Frankie has a new (day) job! She’s heading to the Investor Group on Climate Change after more than nine years at the Property Council and is going to apply those well-honed extortion skills to the entire net zero transition!

Your intrepid hosts are excited about electrifying all the things this week with big electrification policies landing in both Victoria and City of Sydney. The much anticipated next tranche of Victoria’s Gas Substitution Roadmap agenda is finally here with the Allan Government launching a bold package of reforms. Gas hot water heaters? Out. Minimum energy efficiency rental standards? In! All-electric new builds? Absolutely. The City of Sydney is also joining the electrification party and banning gas in new residential buildings from the end of 2025, with more work on commercial buildings to come. Chris Minns calls “overreach” but we reckon this is the beginning of the end for gas use in buildings! 

Our main course

Have Australian CBAM enthusiasts been dreaming too small? Is an Asian CBAM the secret sauce for clean trade in our region? Have Frankie and Luke now read enough CBAM papers to level up and get a CBAM merit badge? Tennant licks his lips as your intrepid hosts devour a new report from Climate Energy Finance, ‘A Price On Carbon: Building Towards an Asian CBAM’. While this wasn’t necessarily the CBAM paper we were looking for, authors Matt Pollard and Tim Buckley make carbon pricing padawans of us all - and maybe all those DFAT folks who need to use the force to sell this idea - and give us the basic commands for a future Asian CBAM. We’re signing up for the advanced class please! (That means we’d like another paper on what next, kthxbye).

Listener Voicemail

Summerupperer Rob Law asks why “energy sufficiency” isn’t a thing in Australia? We venture thoughts on branding, culture, and an abundance obsession? Also, Frankie wants sufficiency-themed papers and T-shirts!

One more things

Frankie’s One More Thing is: a big hearty thank you to Australia’s outgoing climate change ambassador, Kristin Tilley. The LMSU crew salute her deft diplomacy and work to build closer relationships with our Pacific neighbours. She’s off to sort out the WTO in Geneva, bon voyage and best of luck!

Tennant’s One More Thing is: an appeal for sanity as US politics watchers boggle at discussion of a proposed tax on domestic clean energy. Tennant’s therapy suggestion? Shout “stop being crazy!” loudly for 30 seconds. It worked for him in recent role playing adventures of Arkham Sanitarium at a Call of Cthulhu RPG convention. Seems as likely as anything else to work for snapping the US Congress out of it.

Luke’s One More Thing is: his recent forays over on the First Fuel podcast feed, talking energy governance reform with Rob Murray-Leach and COP31 with Chris Bowen.

And that’s it for this week, Summerupperers. There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head to 

letmesumup.net

 for merch, back episodes, and your chance to leave us a voicemail!

Support us on Patreon and grab some merch

The merch is flying off the shelves (and into Summerupperer mailboxes near and far!). The website is live (and functional!) and the bonus episodes are tastier than Tennant’s home baked maruspice cookies. Join the Super Summerupperer secret society at www.letmesumup.net and click “Support LMSU” to get your fortnightly BoCo fix. Because THERE. IS. (STILL). TOO. MUCH.

—

This week your intrepid hosts are joined by newly minted Grattan Institute Energy & Climate Program *Director* Alison Reeve to unpack the Productivity Commission’s climate musings and a spicy new paper from Dr. Ron Ben-David that dares to ask: that gas network RAB is kind of annoying... what if we just sold it?

But first... are the folks at the PC drinking the Abundance KoolAid? Investing in Cheaper, Cleaner Energy and the Net Zero Transformation is one of five pillars the PC is working on to inform the Treasurer’s upcoming and very exclusive ROUNDTABLE lock-up/love-in on productivity. What’s on the menu? Reducing the cost of meeting carbon targets, speeding up energy infrastructure approvals and unlocking private investment in adaptation. Frankie smells a Cabinet book club. Alison wants to know why we’re not talking about construction productivity across sectors. All of us want more than vibes and vertical silos but agreed giving adaptation some love is overdue!

