to be in business for a long time” to come. (Recorded November 15, 2022.)
Simon Michaux is an associate professor of geometallurgy at the Geological Survey of Finland which published his 1,000-page report about the amount of mining that will be required if the world attempts to quit using hydrocarbons. In this episode, he discusses why copper will be the key constraint for alt-energy, the “flamboyantly stupid” decisions being made by European policymakers, and why the pending limits to economic growth will require a new “social contract and a radically different system of governance” from what we have today. (Recorded November 11, 2022)
Reiner Kuhr worked in the electric power sector for more than 40 years and is the co-founder of the Center for Academic Collaboration Initiatives, a group that aims to increase the exchange of research among students and academic institutions. In his second appearance on the podcast (his first was on May 27, 2021) Kuhr talks about his recent paper on the problems and costs associated with integrating renewables into electric grids, why batteries are an expensive way to reduce emissions, and why you can “go nuclear, or go renewable, but you can’t do both.” (Recorded October 19, 2022.)
Matt Ridley is the author of ten books, including most recently, with co-author Alina Chan, Viral: The Search For the Origin of Covid-19.In his third appearance on the podcast (previous appearances: July 7, 2020, and January 4, 2022), Ridley talks about Britain’s energy crisis, why it must begin drilling for gas, the increasing evidence that the Covid pandemic was started by a lab leak, why China’s vaccines haven’t been effective, birds, birdwatching, and why the growing prosperity in Africa gives him hope. (Recorded on November 2, 2022.)
Virginia Postrel is a California-based journalist who has written four books, including her most recent one, The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made The World, (which I highly recommend.) In this episode, Virginia talks about why the history of fabric and civilization is a “story of innovation,” the mechanized Italian silk mills that predated the Industrial Revolution by two centuries, cotton’s history and dominance in today’s clothing, advances in synthetic fabrics, and the tragic life of Wallace Carothers, the almost-unknown inventor of nylon. (Recorded September 23, 2022.)
Maria Korsnick holds a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Maryland and now serves as president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based trade association that operates on an annual budget of about $50 million. In this episode, Korsnick talks about the “new paradigm for nuclear” energy, why the “urgency” for nuclear “is only going to grow,” how the U.S. and Canada are working together on approval of new reactor designs, and why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has to get more efficient. (Recorded October 21, 2022.)
Benny Peiser is the director of Net Zero Watch, a London-based public charity that focuses on the “implications of expensive and poorly considered climate change policies.” In his second appearance on the podcast, (his first was on March 8, 2022) Peiser talks about Liz Truss’s resignation last week, why both Tory and Labour Party politicians are to blame for Britain’s energy crisis, why Britain must immediately begin drilling and fracking for natural gas, how soaring energy costs could lead to a financial crisis, and why three decades after Margaret Thatcher resigned, Britain is going “back to energy socialism.” (Recorded October 22, 2022).
Björn Peters is a German physicist and energy economist, as well as the co-founder and CFO of the nuclear-energy startup, Dual Fluid Energy. In this episode, Peters explains why Europe’s energy crisis is all “policy made,” why it’s wrong to blame Russia for the crisis, how the push for weather-dependent renewables became “a goal in itself,” why SMRs must be scaled up quickly, and why Germany’s energy mistakes are “making life difficult” for other countries in Europe.
Chris Keefer is a Toronto-based medical doctor and president of Canadians for Nuclear Energy. In his fourth appearance on the podcast, (previous appearances were November 2021, May 2021 ) and April 29, 2022) Keefer talks about Ontario Power Generation’s decision to reverse course and extend the life of the Pickering Nuclear Generation Station, a move that could keep the 3.1-gigawatt plant running for another 30 years, the essentiality of the Cobalt 60 isotopes that are produced by CANDU reactors, and why Ontario has “the most pro-nuclear government in the western world.” (Recorded September 30, 2022.)
Alexander Stahel, is a Zug, Switzerland-based commodities investor, energy analyst, and the author of a new report for the Global Warming Policy Foundation called “The Crisis of The European Energy System.” In this episode, Alex explains why Europe is facing years of electricity shortages, France’s mismanagement of its nuclear fleet, why Italy is in particularly bad shape, the long history of anti-nuclear sentiment in Europe, oil production decline rates, and why in modern societies, “electricity is like air.” (Recorded September 27, 2022.)
Jesse Jenkins is an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton who focuses on energy system modeling. In this episode, Jesse talks about his work on modeling the potential emissions impact of the Manchin-Schumer Inflation Reduction Act, why his model projects a huge increase in renewables (nearly 400 GW of new solar and about 200 GW of new wind capacity), land-use conflicts, California, Europe, and why he believes the $370 billion in spending in the bill will stimulate more investment in the U.S. economy. (Recorded September 15, 2020.)
Chris Lawson is head of fertilizers at CRU Group, a London-based consulting firm. In this episode, Chris discusses the collapse of Europe’s fertilizer sector due to high natural gas prices, why Russia continues to play a key role in the global fertilizer market, China’s restrictions on exports, and how today’s fertilizer challenges will impact future food prices and availability. (Recorded September 22, 2022).
Gail Tverberg is an actuary and the editor of Our Finite World, a website that focuses on “how energy limits and the economy are really interconnected.” In this episode, she discusses oil and coal’s continued dominance of the global energy mix, why the world is “running out of affordable energy,” why raising interest rates to tame inflation won’t work, and why renewable energy’s “true value is close to zero.” (Recorded August 11, 2022.)
Art Smith is the author of Something From Nothing: Joe B. Foster and the People Who Built Newfield Exploration and the president of Triple Double Advisors, a Houston-based energy consulting and investment firm. In this episode, Art, who has been researching and writing about the energy sector for four decades, talks about the oil industry’s soaring profits, the long-term price of oil, and the companies he believes will perform the best in the years ahead. (Recorded August 2, 2022).
Jorge Piñon spent 32 years working in the oil and gas sector and is now a senior research fellow at The University of Texas at Austin’s Energy Institute. In this episode, Piñon, who spent much of his career working in Latin America and Spain, talks about Cuba’s energy crisis, the devastation of Venezuela’s economy by the Chavistas, geothermal, South America’s dependence on hydropower, and how the U.S. became “the de facto refiner for Latin America.” (Recorded September 1, 2022.)
Michael Shellenberger is a former gubernatorial candidate in California and the author, most recently, ofSanFransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. In his third appearance on the podcast, (previous appearances were on July 6, 2020, and May 27, 2021) Michael talks about the California legislature’s vote to save Diablo Canyon, nuclear’s new-found traction, his run for governor, why he might run for office again, Greta Thunberg, and the “narcissistic nihilism” of climate catastrophists.
Scott Tinker is the chairman of the Switch Energy Alliance an Austin-based non-profit “dedicated to inspiring an energy-educated future that is objective, nonpartisan, and sensible.” In his second appearance on the podcast, Tinker talks about “Energy Switch,” the new multi-part TV talk show that will begin airing on PBS stations in September, why “molecules matter,” his TED talk on the dual challenge of energy and environment, and how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is accelerating talks about energy security. (Recorded March 17, 2022.)
