Volts

By David Roberts

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Category: Politics

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Subscribers: 423
Reviews: 2
Episodes: 295

Ian cable
 Dec 12, 2022
really insightful and interesting podcasts if you like American politics and sustainable energy. great to spend more time listening to development of Solutions, Renewables and energy storage and thinking about the world falling apart.

Earthling1
 Aug 3, 2022
On Top of IT

Description

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

www.volts.wtf

Episode Date
The promise of residential VPPs
Dec 20, 2024
Should we put utilities in charge of distributed energy?
Dec 18, 2024
Time to stop taking hydropower for granted?
Dec 13, 2024
Can we avoid the enshittification of clean-energy tech?
Dec 11, 2024
Climate change and insurance: a growing fustercluck
Dec 04, 2024
Checking in on local and state climate races
Nov 27, 2024
Electrifying big trucks
Nov 22, 2024
Dan Savage on blue America in the age of Trump
Nov 20, 2024
Residential solar is becoming residential solar + storage + VPP
Nov 13, 2024
How railroads could boost the US energy transition
Nov 06, 2024
How is electrification going?
Nov 01, 2024
Tying utility profits to actually doing a good job
Oct 23, 2024
The Department of Energy has gotten serious about technology commercialization
Oct 16, 2024
Digging into one of this year's most important-but-overlooked clean energy elections
Oct 11, 2024
What Allison Clements thinks about the grid
Oct 09, 2024
What's the deal with the Texas Railroad Commission?
Oct 04, 2024
A closer look at Pennsylvania, the swingiest of swing states
Oct 02, 2024
A new way to retrofit old buildings ... from the outside
Sep 25, 2024
How the Biden investments are changing America
Sep 18, 2024
A tool that enables solar-first home electrification
Sep 13, 2024
This new organization wants to remake PUCs for the energy transition
Sep 11, 2024
Developing a supply chain for American-made batteries
Sep 06, 2024
How to activate climate voters
Sep 04, 2024
EV charging for urban neighborhoods
Aug 28, 2024
How is new clean-energy manufacturing affecting red & purple states?
Aug 21, 2024
The prospects for offshore wind in California
Aug 14, 2024
Free the smart-meter data!
Aug 09, 2024
Colorado governor Jared Polis on recent climate, energy, & housing wins
Aug 07, 2024
How to cram EV fast chargers into tight urban spaces
Aug 02, 2024
What's the deal with perovskite solar?
Jul 31, 2024
What's the deal with burning wood pellets for energy?
Jul 24, 2024
What's the deal with Passive House?
Jul 19, 2024
EV charging for those without a garage
Jul 17, 2024
How are we going to decarbonize shipping?
Jul 12, 2024
Electrolyze everything!
Jul 10, 2024
What's up with solid-state batteries?
Jul 05, 2024
A clever new way to distribute storage on the grid
Jul 03, 2024
Hey schools, go get your IRA tax credits!
Jun 28, 2024
Heat pumps with thermal batteries
Jun 26, 2024
New York's congestion pricing fiasco
Jun 21, 2024
What's up with electric aviation?
Jun 19, 2024
Washington Governor Jay Inslee on his last big climate fight
Jun 14, 2024
Are markets the right tool for decarbonizing electricity?
Jun 12, 2024
Wrapping our heads around AI and climate
Jun 07, 2024
Making mini-grids work in sub-Saharan Africa
Jun 05, 2024
Making carbon-free steel with clean electricity
May 29, 2024
FERC's new rule and other exciting transmission news
May 24, 2024
Using a Moneyball approach to elect state & local climate champions
May 22, 2024
Making heat pumps better, easier, and a little sexier
May 17, 2024
Envisioning a more democratic, bottom-up energy system
May 15, 2024
How climate change is portrayed in popular culture
May 08, 2024
What you need to know about the new EPA power plant standards
May 06, 2024
The energy transition's 5 supervillains and 5 superheroes
May 01, 2024
Making geothermal heat pumps work for big buildings
Apr 26, 2024
Rising electricity demand requires new gas plants? Not so fast.
Apr 24, 2024
Why "transferable" tax credits are such a big deal
Apr 19, 2024
What's going on with China these days?
Apr 17, 2024
Fashion's climate impact and how to reduce it
Apr 12, 2024
How much can urban land use policy do for the climate?
Apr 10, 2024
