Be a Savvy, Multi-directional Learner, Part 1 — Markets vs Regulation

Oct 10, 2024 | Energy Transition Policy & Policymaking, Framing and the Energy Transition Debate

[Reader warning: This is a wonky post that is aimed at people who have read Climate of Contempt or who otherwise have a deep and granular understanding of how electricity markets work.] —— Chapters 3 and 5 of Climate of Contempt discuss expert disagreement...

Learn to Manage the Shpilkes

Oct 5, 2024 | Blog, Energy Transition Policy & Policymaking, Framing and the Energy Transition Debate

The word “shpilkes,” which refers to a state of agitated anxiety, is probably unfamiliar to most non-Yiddish speakers. I am not a Yiddish speaker, but like many of us above a certain age I learned the word watching Saturday Night Live in the early 1990s. Shpilkes is a...

“Kindness don’t ask for much but an open mind”

Sep 25, 2024 | Blog, Energy Transition Policy & Policymaking, Framing and the Energy Transition Debate

For some people, complex ideas resonate more when conveyed through artistic expression than through narratives or numbers. Many readers will have heard of energy historian Daniel Yergin’s book, The Prize. Fewer will know his sequel, The Quest. In the latter book...

Climate Change and The Electric Grid — Wildfires

Aug 30, 2024 | Blog, Energy Transition Policy & Policymaking

We have known for some time that climate change can increase the intensity and frequency of wildfires. And in recent years wildfires sparked by electric utility infrastructure have become more common. California, Hawaii and Texas have experienced particularly...

Climate Change and the Electric Grid — Severe Weather

Aug 25, 2024 | Blog, Energy Transition Policy & Policymaking

Dangerous heat, more frequent and intense flooding and wildfires, and more violent hurricanes are constantly in the news cycle. What we know about the relationship between climate change and severe weather is worrying enough. We need not embellish reality with the...

Where to Get the Full Story About Energy Transition Tradeoffs

Jun 15, 2024 | Blog, Energy Transition Policy & Policymaking

Modern information flows shield the good news about the energy transition from conservatives, and the bad news from liberals. Our insulated realities make us too certain too quickly that our preferred truth is THE truth. In fact, we don’t know how technology will...