John Harpole is the president of Denver-based natural gas broker Mercator Energy. In his third appearance on the podcast (previous episodes were on March 10, 2022, and May 25, 2021), Harpole talks about the impact that the shuttering of Europe’s fertilizer plants will have on food prices and food security, soaring natural gas prices (on August 29, gas at the Dutch TTF hub was selling for $100 per mmBtu), deindustrialization, and how the shale revolution helped save the U.S. from the catastrophe now facing Europe.
Stephen Wilson is an adjunct professor at the University of Queensland, and the author of a recent report on the future of nuclear energy in Australia. In this episode, Wilson talks about the “church of electricity free markets,” why coal continues to be a dominant fuel for electricity production, the attraction of the “romantic poetry of renewable energy,” and why regulators must play a bigger role in managing electric grids. (Recorded August 11, 2022.)
Batya Ungar-Sargon is a deputy opinion editor at Newsweek and the author of Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy. In this episode, she explains how journalism has become a “profession of astonishing privilege,” how the Left has become “the side of the elites and they are focused increasingly on environmentalism,” and why she is “on the side of whatever party thinks class is the number one issue in America.” (Recorded July 6, 2022.)
David French is a senior editor at The Dispatch. In this episode, David (who first appeared on the podcast in 2020) talks about what has changed since his book -- Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation – came out two years ago, how the pandemic exacerbated the divisions in America, the religious divisions in the Democratic party, gun laws, and why public figures like LeBron James, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Dolly Parton can help unite the country. (Recorded August 5, 2022.)
Elizabeth Muller is the CEO of Deep Isolation, a Berkeley-based company that seeks to resolve America’s nuclear waste challenge by using technology borrowed from the oil and gas business. In this episode, she explains why the waste issue must be solved before the nuclear sector can have a full renaissance, why Deep Isolation must have success overseas before it succeeds here, the advantages of using boreholes instead of a mined repository (think Yucca Mountain), and why, when it comes to nuclear, “the world has shifted over the past six months.” (Recorded June 28, 2022.)
Anas Alhajji is the editorial advisor of Attaqa, the only Arabic-language media outlet focused on energy. In his third appearance on the podcast, (his last appearance was March 29, 2022) Alhajji explains why the sanctions against Russia are not stopping its energy exports, why the contradictions in the Manchin-Schumer bill “are laughable,” why he is more long-term bullish on natural gas than oil, and the political significance of President Biden’s recent trip to Saudi Arabia. (Recorded August 2, 2022.)
Roger Pielke Jr. is a professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado, who focuses on climate policy, sports governance, and the “messy and important place where science and politics collide.” In his fourth appearance on the podcast, (his last appearance was on February 18, 2022), Pielke talks about heat waves, the Iron Law of Climate, Europe’s energy mess, transgender athletes, why “we are treading water” on decarbonization, and why “climate policies have to appeal to everyone.” (Recorded July 25, 2022.)
John Constable is the director of energy at the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a British public charity. In this episode, Constable (who previously appeared on the podcast on February 1, 2022.) discusses his new report, “Europe’s Green Energy Experiment: A Costly Failure in Unilateral Climate Policy,” the staggering sums the EU has spent subsidizing renewables, and why Europe now faces the “worst energy cost and security crisis since the Second World War.” (Recorded July 19, 2022.)
Peter Grossman is a professor emeritus of economics at Butler University and the author of the 2013 book, U.S. Energy Policy and the Pursuit of Failure. In this episode, Grossman recounts five decades of bad policymaking in the U.S. including his list of the worse efforts (synfuels, price controls, and corn ethanol) how members of Congress are motivated by the “do something dilemma,” and why California is the “poster child for failure in energy policy.”
Isaac Orr is a policy fellow at the Center of the American Experiment, where he writes about environmental issues, mining, and electricity. In his second appearance on the podcast (his first was on August 10, 2021), Orr talks about the importance of the Supreme Court’s West Virginia v. EPA ruling, why utilities are keeping their coal plants open this summer, how renewables are undermining the integrity of the electric grid, and the looming shortfalls of generation capacity in the Midwest.
Jack E. Davis is a history professor at the University of Florida, a Pulitzer Prize-winner, and the author, most recently, of The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America’s Bird. In this episode, Davis explains how the Bald Eagle ended up on the Great Seal of the United States, its near-extinction due to hunting and DDT, its role as a “spirit bird” for Native Americans and Anglos alike, and why its recovery is a “great American conservation success story.”
Tiffany D. Thomas has represented District F on the Houston City Council since 2020. In this episode, Thomas discusses “why the west side is the best side” of the Bayou City, housing -- including the difficulties around “heir properties” the term for homes occupied by descendants of a family member but who don’t have clear title to the property -- the problems faced by the “permanent rental class,” and for a lagniappe, a few of her favorite restaurants in Houston. (Recorded June 16, 2022.)
Carl Wurtz is the president of Californians for Green Nuclear Power, a group “dedicated to promoting the peaceful use of safe, carbon-free nuclear power, and to keeping Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant” operating. In this episode, Wurtz explains why it’s unclear if Diablo Canyon will be kept open, why California often has to pay neighboring states to take its electricity, why a “vote for solar and wind is a vote for gas” and why “batteries are useless” for grid-scale electricity storage. (Recorded May 24, 2022.)
Toby Rice is the CEO of EQT, the largest natural gas producer in the U.S. In this episode, Rice talks about how American natural gas can help drive global decarbonization, the lack of sufficient pipeline capacity in the Northeast and why the inability to move methane is costing consumers, the continuing evolution of well drilling and completion, and why hydraulic fracturing is a “miracle technology.” (Recorded June 3, 2022.)
Julie Kuntz is a “fifth-generation Iowa farm girl” who has become one of the most vocal opponents of wind-energy development in her home state. In this episode, Kuntz, a member of Concerned Residents of Worth and Winnebago Counties, Iowa, who lives in Grafton, talks about the lawsuit that Chicago-based Invenergy filed against Worth County, the company’s “nefarious tactics,” the media’s “horrid” coverage of the land-use conflicts around renewables, and why “an informed citizen is the wind industry’s worst nightmare.” (Recorded with June 3, 2022).
Bret Kugelmass is managing director of the Energy Impact Center and host of the Titans of Nuclear podcast. In this episode, Kugelmass discusses energy security in Europe, why “uranium is everywhere,” mining, enrichment, reactor technologies, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and why the nuclear industry “has to succeed elsewhere” before it will see a resurgence in the United States. (Recorded April 5, 2022).
Emmet Penney is an essayist as well as the editor of Grid Brief, and host of the Nuclear Barbarians podcast. In his second appearance on the podcast (his first was July 13, 2021) Penney talks about the May 20 closure of the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan, his recent essay, “Who killed nuclear energy and how to revive it,” the effort by NGOs, policymakers, and climate activists to push “degrowth,” a move he calls “energy Lysenkoism,” and why we cannot take the electric grid for granted.
Doomberg is the nom de plume of one of the most successful new publications on Substack. In this episode, Doomberg’s famed green chicken icon explains the power of anonymity in a time of cancel culture, why politicians prefer platitudes over physics on energy, China, supply chains, the many problems with cryptocurrency, the “profound wave of onshoring” about to occur, and why “there’s going to be a lot of suffering” around the world in the coming months.