How the EPA will spend $27 billion in carbon-reduction funds
Apr 05, 2024
Now is the time for distributed energy
Apr 03, 2024
Biden sets out to supercharge industrial decarbonization
Mar 27, 2024
What's the deal with these methane satellites?
Mar 22, 2024
What's the deal with "scope 3" emissions?
Mar 20, 2024
Getting ready for IRA 2
Mar 15, 2024
How's IRA doing?
Mar 13, 2024
Industrial policy: what it is, how Biden's doing it, and how it could be done better
Mar 08, 2024
The obscure but extremely important battle over building codes
Mar 06, 2024
So you want to electrify your home
Feb 28, 2024
Nuclear? Perhaps!
Feb 21, 2024
The Democrats' new consensus bill would supercharge transmission
Feb 14, 2024
The current state of unions in America
Feb 09, 2024
Another hot rocks company gets in the storage game
Feb 07, 2024
One easy way to boost the grid: upgrade the power lines
Jan 31, 2024
Electrifying battery recycling
Jan 24, 2024
Michigan targets clean electricity and faster permitting
Jan 19, 2024
Transitioning off of fossil gas in Australia
Jan 17, 2024
The Chevron Doctrine: what it is and why it matters that the Supreme Court might kill it
Jan 12, 2024
A Connecticut reformer is shaking up utility regulation
Jan 10, 2024
Decarbonizing a sprawling university system
Jan 03, 2024
Volts podcast: Will Toor on Colorado's burst of clean energy policy
Jan 01, 2024
We are closing in on zero-carbon cement
Dec 27, 2023
Getting better at mining the minerals needed for clean energy
Dec 20, 2023
What's going on with offshore wind?
Dec 13, 2023
Getting local communities on board with renewable energy, Australia edition
Dec 08, 2023
The Farm Bill is the most important climate bill this Congress will pass
Dec 06, 2023
A note to subscribers on Volts' third anniversary
Dec 04, 2023
Checking in on solar power
Nov 29, 2023
Managing a distributed grid
Nov 22, 2023
FERC is about to make some very important decisions about transmission
Nov 17, 2023
An insider's view of the Biden years in clean energy policy
Nov 15, 2023
The cheapest way to permanently sequester carbon involves ... fizzy water
Nov 10, 2023
What rural people actually think about clean energy
Nov 08, 2023
The Volts/Catalyst pod crossover you didn't know you were waiting for
Nov 03, 2023
What? The sun isn't always shining?!
Nov 01, 2023
What's the deal with district energy?
Oct 25, 2023
What's the deal with Iceland?
Oct 18, 2023
Reflecting on 20 years in political journalism
Oct 11, 2023
A super-battery aimed at decarbonizing industry
Oct 06, 2023
Minnesota forces transportation planners to take climate change seriously
Sep 27, 2023
The campaign for public power in Maine
Sep 22, 2023
How climate activists can help get things built
Sep 20, 2023
How to accelerate rooftop solar & household batteries in the US
Sep 15, 2023
Getting more out of the grid we've already built
Sep 13, 2023
Volts podcast: the immense promise of a federal green bank, with Reed Hundt
Sep 11, 2023
Grid-scale batteries do not currently reduce emissions. Here's how they could.
Sep 06, 2023
Discussing disinformation and media with Matt Sheffield
Aug 30, 2023
The progressive take on the permitting debate
Aug 30, 2023
Me, on an Australian pod
Aug 21, 2023
A conversation with Saul Griffith
Aug 18, 2023
What's the deal with Australian climate politics?
Aug 16, 2023
Volts podcast: the challenges of building transmission in the US, and how to overcome them, with Liza Reed
Aug 10, 2023
What's the deal with interconnection queues?
Aug 09, 2023
Voluntary carbon offsets are headed for a crash
Aug 04, 2023
Enhanced geothermal power is finally a reality
Jul 21, 2023
What's next for clean energy and climate mitigation
Jul 14, 2023
The depthless stupidity of Republicans' anti-ESG campaign
Jul 12, 2023
How can AI help with climate change?
Jul 05, 2023
Making shipping fuel with off-grid renewables
Jun 28, 2023
Steps toward a unified electricity market in the western US
Jun 23, 2023
Will the US have the workforce it needs for a clean-energy transition?
Jun 16, 2023
Everyone agrees Democrats suck at messaging. How can they do it better?
Jun 14, 2023
Transcripts and a live event
Jun 09, 2023
Maryland finds a more just & politically durable way to fund offshore wind
Jun 07, 2023
California's coming transit apocalypse
Jun 05, 2023