Our main course

If the Gas RAB is a 500 lb gorilla and is in desperate need of slimming down, who’s paying the bills for Ozempic? In his paper ‘The 500 lb gorilla of the gas transition, or: Confronting the regulatory asset base (RAB) problem’, Ron Ben-David proposes a bold fix for the gas death spiral with his characteristic panache: Revalue the gas RAB every five years, carve off the stranded value into a new financial asset (opening up an exciting branding opportunity – Delta Assets RAB Bucks, or RABcoin - take your pick!) and then auction it off. Is this Saving consumers by slugging (the same) consumers? Tennant reckons financialisation would lead to better transparency. Frankie suggests networks surely can’t have their cake and eat it too. Alison thinks it’s brilliantly clever, but who’s buying? Luke declares it’s so confusing and opaque, it just might work!

One more things

Alison’s One More Thing is: A very happy anniversary to the RET, whose legislation was introduced to Parliament on 22 June 2000. Little did they know that 9500 GWh would lead to so much more…

Tennant’s One More Thing is: a li’l bright spot in the USA, where Fervo Energy is making geothermal advances galore. Watch this space!

Frankie’s One More Thing is: The Australian Sustainable Finance Taxonomy is here! Congrats to the ASFI team for launching this important work.

Luke’s One More Thing is: Hugh White’s new Quarterly Essay, Hard New World: Our Post American Future. 

That’s it for now, Summerupperers. There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head to www.letmesumup.net for merch, back episodes, and your chance to leave us a voicemail. And remember: if you’re not wearing your LMSU tee while listening to us talk about LMSU tees, are you even summing it up?

It’s hard to believe your intrepid hosts birthed this little pod into the world a whole three years ago, but here we are! Still readin’ papers, still summing em’ up for YOU, our amazing Summerupperers!

And to mark the occasion, we are celebrating with a triple scoop of gas policy, political philisophy and pod merch madness! That’s right, we’re SHIRTFRONTING the lot of you! After far, far too many ‘Shirtfronting with Frankie’ segments, Team LMSU is delighted to offer our very own a la carte merch menu! T-shirts and tote bags and mugs, oh my! All brought to you via our brand-spanking-new website glow-up at www.letmesumup.net! There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: listen to the pod, leave us a voicemail, support us on Patreon and deck yourself out in LMSU’s finest. Run, don’t walk over to www.letmesumup.net.

—

Gas, gas, gas! After Frankie’s extended victory lap post winning the longest-running, slowest-moving merch race around, we talk gas. SO MUCH gas. First, Woodside’s North West Shelf gets the green light to operate until 2070 from incoming Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt. Cue despair from climate advocates and a 600-page consultant report that may or may not be acid rainwashing ancient rock art. But while this decision went Woodside's way, gas market fundamentals may not be so kind; keeping this facility pumping beyond the early 2030s will require opening up the Browse Basin, and there are big question marks over the fundamental economics. There is some great analysis on this around if you look for it, not least from IEEFA's Joshua Runciman, which we highly recommend!

Next, a decision from the Victorian Government to approve Viva’s construction of an LNG Import Terminal in Geelong. Magic gas ships? A lesser of three evils? Who woulda thunk it! Stranded assets are so 2022. Lots of complexity to unpack in these decisions, and we have our usual abundance of thoughts!

Our main course

Ever hungry for new feasts of ideas, your intrepid hosts were not content to blow out the candles at this birthday party with a mere paper, oh no! We gifted ourselves an abundance of anecdotes - and maybe a famine of fixes - devouring the infamous book doing the rounds in US liberal politics circles, “Abundance” by Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein. This pro-growth, anti-red tape manifesto is a 'ripper' according to Jim Chalmers and will clearly be doing the rounds in Australian political circles, but what do your intrepid hosts make of it all? A provocation for a “liberalism that builds”, the challenges in housing, health, energy and infrastructure all feel familiar. For these three policy wonks, we would have really liked a list, not just a lens! Lots to digest, provocations and limitations but ultimately food for Australian thought.