On May 5, commissioners in Crawford County, Ohio voted to ban wind project development in all unincorporated areas of the county and puts the kibosh on a proposed 300-megawatt project being promoted by Apex Clean Energy. The move marks the 330th time that wind energy has been rejected or restricted in the U.S. since 2015. The vote matters because Big Wind is currently lobbying in Washington for another extension of the production tax credit, the most-expensive energy-related provision in the federal tax code. I also read parts of an article published in the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum about the vote and why one opponent said “We’re a farming community and we want to promote farming, not wind turbines.”
Alex Epstein is the founder of the Center for Industrial Progress and the author of two books, including his latest, Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas – Not Less, which will be released on May 24.In this episode, Epstein explains why hydrocarbons cannot be replaced anytime soon, why so many “designated experts” on energy and climate are wrong, the false belief in the earth as a “delicate nurturer,” and why we need more intellectual openness and energy humanism in the policy debate.
Ian Bremmer is the president of the Eurasia Group and the author of 11 books, including his latest, The Power of Crisis: How Three Threats – And Our Response – Will Change the World, which will be released on May 17. In this episode, Bremmer talks about the three threats – pandemics, climate change, and new technologies – that are now facing global leaders, as well as China’s ongoing lockdowns, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, disrupted supply chains, and why he is optimistic that the crises now facing the world can be overcome.
Vaclav Smil is a polymath who has written more than 40 books and some 500 papers on numerous topics including energy, power, population, food production, and the history of innovation. Smil declined to appear on the podcast, so in this episode, I discuss my favorite books of his (I have 13 of them), his distaste for publicity and politics, and read some excerpts from a recent interview Smil did with the New York Times.
Dustin Mulvaney is the author of Solar Power: Innovation, Sustainability, and Environmental Justiceand an associate professor of environmental studies at San Jose State University. In this episode, Mulvaney talks about the “green halo” that exists around solar energy, the millions of tons of solar panels that will be discarded over the coming decades, the threat solar poses to desert wildlife, and why the industry is largely “flying blind on PV supply chains” because it is so heavily dependent on China.
Mark Nelson managing director of the Radiant Energy Fund, joins the podcast for the fourth time. In this episode, he talks about the “clown rodeo” in Europe’s nuclear-energy sector in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the looming closure of the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan, and why there has been a “revolution in sentiment” in the Democratic Party about nuclear energy in America.
Chris Keefer is a medical doctor and president of Canadians for Nuclear Energy who testified before the Canadian Parliament on April 25, 2022. In his third appearance on the podcast, (previous appearances were November 2021 and May 2021) Keefer (who is also the host of the Decouple podcast) talks about the growing bipartisan interest in nuclear energy in Canada, why the “CANDU reactors are immortal,” the dangers of America’s powerful anti-nuclear “NGO-industrial complex,” Canada’s uranium wealth, and why investing in renewable energy has been “an enormous waste.”
Lisa Linowes is the New Hampshire-based founder and executive director of the WindAction Group which has been educating the public and documenting the backlash -- both in the U.S. and around the world -- against the wind industry since 2006. In this episode, Linowes discusses the recent prosecution of NextEra Energy for killing Bald and Golden Eagles, how “green” groups are getting funding from entities that want to put thousands of megawatts of wind turbines in the middle of North Atlantic right whale habitat, the surging backlash in rural America against solar energy, and why Congress must shut off the wind industry’s lavish tax credits once and for all.
James Kennedy is the president of ThREE Consulting, a St. Louis-based firm that specializes in rare earth elements and critical minerals. In this episode, Kennedy explains how the U.S. ceded its rare earths industry to China, how China is using its dominance over technology metals “as geostrategic tools, or weapons,” high-strength magnet production, what China’s dominance means for the U.S. auto, solar, and wind sectors, and what the U.S. should be doing to increase its production of critical metals and minerals.
Jason Fordney, a longtime energy journalist, is the editor of California Energy Markets. In this episode, he explains why increasing numbers of Californians are “outraged” by their utility bills, why it would be “a miracle” if the state manages to prevent the closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, and why he believes there is too much emphasis in the state on “carbon molecules and not enough focus on reliability” and affordability.
John Hanekamp, a St. Louis-based consultant, has spent his career in the commodities business. In his second appearance on the podcast (his first was on November 17), Hanekamp talks about global coal demand, railroad bottlenecks, why “the real elephant in the room is not energy, it’s food,” Ukraine’s grain exports, fertilizer demand, and why some parts of the world may soon be facing famine.
Anas Alhajji is the editorial advisor of Attaqa, the only Arabic-language media outlet focused on energy. In his second appearance on the podcast, Alhajji explains why, despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian oil and gas will still be sold on the global market, the importance of US LNG exports, how Iranian gas could eventually replace Russian gas in Europe, and why markets always “overrun politics.”
Joel Kotkin is a demographer, journalist, author, and executive editor of NewGeography.com. In his second appearance on the Power Hungry Podcast, Kotkin discusses his recent article for Quillette, “The New Great Game,” how China and Russia are allying against the West, why America needs “a new nationalism” to counter this alliance, how California’s administrative state is crushing the poor and the middle class, Michael Shellenberger’s gubernatorial bid, energy, housing, and why despite his many concerns, he remains bullish on the future of the United States.
Shreya Jai is a Delhi-based reporter who covers the energy sector for the Business Standard newspaper. In this episode, she talks about India’s energy challenges, including electricity demand that’s growing by about 6% per year, why “coal is here to stay,” solar, microgrids, and why, for many Indians, “energy security is missing.”
John Harpole is the president of Denver-based natural gas broker Mercator Energy. In this episode, Harpole explains how Europe “fell into the trap” set by Russia and Vladimir Putin, fertilizer shortages, why Europe’s energy crisis will last for years, and why the US should launch a “natural gas Lend-Lease” program for Europe.
Benny Peiser is the director of Net Zero Watch, a London-based group that focuses on the “implications of expensive and poorly considered climate change policies.” Peiser talks about Europe’s “unilateral energy disarmament,” the “cult” of climate-change activism, how Germany led the anti-hydrocarbon campaign in Europe, Britain’s shale gas potential, and why Europe needs to reverse its opposition to hydraulic fracturing and begin drilling for oil and gas immediately.
Ukraine special podcast: Mark Nelson managing director of the Radiant Energy Fund, joins the podcast for the third time to talk about the global energy crisis after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We talk about the soaring price of coal (the Newcastle benchmark is now over $400 per ton), Germany’s plans to restart the three nuclear plants it closed in December, France’s nuclear sector, and why the crisis may end up bringing more industrial plants to the United States.
In 2020, Heather Stancil was elected to the Madison County Board of Supervisors on an anti-wind-energy platform by a margin of 65 to 35%. In this episode, Stancil, who lives in Earlham, (population 1,400) talks about the county’s legal battle with MidAmerican Energy (which sued the county for banning wind projects), the bridges of Madison County, National Public Radio’s reporting, and why her opposition to Big Wind is about “the health, safety, and welfare of the people.”
Simon Irish is the CEO of Terrestrial Energy, a Canadian company that is developing a molten-salt reactor for commercial electricity generation. Irish explains why Terrestrial is seeking initial licensing in Canada instead of the U.S., why it may be another decade before his company can deploy its first commercial reactor, and why policy support for new nuclear reactors “needs to accelerate.”