How to make small hydro more like solar
May 31, 2023
The trouble with net zero
May 22, 2023
It's up to states to implement IRA. Are they ready?
May 17, 2023
A clean energy transition that avoids environmentally sensitive land
May 12, 2023
Washington state Democrats are tackling the housing crisis
May 10, 2023
Getting rooftop solar onto low- and middle-income housing
Apr 28, 2023
Building a movement that can take full advantage of the IRA
Apr 26, 2023
The wonky but incredibly important changes Biden just made to regulatory policy
Apr 21, 2023
What's going on with hydropower?
Apr 14, 2023
The importance of upcoming EPA regulations on power plants
Apr 12, 2023
The many social and psychological benefits of low-car cities
Apr 10, 2023
What's going on with biofuels?
Apr 07, 2023
What's going on with geothermal?
Mar 31, 2023
We're about to give billions of dollars to clean hydrogen. How should we define it?
Mar 29, 2023
What the midterm elections mean for climate & energy
Mar 24, 2023
Why electrifying industrial heat is such a big deal
Mar 24, 2023
Putting more climate philanthropy toward economic and racial justice
Mar 22, 2023
How big business sold America the myth of the free market
Mar 17, 2023
Clean energy's yearly report card
Mar 15, 2023
Taking carbon out of the air and putting it into concrete
Mar 01, 2023
How to think about solar radiation management
Feb 24, 2023
Meet the author of Biden's industrial strategy
Feb 22, 2023
The digital circuit breaker and why it matters
Feb 17, 2023
Minnesota sets out for zero-carbon electricity by 2040
Feb 15, 2023
Utilities are lobbying against the public interest. Here's how to stop it.
Feb 10, 2023
Decarbonizing US transportation with an eye toward global justice
Feb 08, 2023
Getting electric school buses in the hands of school districts
Feb 03, 2023
What's the deal with electrolyzers?
Feb 01, 2023
On the abuse (and proper use) of climate models
Jan 27, 2023
Fine, we're doing gas stoves
Jan 25, 2023
Me, talking about fusion and clean energy revolutions
Jan 23, 2023
On writing an ambitious and terrifyingly realistic novel about climate change
Jan 20, 2023
An energy provider attempts to achieve 24/7 clean energy
Jan 18, 2023
Which technologies get cheaper over time, and why?
Jan 13, 2023
Cute pictures of my pets! (And also a fundraiser)
Jan 06, 2023
Reflecting on the work of the soon-to-retire House climate committee
Dec 28, 2022
The right-wing groups behind renewable energy misinformation
Dec 23, 2022
Induction stoves with batteries built in, and why they matter
Dec 14, 2022
The state of the lithium-ion battery recycling market
Dec 09, 2022
Working on the cheapest possible lithium-ion battery
Dec 07, 2022
Life as a traveling musician in the 21st century
Nov 18, 2022
Me, interviewed by Brits
Nov 14, 2022
Lessons from a life in progressive PR
Nov 11, 2022
Germany's current energy situation & its past energy choices
Nov 09, 2022
Coal plants are still getting financed, despite pledges otherwise
Nov 02, 2022
What to think about deep-sea mining for clean-energy minerals
Oct 26, 2022
Why social change is so excruciatingly difficult
Oct 24, 2022
Making sure electric vehicles help rather than hurt electricity grids
Oct 19, 2022
Making it easier to build distributed energy in the places where it's most needed
Oct 14, 2022
Me, talking about my story and my takes on perennial climate debates
Oct 10, 2022
Puerto Rico's electricity crisis
Oct 05, 2022
The extraordinary potential value of enhanced geothermal power
Sep 30, 2022
Learning curves will lead to extremely cheap clean energy
Sep 28, 2022
Volts podcast: Erin Mayfield on the massive consequences of Build Back Better
Sep 21, 2022
Volts podcast: Jack Lienke & Kirti Datla on the ridiculous (but extremely important) EPA case before the Supreme Court
Sep 21, 2022
Volts podcast: David Hsu on the grassroots policy that lets communities control own energy supply
Sep 21, 2022
Focusing on the climate actions that can make a real difference
Sep 13, 2022
The long, sordid (ongoing) tale of California's biggest utility
Sep 09, 2022
What's up with Manchin's plan to reform energy permitting?
Sep 07, 2022
Talking through the Inflation Reduction Act with Don't Look Up director Adam McKay
Aug 25, 2022
Diving further into the Inflation Reduction Act: Part Two