One more things

Our collective One More Thing is a massive thanks to YOU, our delightful Summerupperers! We continue to love doing the pod, getting to spend time with each other and meeting so many of you, out in the world! Our gift to you (and ourselves really, who’s kidding) is the fully operational climate nerd command center that is www.letmesumup.net. Listen to episodes, shop the merch, leave us a voicemail, or just marvel at the fact that we finally have an About page!

And that’s all from us this week Summerupperers! Leave us a voicemail with your hot tips and suggestions for papers, and while you’re at it, grab an LMSU T-shirt, mug or tote at letmesumup.net.

Support us on Patreon... Team LMSU are calling all Summerupperers to come join the expanded LMSU universe and support our Patreon! Every fortnight, the day after a regular episode drops, there will be a delicious, subscriber only BoCo episode. Because, THERE IS TOO MUCH! This week we are taking stock of post-election shenanigans and implications for climate policies. Run, don’t walk over to https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp.

—

It took something majorly main course to distract your entrepid hosts from microwaving some more post-election popcorn (never fear, this week’s BoCo episode for Patreon subscribers will provide your fix). To detoxing from domestic politics we read this excellent analysis from Lauri Myllyvirta for Carbon Brief suggesting China’s emissions may have peaked! Despite previous drops in emissions being linked to economic downturns, this time new installed renewable generation outpaced energy demand growth and displaced coal. What a delightful palate cleanser!

Our main paper

“Unlimited Power!!!” cackled your intrepid hosts as we imbibed this week’s paper, The New Energy Trade: harnessing Australian renewables for global development from Reuben Finighan at the Superpower Institute. This cracker of a report had us stroking chins, making plans for world domination and tallying the BAGILLION dollars in export value from Australia’s potential as a global leader in the ‘superpower trade’. This paper was methodical and compelling in fleshing out Ross Garnaut’s vision of Australia as a renewable energy superpower - and what a huge juicy prize to be won! We recommend sampling the summary report for super curious Summerupperers.

One more things

Tennant’s One More Thing is: The Victorian Transmission Plan, 2025 edition, Draft for Consultation

Frankie’s One More Thing is: the PC rolling up its sleeves and speeding up approvals for new energy infra, encouraging private investment in adaptation, and reducing the cost of meeting carbon targets are in its sights!

Luke’s One More Thing is: putting listeners on notice for LMSU’s first book club episode! That’s right, we’re going to read (or perhaps listen) to Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's provocative 'less regulation may be better for the environment' bestseller Abundance, and sum it up sometime soon. Get reading folks!

And that’s all from us Summerupperers! Send your hot tips and suggestions for papers to us at [email protected] and check out our back catalogue at letmesumup.net.

Usually our Bonus Content is behind the paywall, but this week we're getting the Blue Screen Of Death from Apple Podcasts (somewhat ironic) and they won't let us post the show! 

So while we are on hold with IT, we're posting this week's bonus episode in the main feed so that A. those of you that are subscribed in Apple Podcasts get the ep. and B. those of you that aren't get a taste of that sweet, sweet BoCo we're rolling out every fortnight. Because once you go BoCo you don't go back! 

Join the cool kids over at https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp (or Apple Podcasts – our call is valuable to them and they will be with us shortly, so we should be back in action next week).

--

THIS WEEK ON THERE IS TOO MUCH:

Beyond the big picture politics, there are a myriad of specific climate and energy policies that will be profoundly impacted by the election result on the weekend. We wade into the weeds and give you the hottest of hot takes.

Support us on Patreon... Team LMSU are calling all Summerupperers to come join the expanded LMSU universe and support our Patreon! This year we are upping the ante and every fortnight when a regular episode drops, there will be a delicious, subscriber only BoCo episode. Because, THERE IS TOO MUCH! This week we look beyond the election and consider the implications for all the great climate and energy policy processes, both progressing and prospective! https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp.