For the third episode marking the one-year anniversary of the Texas Blackouts, we welcome Roger Pielke Jr. back to the podcast for a third time. In this episode, Pielke talks about why policymakers should not commit to decarbonization targets before they have realistic plans to meet them, Germany’s energy mess, a new “taxonomy” for thinking about disasters, doping at the Winter Olympics, and why we may have some good news on climate change.
For the one-year anniversary of the Texas Blackouts, our second guest this week is Brent Bennett, the policy director for Life:Powered, an initiative of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In this episode, Bennett explains why the ERCOT market is “broken,” how it is being distorted by federal subsidies for wind and solar, why there’s no Moore’s law for batteries, and why there is an “oversupply of capital” being directed toward alternative energy sources.
For the one-year anniversary of the Texas Blackouts, we welcome back – for a record fourth appearance -- Meredith Angwin, the author of Shorting the Grid: The Hidden Fragility of Our Electric Grid. In this episode, Meredith explains why entities like ERCOT and other regional transmission organizations are “fatally flawed,” why Texas regulators should be incentivizing power plants to have onsite fuel, why offshore wind is “a tremendous amount of money,” the problems with trying to electrify everything, and why we should be thinking about the electric grid as an “orchestra.”
Donald Sadoway is an emeritus professor of materials chemistry at MIT and the chief science advisor at Ambri Incorporated, a molten-metal battery company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In this episode, Sadoway explains why lithium-ion batteries are so dangerous, why we need to develop batteries with super-cheap ingredients, Ambri’s decade-long road to commercialization, the origin of the neodymium-iron-boron magnet, coercivity, and why iridium is his favorite element.
John Constable is the director of the Renewable Energy Foundation, a British public charity. In this episode, Constable discusses the ongoing energy crisis in Europe, misconceptions about the Industrial Revolution, offshore wind, why “renewables are a land play,” how increasing energy use leads to greater liberty and freedom, and why “solar and wind energy are a mirage.”
Joe Craft is the CEO of Tulsa-based Alliance Resource Partners, the second-largest coal producer in the eastern United States. In this episode, he talks about why coal demand in the US and Europe has rebounded, how the pressure on banks to conform with ESG rules is affecting his company’s access to capital, his philanthropic efforts, and why we “can’t take energy for granted.”
Irina Slav, a freelance writer in Sofia, Bulgaria, writes about energy for Oilprice.com and on Substack at Irina Slav on energy. In this episode, she explains why the “ideological drivel” around renewables is driving Europe’s energy policies, how the need for more minerals and metals will stymie the transition away from hydrocarbons, why the attacks on Vladimir Putin are misguided, Bulgaria’s membership in NATO, and lots more.
Vijaya Ramachandran, a native of Bangalore, India, has been studying and writing about energy and development for more than three decades. In this episode, she discusses the “rank hypocrisy” and “green colonialism” of the rich countries who have said they will quit financing hydrocarbon projects in the developing world, why Africa must develop its vast natural gas resources, how coal is “embedded” in India’s economy, and why “If we just address climate change and ignore poverty, that is completely immoral.”
Matt Ridley is a former member of the House of Lords, and the author of ten books, including most recently, with Alina Chan, of Viral: The Search For the Origin of Covid-19.In this episode, he discusses why the pandemic may have been caused by a lab leak in Wuhan, China’s efforts to suppress information, how “open-source analysts” helped expose the origins of the virus, vaccine development, and why Covid may eventually “become the common cold.”
Jack Lifton, editor-in-chief InvestorIntel.com, has been writing about rare earth elements, critical minerals, and the companies that produce them for more than two decades. In this episode, he talks about China’s dominance of the rare earths market and why its dominance will continue, why projections about huge increases in electric vehicle production in the U.S. are “nonsense,” and why humans are “mineral parasites.”
Gregg Easterbrook is the author of a dozen books, including most recently, The Blue Age: How the US Navy Created Global Prosperity – and Why We’re In Danger of Losing It. In this episode, he discusses the US Navy’s irreplaceable role as a peacekeeper on the high seas, why the age of supercarriers is likely over, the future of shipping through the Arctic Ocean, icebreakers, nuclear propulsion, the Law of the Sea Treaty, and why an armed conflict between the US and China is unlikely.
Jesus Nuñez is a native of Puerto Rico and the CEO and co-founder of the Nuclear Alternative Project, a non-profit group that is promoting the use of nuclear energy on the island. In this episode, he talks about the $1.6M grant his group from the Department of Energy to study the potential siting of small reactors in Puerto Rico, why the island needs “dense and resilient” forms of power generation, and the pressing need for low-cost energy in the territory, where some 43% of Puerto Riqueños are living in poverty.
Leigh Phillips is a Canadian science writer and the author of two books: Austerity Ecology and The People’s Republic of Walmart: How the World's Biggest Corporations are Laying the Foundation for Socialism. In this episode, he explains the attraction of “doomism,” how elite academics and environmental groups became estranged from the working class, the Tennessee Valley Authority as a “cathedral of American socialism, and why Karl Marx was “an energy maximalist.”
From 2017 to 2021, Scott Angelle was the director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which regulates the operations of the energy industry on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. In this episode, Angelle talks about the enormous volumes of hydrocarbons that are produced in the Gulf of Mexico, how Louisiana is different from the rest of the United States, and why we should be producing more oil and gas here instead of asking OPEC and Russia to “give us the energy we need to fuel our country.”
Chris Keefer is a Toronto-based medical doctor, the founder of Doctors for Nuclear Energy, and the host of the Decouple podcast. In his second appearance on the Power Hungry Podcast, Keefer talks about being rejected by Google Ads, his recent trips to the COP 26 climate meeting in Glasgow and the pro-nuclear marches in Berlin, why Canada’s CANDU reactor design has been so successful, and why China and Russia are beating the rest of the world in deploying new nuclear reactors.
John Hanekamp’s career has been spent in the commodities business, including nearly 20 years in the grain sector and the last two decades in the coal industry. In this episode, Hanekamp explains why global coal prices have soared in recent months, the macro outlook for energy commodities, why high energy prices will lead to an economic slowdown, and the “unintended consequences” that are being felt due to underinvestment in hydrocarbon production around the world.
Todd Royal is the co-author (with Ron Stein) of the book, Clean Energy Exploitations: Helping Citizens Understand the Environmental and Humanity Abuses that Support “Clean” Energy. In this episode, Todd explains how China is “weaponizing” commodities like cobalt, polysilicon, and rare earth elements, why hydrocarbons are going to be needed for decades to come, and how ESG rules on investments are based on vague definitions of what is “good.”
Over the past decade, Gordon Hughes, a professor of economics at University of Edinburgh in Scotland has been studying the costs and performance of wind energy. Hughes, who spent much of his career working on energy access issues at the World Bank, explains why the capital and maintenance costs of offshore wind energy projects are increasing, why the promise of “green” jobs has “never been realized anywhere,” how land-use conflicts are halting the expansion of renewables in Europe, and why it is “profoundly dangerous” to believe we can run the world economy solely on renewables.