Aug 19, 2022
Diving further into the Inflation Reduction Act: Part One
Aug 17, 2022
Some thoughts on the Inflation Reduction Act
Aug 12, 2022
Volts podcast: how to get urban improvements done quickly
Aug 10, 2022
Volts podcast: when transmission planning actually goes well
Aug 08, 2022
Volts podcast: what to make of the Democrats' last-minute climate bill
Aug 03, 2022
Volts podcast: a music festival that treads lightly on the earth
Jul 29, 2022
Volts podcast: how Biden can address climate change through executive action
Jul 25, 2022
Volts podcast: David Wallace-Wells on the ravages of air pollution
Jul 18, 2022
Volts podcast: Lori Lodes on climate activism and the path forward
Jul 06, 2022
Volts podcast: Jay Duffy on the Supreme Court's EPA decision
Jul 04, 2022
Volts podcast: Charles Marohn on unsustainable suburbs
Jun 29, 2022
Another note to readers
Jun 27, 2022
Volts podcast: Kimberly Nicholas on the best ways to get cars out of cities
Jun 22, 2022
Volts podcast: Dan Pfeiffer on the Democratic Party's megaphone problem
Jun 17, 2022
Volts podcast: Johannes Ackva on effective climate altruism
Jun 15, 2022
Volts podcast: Dr. Ye Tao on a grand scheme to cool the Earth
Jun 08, 2022
Volts podcast: Chris Hayes on how his politics have changed since 2015
Jun 03, 2022
Volts podcast: Danny Cullenward on California's shaky climate plans
Jun 01, 2022
Volts podcast: Abigail Hopper on the trade case that is crushing the US solar industry
May 25, 2022
Volts podcast: Lauren Melodia and Kristina Karlsson on energy inflation and how to tame it
May 23, 2022
Volts podcast: Jesse Morris on building an operating system for distributed energy
May 18, 2022
Volts podcast: Doug Thompson defends the deep state
May 13, 2022
Volts podcast: Andy Frank on how to sell whole-home retrofits to skeptical consumers
May 09, 2022
Volts podcast: Fran Moore on how to represent social change in climate models
May 04, 2022
Volts podcast: Nan Ransohoff on how (and why) Stripe is kick-starting the carbon-removal market
Apr 29, 2022
Volts podcast: Michael Terrell on Google's pursuit of 24/7 clean energy
Apr 27, 2022
Volts podcast: Horace Luke on decarbonizing the world's two-wheelers
Apr 22, 2022
At long last, I have an EV
Apr 18, 2022
Volts podcast: Elizabeth Popp Berman on the "economic style of thinking" that consumed US policy
Apr 15, 2022
Volts podcast: Paulina Jaramillo on the IPCC's new climate-solutions report
Apr 13, 2022
Me, on the Some More News podcast
Apr 11, 2022
Me, interviewed by Noah Smith
Apr 08, 2022
Volts podcast: Matthew Metz & Janelle London on gasoline superusers & smarter EV subsidies
Apr 04, 2022
Volts podcast: Audrey Schulman and Zeyneb Magavi on how to replace natural gas with renewable heat
Apr 01, 2022
Volts podcast: Rob Harmon on how to scale up energy efficiency
Mar 28, 2022
The lovely Ford Mustang Mach-E and the danger of electric cars
Mar 14, 2022
A note to readers
Feb 18, 2022
Volts podcast: Gerald Butts and Catherine McKenna on Canada's carbon tax
Feb 16, 2022
Volts podcast: Rebecca Dell on decarbonizing heavy industry
Feb 11, 2022
The minerals used by clean-energy technologies
Feb 07, 2022
Volts podcast: using DOE loan guarantees to accelerate clean energy, with Jigar Shah
Feb 02, 2022
Volts podcast: Panama Bartholomy on decarbonizing America's buildings
Jan 28, 2022
Do dividends make carbon taxes more popular? Apparently not.
Jan 24, 2022
Minerals and the clean-energy transition: the basics
Jan 21, 2022
Volts podcast: me and Adam McKay in an exciting podcast crossover event
Jan 20, 2022
Volts podcast: Jason Bordoff & Meghan O’Sullivan on the geopolitics of clean energy
Jan 19, 2022
Volts podcast: "Don't Look Up" director Adam McKay on the challenges of making movies about climate change
Jan 12, 2022
Climate legislation and Congress: the current state of play
Jan 07, 2022
Volts podcast: how the left can suck less at messaging, with Anat Shenker-Osorio
Dec 20, 2021
The year in federal climate politics and what lies ahead
Dec 17, 2021
Don't Look Up: the first good movie about climate change
Dec 10, 2021
Volts one-year anniversary: a letter to readers
Dec 07, 2021
24/7 carbon-free energy: everything in one place
Nov 29, 2021
The long-term promise of 24/7 carbon-free electricity
Nov 24, 2021
Is 24/7 carbon-free energy the right goal?