Richard Herrington, head of the Earth Sciences Department at the Natural History Museum in London, has spent his career in mining and mineralogy. In this episode, he explains why electric vehicles and other alternative-energy technologies are “resource hungry,” the enormous volumes of minerals like copper, lithium, dysprosium, and neodymium that will be needed to move from the global economy from “carbon to minerals and metals,” China’s dominance of the critical minerals market, and why societies will have to make hard choices about where and how to mine the metals needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Jon Entine is the author of several books including, Abraham's Children: Race, Identity, and the DNA of the Chosen People, as well as the founder and executive director of the Genetic Literacy Project, a non-profit that promotes science literacy and supports “transparent, ethical, science-based regulations of biotechnology and related sciences.” In this episode, Jon talks to Robert about how “our genes carry meaning,” the “disinformation industry” that makes money by promoting catastrophism, why Africa is a “cold spot” for Covid-19 infections, and why we are only in the second inning of the genetics-led revolution in agriculture and medicine.
Jesse Ausubel, director of the Program for the Human Environment at Rockefeller University, is one of America’s top scientists and researchers. In this episode, he and Robert discuss his work on decarbonization, dematerialization, land-sparing, Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA, the Census of Marine Life, the industrialization of the oceans, why the “Tesla is a Soviet car,” and why wind and solar energy “may be renewable, but they are not ‘green.’”
Mark Nelson is the managing director of the Radiant Energy Fund, which advises non-profits and industry about nuclear energy. Nelson, who spent much of the last two months in Europe, explains why the continent’s energy crisis is the result of decades of complaisance about energy infrastructure, why Britain is in worse shape than other European countries, how deregulation of the UK’s electric market fueled the disaster, why Germany has to preserve its nuclear fleet, and why Europe could be facing energy shortages for years to come.
Annie Hawkins is the executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a coalition of fishing industry associations and companies that are “committed to improving the compatibility of new offshore development with their businesses.” In this episode, Annie explains why commercial fishermen are opposing offshore wind projects, how the permitting process is tilted in favor of the developers, and why more people need to be concerned about the rush to install thousands of offshore platforms in America’s coastal waters. (Note: Since we recorded this episode, RODA has sued the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management over the permit it granted to the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project.)
Art Berman is a petroleum geologist and one of America's top energy analysts. In this episode, Art talks about why supply drives oil prices, why no country or company can be “energy dominant,” how physics explains our dependence on oil, the U.S. as a superpower in refined oil products, Iran as the “ascendant power” in the Middle East, and how LNG exports are contributing to the surge in domestic natural gas prices.
Mark McKinnon is a former political strategist and the creator and co-host of The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth on Showtime. In this episode, McKinnon explains why he is worried about the state of American democracy, gerrymandering, partisanship, the politicians he believes could lead a reform movement, and why despite his many concerns, he remains “a prisoner of hope.”
Franklin “Chuck” Spinney, is a retired military strategist and author of the 1998 report “The Defense Death Spiral,” who served in the U.S. Air Force before becoming a high-profile critic of the Defense Department’s weapons acquisition process and overall strategy. In this episode, Chuck explains why it is “ridiculous” to blame the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan on President Biden, how the war on terror has been used to justify ever-larger defense budgets, his recollections of the military strategists Pierre Sprey and John Boyd, and how the ongoing growth of the “military-industrial-Congressional-complex” is undermining American democracy.
Antoine Saab is the founder and CEO of E24 Solutions, a company that provides solar and battery installations to homes and businesses in several countries. In this episode, Robert talks to Saab, who appeared in Juice: How Electricity Explains the World, about the “total collapse” of the Lebanese economy, why E24 uses lead-acid batteries instead of lithium-ion, Chinese-made solar panels, and why, as he said in Juice, “microgrids are the future.”
Pamela Ronald is one of the world’s leading scientists on plant genetics, a professor of plant pathology at the University of California, Davis, and the co-author (with her husband, Raoul Adamchuk) of Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food. In this episode, she and Robert talk about the evolution of pathogens, why nearly everything we eat has been genetically modified, her work on developing flood-resistant strains of rice, CRISPR, and why geneticist Barbara McClintock, the winner of the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, is one of her personal heroes.
Roger Pielke Jr., a professor at the University of Colorado, comes back on the podcast for a second time. In this episode, he talks about the “catastrophe bias” in the latest IPCC report, the media coverage of the report, the need for more “robust science advice” in policymaking, why America’s reaction to Covid-19 was the “biggest policy failure” in modern U.S. history, the Olympics, the suspension of sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, and the “intersection of expertise and democracy.”
Isaac Orr is a Policy Fellow at Center of the American Experiment, a Minnesota-based think tank, where he writes about environmental issues, mining, and electricity policy. In this episode, Orr explains how being raised on a farm shaped his political views, why concerns about “conservation come after breakfast,” mining in Minnesota, the importance of coal-fired electricity, and his forthcoming report on the material intensity of various forms of electricity production.
Alex Epstein is the author of The Moral Case For Fossil Fuels, the founder of the Center for Industrial Progress, and an unabashed advocate for the increased use of hydrocarbons. In this episode, Alex talks about the “brazenly irrational” stance of many climate activists, why the costs of using hydrocarbons are “dwarfed by the benefits,” the rise of the energy humanist movement, and his upcoming book, Fossil Future, which will be published in February 2022.
Peter Osnos’ career in journalism and publishing spans more than 50 years and includes, most recently, his memoir, An Especially Good View: Watching History Happen. In this episode, Osnos talks to Robert about his family’s remarkable escape from Warsaw in 1939, his stints as a reporter in Vietnam and Russia, why former Russian dissident Natan Sharansky is his personal hero, media trends, publishing books by Obama, Carter, Clinton, and Trump, and, as he wrote in his memoir, “believing in the power of resilience.”
Kevin D. Williamson is a roving correspondent for National Review and the author of, most recently, Big White Ghetto: Dead Broke, Stone-Cold Stupid, and High on Rage in the Dank Woolly Wilds of the 'Real America,' In this episode, Williamson talks about the growing underclass in America, why there’s no such thing as “energy independence” or “clean energy,” China, why “depravity is a luxury good,” and his growing concerns about the cultural and geographic divides in America at the same time we have a “non-functioning central government.”
Emmet Penney is an essayist and co-host of the Ex.haust podcast. In this episode, he talks to Robert about his recent essay in the American Conservative and explains why nuclear plants are “our industrial cathedrals” why we need “a nuclear new deal,” and why there is “no such thing as a wealthy society with a weak electrical grid.”
Robert Hargraves is a co-founder of ThorCon International, a startup company that aims to build thorium-based nuclear reactors. Robert talks to Hargraves about ThorCon’s technology, why shipyards are the best bet for scaling up production of nuclear reactors, the myth of “net zero” emissions, and how companies like Google and Amazon are hiding their carbon dioxide emissions by buying renewable energy credits.
Sally Vance-Trembath, a theologian at Santa Clara University, studies the relationships among the Catholic Church, academia, and society. In this episode, she talks with Robert about environmentalism as a religion, climate change and sin, Christian theology, and the similarities between the indulgences that were sold to build Europe’s cathedrals and modern-day carbon credits.
For the one-year anniversary of the Power Hungry Podcast, we welcome back – for her third appearance -- Meredith Angwin, the author of Shorting the Grid: The Hidden Fragility of Our Electric Grid. Of the 57 episodes we published over the past year, the February 17th episode with Angwin was our most popular one. Thus, we (producer Tyson Culver and I) invited her back. We discussed the “new kinds of blackouts” that are hitting the grid, how lavish subsidies for renewables are making it more fragile, the “fatal trifecta,” and how many of the decarbonization efforts being promoted by climate activists are a new “way of enforcing energy poverty.”
Rupert Darwall is a fellow at the RealClearFoundation and the author of two books: Green Tyranny, and The Age of Global Warming. In this episode, Darwall talks to Robert about his recent report on the pressure for companies to adopt ESG (environmental, social, and governance) principles, the “weaponization of finance by billionaire climate activists,” why courts have become the favored venue for climate activism, and the “upside-down aesthetic” that is resulting in the deployment of large renewable-energy projects in rural areas of Europe and the U.S.
Dave Schryver is the CEO of the American Public Gas Association, which represents about 1,000 municipally and publicly-owned natural gas distribution systems. In this episode, Schryver tells Robert that the gas business is “under attack like never before,” how the gas grid contributes to energy reliability and efficiency, and why his group will “never be embarrassed” to talk about the benefits of the direct use of natural gas.
Nick DeIuliis is the CEO of CNX Resources Corporation, a Pittsburgh-based natural gas producer. In this episode, DeIuliis talks with Robert about how shale gas has boosted the Pennsylvania economy, the “façade” of ESG, why low-cost energy has given the United States an “epic strategic advantage” over the rest of the world, and the themes in his upcoming book, The Leech: An Indictment of the Evil Sapping America, Depleting Free Enterprise, and Bleeding Producers.
Michael Shellenberger is the founder of Environmental Progress and the author of the best-selling book Apocalypse Never: How Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All. In his second appearance on the podcast, Shellenberger talks with Robert about the remarkable success of Apocalypse Never, his next book, San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities, which will be out in October, sobriety, his return to his Christian faith, environmentalism as religion, “Chinese genocide solar panels,” and why the decline of our cities reflects the decline of our civilization.
Steven Koonin is a theoretical physicist who has had a long career in academia, business, and government. In this episode, Koonin talks with Robert about his new book, Unsettled, why he believes efforts to limit debate about climate science are “pernicious,” why he is concerned about the reliability of the electric grid, why he finds the “denier” term abhorrent, and why “we need slow, steady pressure” on our energy and power systems, “not crash decarbonization.”
In this, the final (and shortest) episode of Indian Point Blackout Week, Robert talks to James Shillitto, the president of Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2, which represents many of the workers who worked at the nuclear plant. Shillitto, who spent three decades of his career as an electrical lineman, said “Indian Point closed because of fear...fear of the unknown, fear of what people see in a movie” and fear prevailed even though the plant operated safely for “58 years with no real problems.”
Madison Czerwinski is the founder and executive director of the Campaign for a Green Nuclear Deal, which aims to “articulate a new vision for nuclear growth.” Madison explains why she attended the “funeral” for the Indian Point nuclear plant on April 30, why the closure is “unconscionable,” and why she is so angry that the United States built a “wonderful, world-class nuclear fleet that we are absolutely squandering for no good reason.”
Reiner Kuhr, an adjunct professor at University of Massachusetts Lowell, worked in the electric power sector for more than 40 years. In this episode, Kuhr, who calls himself an “energy technology economist,” explains why keeping nuclear plants like Indian Point operating is a far cheaper way to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions than by using wind, and solar, how deregulated electricity markets are undermining the nuclear sector, and why the U.S. is headed toward “a train wreck in power generation.”
Since 2014, Theresa Knickerbocker has been the mayor of the village of Buchanan, the host community of the Indian Point Energy Center. The plant was closed, she says, because anti-nuclear groups “stoked up the...nuclear fear that Indian Point was this big bogeyman that was going to blow up and kill us all.” She also explains why she is opposed to putting any wind turbines or solar panels at the Indian Point site and why other communities that are hosting nuclear reactors need to get organized now and make “a show of strength” if they want to save their plants.
Mark Nelson is the managing director of the Radiant Energy Fund, which advises non-profits and industry groups about nuclear energy. Robert talks to Nelson about the “funeral” held last Friday in Buchanan, New York to mark the closure of the Indian Point Energy Center, why there was “a feeling of moral outrage” at that gathering, and why electricity prices in states like California are “absolutely exploding.”
Tucker Perkins is an advocate for propane, a natural gas liquid that is produced by the oil and gas sector. In this episode, Robert talks to Perkins, the CEO of the Propane Education & Research Council, about the strategic importance of fuel diversity, the 3-D energy grid, and why the United States is the “Saudi Arabia of propane.”
Kirsty Gogan and Eric Ingersoll are the founders of TerraPraxis, a non-profit organization that is “focused on action for climate and prosperity.” Robert talks with them about their recent report, “Missing Link to a Livable Climate: How Hydrogen-Enabled Synthetic Fuels Can Help Deliver the Paris Goals,” nuclear energy, the footprint of renewables, and why the low capacity factors of wind and solar energy make them incompatible with low-cost production of hydrogen.
Chris Keefer is a Toronto-based medical doctor, Director of Doctors for Nuclear Energy, and host of the Decouple podcast. In this episode, Robert talks to Keefer about the importance of radiation in medicine, decarbonization, why Ontario is “the France of North America,” and why in his view, Canada’s 60,000 nuclear workers are “climate, clean air, and medical heroes.”
About 50 million Americans get their electricity from publicly owned power systems. In this episode, Joy Ditto, the president and CEO of the American Public Power Association talks with Robert about the lessons learned from the Texas and California blackouts, the importance of nuclear reactors and coal plants for baseload power generation, realistic timelines for decarbonizing the power sector, and why we need to, in her words, “rethink how we value reliability and supply” on the electric grid.
Energy poverty affects millions of Americans. In this episode, Robert talks to Dana Harmon of the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute about how the February snowstorm increased energy insecurity among low-income Texans, why weatherization of homes helps increase resilience, and how energy, in her words, should be a “tool to help address poverty and socioeconomic disparities in our system.”
Ben Heard, is the founder of Bright New World, an Australian NGO that is “committed to a vision where modern societies thrive on abundant, clean energy.” In this episode, Robert talks to Heard (who appears in Juice: How Electricity Explains the World) about the obstacles to building nuclear reactors Down Under, his visits to Fukushima, the challenges facing Australia’s electric grid, and why his parents are his heroes.
Zion Lights, formerly a communications director for Extinction Rebellion, has become one of Britain’s highest-profile advocates for nuclear energy. In this episode, Robert talks to Lights about apocalyptic environmentalism, the threats that wind energy poses to bats and birds, the parallels between the marketing efforts used by tobacco companies and renewable promoters, and why the nuclear industry “needs rebranding.”
In the days immediately after the Texas Blackouts, numerous national media outlets published articles and TV segments which insisted that wind energy was not to blame for the electricity crisis. In this episode, Bill Peacock, policy director of The Energy Alliance, tells Robert about the history of wind energy in Texas, how the billions of dollars in “corporate cronyism” for renewables distorted the state’s electricity market, and how the state should reform that market to assure reliability and resilience.