Nov 19, 2021
Don't get too bummed out about COP26
Nov 15, 2021
An introduction to energy's hottest new trend: 24/7 carbon-free electricity
Nov 12, 2021
Volts podcast: Amy Westervelt on disinformation and propaganda
Oct 27, 2021
Can the US reach Biden’s climate goal without the CEPP?
Oct 20, 2021
Volts podcast: the good news about clean energy, with Kingsmill Bond
Oct 11, 2021
A rant about economist pundits, and other things, but mostly economist pundits
Oct 08, 2021
Volts podcast: all about methane, with Sarah Smith of the Clean Air Task Force
Sep 29, 2021
Taking an Uber or Lyft just makes everything worse
Sep 27, 2021
Illinois' brilliant new climate, jobs, and justice bill
Sep 22, 2021
Volts podcast: 20 years of solar advocacy, with Adam Browning of Vote Solar
Sep 17, 2021
A close look at the clean energy legislation offered by House Democrats
Sep 15, 2021
Volts (guest) podcast: an episode of Know Your Enemy on living with climate change
Sep 10, 2021
Volts podcast: Sen. Tina Smith on the promise of a Clean Electricity Payment Program
Sep 01, 2021
West Virginia needs the Biden energy agenda
Aug 25, 2021
Economists have quantified the economic risks of climate "tipping points." It's grim.
Aug 18, 2021
Crunch time: this is America's last chance at serious climate policy for a decade
Aug 07, 2021
There's real long-duration energy storage now. Can it find a market?
Aug 04, 2021
Subsidies really do matter to the US oil & gas industry -- one in particular
Jul 30, 2021
Volts podcast: Rep. Sean Casten on Hot FERC Summer
Jul 28, 2021
Volts podcast: rampant environmental rule-breaking and how to fix it, with Cynthia Giles
Jul 14, 2021
On climate policy, there's one main thing and then there's everything else
Jul 09, 2021
Volts podcast: treating fossil fuels like nuclear weapons, with Tzeporah Berman
Jul 07, 2021
There is no "moderate" position on climate change
Jun 30, 2021
Volts podcast: Saul Griffith and Arch Rao on electrifying your house
Jun 28, 2021
Long-duration storage can help clean up the electricity grid, but only if it's super cheap
Jun 09, 2021
Volts podcast: Adam Jentleson on how to make the US Senate work
Jun 04, 2021
Rooftop solar and home batteries make a clean grid vastly more affordable
May 28, 2021
Volts podcast: Will Wilkinson on libertarianism, pluralism, and America's political crisis
May 26, 2021
Volts podcast: Sunrun CEO Lynn Jurich on the promise of electrification
May 21, 2021
Battery Week: everything in one place
May 19, 2021
Volts podcast: battery analyst Chloe Holzinger on the possible futures for lithium-ion
May 17, 2021
Competitors to lithium-ion batteries in the grid storage market
May 14, 2021
Volts podcast: Washington Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon on the Evergreen State's excellent new climate laws
May 10, 2021
Washington state now has the nation's most ambitious climate policy
May 05, 2021
US electricity emissions are halfway to zero
Apr 23, 2021
The many varieties of lithium-ion batteries battling for market share
Apr 21, 2021
A primer on lithium-ion batteries: how they work and how they are changing
Apr 16, 2021
Why lithium-ion batteries are so important
Apr 14, 2021
Biden's tax plan goes after the little fossil fuel subsidies, but not the big ones
Apr 09, 2021
The coolest parts of Biden's expansive infrastructure plan
Apr 02, 2021
The most important job ahead for Democrats
Mar 12, 2021
Voltscast: Jesse Jenkins on energy modeling
Mar 05, 2021
Lessons from the Texas mess
Feb 24, 2021
Transmission month: everything in one place
Feb 19, 2021
Transmission month: two more ideas to quickly boost the transmission grid
Feb 17, 2021
Transmission month: how to make the existing grid work better
Feb 12, 2021
Transmission fortnight: burying power lines next to rail & roads to make a national transmission grid
Feb 01, 2021
Transmission week: how to start building more big power lines
Jan 27, 2021
Transmission week: why we need more big power lines
Jan 25, 2021
A few interesting bits of news
Jan 20, 2021
Voltscast: How to decarbonize the electricity sector through budget reconciliation
Jan 13, 2021
What the Georgia Senate wins do (and don't) mean for climate policy
Jan 08, 2021
Why I am a progressive
Dec 30, 2020
The first Volts podcast!
Dec 24, 2020