In the blizzard of finger pointing that is happening in the wake of the Texas Blackouts, the natural gas sector has been getting lots of blame. In this episode, Robert talks to John Harpole, the president of Denver-based gas broker Mercator Energy about the history of gas deregulation, ERCOT’s failure to heed the lessons from the 2011 blackouts, how power cuts by ERCOT reduced the flow of gas during last month’s blizzard, and why gas should be seen as a strategic fuel for the United States.
The roots of the Texas Blackouts were planted in the early 2000s during the push to deregulate the state’s electricity market. In this episode, Robert talks to J. Paul Oxer, an engineer who has 45 years of experience in the electricity sector, about his stint at Enron before it failed, how ERCOT works, why the grid should always be ready for “two black swans,” and what Texas should do next.
The fallout from the Texas Blackouts continues to reverberate. In this episode, Robert talks to Steve Brick, a consulting engineer who has 40 years of experience in the power sector, about why renewables are the “pandas” of the electricity sector, the myriad difficulties involved in expanding America’s high-voltage transmission capacity, and why the academics and policymakers who are pushing all-renewable scenarios have “reality deficit disorder.”
The Texas Blackouts prove that our electric grid is getting more fragile and blackouts are becoming more common. In this episode, Robert talks, for the second time, with Lee Cordner, an electrical engineer who has 50 years of experience in the power sector, about the causes of the blackouts in Texas and California, how close the Texas grid came to collapse, the importance of baseload power plants like nuclear reactors, and why schemes that aim to power our society solely with renewable energy are doomed to fail.
Meredith Angwin is a chemist and author, most recently, of Shorting the Grid: The Hidden Fragility of Our Electric Grid. In her second appearance on the podcast, Angwin explains why the blackouts in Texas and elsewhere are happening, the “fatal trifecta” (over-reliance on renewables, natural gas, and imported electricity), why economic incentives are needed to assure reliability, and why the grid needs power plants that have on-site fuel storage.
Todd Moss is the executive director of the Energy for Growth Hub, a non-profit group that aims to help “All countries achieve the high-energy future they need to become prosperous, competitive, and climate resilient.” In this episode, Robert talks to Moss about the challenges of electrification in Africa, the fuels that will likely play the biggest roles in that effort, the “modern energy minimum,” and his parallel career as a writer of spy novels.
Thomas Gryta is a reporter at the Wall Street Journal and the co-author, with Ted Mann, of Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric. In this episode, Robert talks with Gryta about the book, how GE soared in value under its charismatic leader, Jack Welch, and how hubris, excessive financial leverage, and the company’s dependence on profits from GE Capital, nearly forced America’s most famous industrial company into bankruptcy.
Bernadette Johnson is an energy economist at Austin-based Enverus, an energy-data analytics firm. In this episode, Robert talks to Johnson about the recent spike in Asian LNG prices, the future of oil, the resource curse, and what she calls “the fundamental disconnect” between what many people like to believe about renewables and the reality of our hydrocarbon-dependent world.
Diane Fitch is a county supervisor in Madison County, Iowa, who was elected in 2019 on an anti-wind-energy platform. In this episode, Robert talks to Fitch about the ordinance that was approved by county supervisors in December 2020 that effectively bans new wind projects, why wind energy is facing increasing friction in Iowa, the famous bridges in Madison County, and the growing divide between urban Americans and their rural counterparts.
Jennifer Hernandez is a San Francisco-based partner at Holland & Knight, and a lead attorney for The 200, a coalition of California’s Latino leaders who are suing the state over its energy and housing policies. Robert talked with Hernandez about the litigation, California’s housing crisis, the importance of homeownership, and what she calls the “fundamentally racist” policies that are exacerbating poverty and inequality in her home state.
Coilín ÓhAiseadha and Ronan Connolly are Dublin-based researchers and co-authors of a recent academic paper that found global spending on climate change projects totaled nearly $3.7 trillion between 2011 and 2018. Robert talks with them about why more than half of climate-related spending is being garnered by solar and wind, the merits – and problems -- of various energy sources, why more spending should be directed toward climate adaptation, and why there is no panacea when it comes to our energy and power needs.
Brad Rockwell is the executive manager of operations at the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative in Hawaii. In this episode, Robert talks to Rockwell about how his co-op has achieved high penetration of renewable electricity – it now gets about 60% of its electricity from biomass, hydropower and solar – his grid’s use of battery storage, why it will still need oil-fired generators, and the future of renewable electricity on the other Hawaiian islands.
John Mackey is the CEO and co-founder of Whole Foods Market and the co-author of Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity Through Business. Robert talks to Mackey about the dearth of leadership in America, why leaders must have integrity, Whole Foods’ merger with Amazon, socialism, capitalism, veganism, animal rights, and why he sees Texas-based grocer H-E-B as his company’s fiercest competitor.
California Assemblyman Jim Cooper, a Democrat from Elk Grove, has become a harsh critic of his state’s energy and climate policies. In this episode, Robert talks to Cooper (who was a guest on the podcast in September) about the regressive nature of California’s decarbonization efforts, the Sierra Club’s campaign to ban the use of natural gas, and what he calls the “deliberate indifference” of climate activists to the needs of low- and middle-income Americans.
Anas Alhajji is among the world’s top oil market analysts as well as the editorial advisor of Attaqa, the first Arabic-language energy media and research platform. In this episode, Robert talks with Alhajji about the future of oil, why the U.S. is not energy independent, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and why the shale revolution, as he put it, “flipped everything upside down.”
Rod Adams is a retired commander in the US Navy, as well as the publisher of atomicinsights.com and host of the Atomic Show Podcast. In this episode, Robert talks to Adams about the “magical power source,” which companies and reactor designs he believes have the quickest path to commercial deployment, his experience aboard nuclear submarines, and the seemingly intractable problem of what to do with used nuclear fuel.
Carey King is a research scientist and assistant director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas. In this episode, Robert talks with King about his new book, The Economic Superorganism: Beyond the Competing Narratives on Energy, Growth, and Policy, what he sees as the “hollow narratives” about energy and power systems, Thomas Malthus, why King calls himself a “finite earther,” the relationship among GDP, energy, and human well-being, and why the global economy should be viewed as a “superorganism.”
Geraldine Thomas is the director of the Chernobyl Tissue Bank and one of the world’s foremost experts on radiation and its health effects. In this episode, Robert talks with Thomas about why people are excessively fearful of radiation, how fear of radiation can be more dangerous than radiation itself, her many visits to Fukushima, and why we must have more nuclear energy if we are to have any hope of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
Bjorn Lomborg is the president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, a think tank that “researches the smartest ways to do good.” In this episode, Robert talks to Lomborg about his new book-- False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet – including his views on why climate policies are “often worse than ineffective,” why we need to spend more money on adapting to a changing climate, the prospects for a carbon tax, the need for innovation in nuclear, and yes, why he always wears a black T-shirt.
Meredith Angwin is an author, chemist, and former project manager at the Electric Power Research Institute. In this episode, Robert talks with Angwin about her new book, Shorting the Grid: The Hidden Fragility of Our Electric Grid, why the grid is becoming less reliable at the same time that electric vehicles and bans on natural gas are likely to increase electricity demand, how our increasing reliance on renewables and natural gas will exacerbate the reliability challenge, and why we need to pay more attention to how the electric grid is managed.
Eric Meyer is the founder and executive director of Generation Atomic, a non-profit based in Minneapolis that aims to “energize and empower today’s generations to advocate for a nuclear future.” In this episode, Robert talks to Meyer about how he went from aspiring professional opera singer to pro-nuclear activist, the “stigma” and “dogma” used by nuclear opponents, the environmental sacrifices required to scale up renewables, and why the late nuclear physicist Alvin Weinberg is among his personal heroes.
Judith A. Curry is a climatologist, entrepreneur, and former academic who has broken with much of the political orthodoxy about climate change. In this episode, Robert talks with Curry, the president of Climate Forecast Applications Network, about why she left academia, why she believes climate science “has become a political party with totalitarian tendencies,” the limits of models, the role of heretics in society, and why nuclear energy and adaptation to a changing climate are the best paths forward.
On September 24, United Latinos Vote published an “Open Letter to the Sierra Club” in the Los Angeles Times that declared, “your world is not our world,” and that “yours feels hypocritical and socially divisive and would disproportionately burden those who you claim to support the most.” In this episode, Robert talks to Robert Apodaca, the executive director of United Latinos Vote about what led his group to publish the letter, the lawsuits that Latino groups in California have filed against the state’s climate policies, and why he believes that the state must rethink its efforts to ban hydrocarbons.
Ted Nordhaus is the co-founder of the Oakland-based Breakthrough Institute and an original signer of the Ecomodernist Manifesto. In this episode, Robert talks to Ted about the ecomodernist movement, the future of nuclear energy, why he disagrees with his uncle (Nobel Prize-winner William Nordhaus) about climate policy, why he believes atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide will not drop any time soon, why adaptation to changes in the climate will be essential, and what California will look like in 10 years.
David French is an American author, journalist, and senior editor at The Dispatch. In this episode, David and Robert talk about his new book -- Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation – as well as the many cultural, political, and geographic divides in America, why, in French’s view, the GOP has “become a party of rage,” his role as one of America’s most prominent evangelical Christian journalists, basketball, the NBA, LeBron James, and why “we need to view people with grace.”
Chris Wright is the CEO and chairman of Liberty Oilfield Services, a Denver-based company that provides hydraulic fracturing services to drillers. In this episode, Wright talks with Robert about his pioneering work on micro-seismic technology during the earliest days of the shale revolution, Liberty’s recent acquisition of some of Schlumberger’s assets and how that acquisition will make Liberty into one of the biggest oilfield service companies in the country, and why, in his words, “human liberty and abundant energy...changed the world, created the modern world, enabled the modern world.”
Daniel Yergin is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the Vice Chairman of IHSMarkit, a research and consulting firm. In this episode, Robert talks with Dan about his new book The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations, how gas pipelines are redefining geopolitics, how a map drawn by Chinese “cartographic combatant” Bai Meichu in the 1930s helps explain the ongoing tensions in the South China Sea, why the world won’t quit using oil anytime soon, and about his first car (it was a Volkswagon station wagon).
In an August 3 open letter, California Assemblyman Jim Cooper, a Democrat from Elk Grove, called out the state’s environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council, saying that they promote policies that “systematically drive racial economic inequities and fuel environmental racism.” In this episode, Robert talks with Cooper about what motivated him to write the letter, why he wants to eliminate California’s EV rebate program, and why the state’s energy and climate policies should be overhauled.
The Switch Energy Alliance is an Austin-based non-profit that’s “dedicated to inspiring an energy-educated future that is objective, nonpartisan, and sensible.” In this episode, Robert talks with SEA chairman and Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology, Scott Tinker, about the alliance’s new energy-focused curriculum, and his compelling new documentary, Switch On, which takes viewers to Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia, Vietnam, and Nepal, to show how people all over the world are struggling to overcome energy poverty.
During a mid-August heatwave, California utilities were forced to shut off electricity to several hundred thousand customers. In this episode, Robert talks to Lee Cordner, a former Pacific Gas & Electric engineer and long-time energy consultant, about the cause of the blackouts, the myriad problems facing the California electric grid, and why the state needs to keep its nuclear and natural gas-fired power plants operating if it wants to keep the lights on.
In March 2020, Oklo Inc. submitted an application to federal regulators that could allow it to build and operate an advanced type of nuclear reactor. In this episode, Robert Bryce talks to Caroline Cochran, the co-founder and COO of Oklo, about her company’s design – a liquid-metal fast reactor with 1.5 megawatts of capacity -- the hurdles it faces in getting to market, why small reactors may have advantages in the market, and when and where it might be deployed.
If you believe that the term “oligarchs” only applies to Russian billionaires, author and demographer Joel Kotkin has some news for you. In this episode, Robert Bryce talks to Joel about his latest book, The Coming of NeoFeudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class, as well as a wide variety of topics, including the rise of the technocratic elite, the importance of homeownership, suburbs in the time of Covid-19, California’s regressive energy policies, and what he calls “the betrayal of the middle and working class” by policymakers.
Whether the issue is climate, energy, or the response to Covid-19, the use of the word “science” has become -- in the words of Avik Roy, president of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity -- a “cloak of virtue.” In this episode, Robert Bryce talks to Avik about the need to view scientific evidence dispassionately, the limits of models, the American health care system, why his mother is a Democrat, and why, even in the midst of the pandemic, he is hopeful about our future.
Small modular reactors have the potential to transform the nuclear-energy sector and expand the amount of carbon-free electricity available to consumers. In this episode, Robert Bryce talks with Jessica Lovering -- the co-founder of the Good Energy Collective, a new organization working on progressive nuclear policy -- about the challenges facing the nuclear sector, why she is working to engage young climate activists, the advantages of SMRs, and why they have the potential to be, as she put it, the “iPhone of nuclear reactors.”
Roger Pielke Jr., a professor at the University of Colorado, is an expert on climate change, sports governance, and what he calls the “messy interface” between science and government. In this episode, we discuss his eighth and most-recent book -- The Rightful Place of Science: Disasters and Climate Change -- as well as governance failures in sports and politics, cancel culture, the slow pace of energy transitions, and the possibility that college sports will be canceled this fall.
In the fourth edition of the Power Hungry Podcast, Robert Bryce talks with economist Joyashree Roy, who was among the members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change who, in 2007, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Joyashree and Robert discuss her upbringing in eastern India, why developing countries like India will continue burning coal to produce electricity, and how the pandemic has underscored the need to provide more electricity to people in the developing world.
In the third edition of the Power Hungry podcast, Robert Bryce talks with author Matt Ridley about his new book, How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom. They discuss why innovation is needed to find a vaccine for the coronavirus, why China faces a difficult future, birdwatching, and Brexit.
In the second edition of the Power Hungry podcast, Robert Bryce talks with Michael Shellenberger about his new book, Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All. Michael is one of the most famous environmentalists in America as well as a former candidate for governor of California. He and Robert discuss a myriad of topics including liberation theology, the roots of apocalyptic environmentalism, and why nuclear reactors, not wind turbines and solar panels, are the only viable path forward if we are going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and preserve natural areas for people and wildlife.
In the inaugural Power Hungry podcast, Robert Bryce discusses his recent film, Juice: How Electricity Explains The World, with director Tyson Culver.