---

This is a rapid response episode, so not much in the way of shownotes! Although you may wish to check out Luke's op-ed in RenewEconomy – penned on the plane to Auckland on Sunday – laying out the historic opportunity the Albanese Government now has before it to transform the Australian economy.

This is our episode for this week, so we'll be back a fortnight from Friday! In the meantime send your hot tips and suggestions for papers to us at [email protected] and check out our back catalogue at letmesumup.net.

Support us on Patreon... Team LMSU are calling all Summerupperers to come join the expanded LMSU universe and support our Patreon! This year we are upping the ante and every fortnight when a regular episode drops, there will be a delicious, subscriber only BoCo episode. Because, THERE IS TOO MUCH! This week we are speed dating every* party’s climate election policies so head on over to https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp.

* a sample approach was taken to Independents!

—

The data is in and your dedicated hosts are diving into SAFEGUARD 2: SAFE GUARDER the first season recap of the reformed and rebooted Safeguard Mechanism. SO, is it doing the job? Does it deserve the custom meme treatment from one T Reed inspired by everyone’s favourite holiday movie? Yippee Ki-Yay, Climatelovers! Time to Stay Positive as it is early days, overall emissions are down with movement up and down across facilities (see some criticisms in this Guardian article). One thing is certain though: this climate and energy podcast of record will continue to document progress! 

And if you want the thrilling backstory to SAFE GUARDER, check out our back catalogue episodes:

• ‘The Last Fire In The Forest’: The Safeguard Mechanism Consultation Paper
• New Dork Times: Chubb/Safeguard Special Double Report Report Special
• Safe Guard With A Vengeance

Our main paper

The first rule of system change is: don’t talk about system change! Unless you are Jeremy Oppenheim from the consultancy outfit Systemiq and authored ‘Shock Therapy: A strategic reset for the sustainability movement’ as part of its Blue Whale Inquiry. The pitch? We need a reset! Three climate shocks, seven hot ideas and abundance in a pear tree - this provocation of a paper packs a lot in! Your intrepid hosts eat this whale one mouthful at a time.

One more things

Tennant’s One More Thing is: an Alchemical Adventure at Conquest!

Frankie’s One More Thing is: an urge to bust out of the climate bubble, get some nature and some tunes! Hard recommend for Bluesfest for those musically inclined.

Luke’s One More Thing is: The prequel to a prequel to Star Wars: A New Hope: Andor. It is redolent with resonances with our current moment, and as an extra bonus you really don't need to be a Star Wars nerd.

And that’s all from us Summerupperers! Send your hot tips and suggestions for papers to us at [email protected] and check out our back catalogue at letmesumup.net.

Support us on Patreon... Team LMSU are calling all Summerupperers to come join the expanded LMSU universe and support our Patreon! This year we are upping the ante and every fortnight when a regular episode drops, there will be a delicious, subscriber only BoCo episode. Because, THERE IS TOO MUCH! This week we talking about the Federal election campaign so head on over to https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp.

—

Your intrepid hosts are again revisiting the geopolitics corner of the LMSU cafe and this week on the menu is a tariffpalooza! Everybody (except a few notable autocracies) was invited, though so far it resembles more of a GOT red wedding than a friendly feast of Big Macs sans Aussie beef. That’s right, EVERYBODY GETS A TARIFF! And why are we talking tariffs on a climate and energy podcast? Does the oversupply of  cheap Chinese clean tech help or hinder Aussie decarbonisation plans? Is Trump generated turmoil effectively a DoS attack flooding government bandwidth around the world and pushing climate down the agenda? And how durable is this tariff stuff anyway, given it appears to be going down like a cup of cold sick with the US public? Unsurprisingly, we have thoughts.

Our main paper

Leaving the tariff bloodbath behind, this week the basic sensible things cinematic universe presents: Victorian electrification options! Your intrepid hosts revisit another beloved LMSU climate caper and take a look at a briefing note from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Advice (IEEFA), ‘Electrification regulations in Victoria would lower energy bills and reduce gas supply gaps’. The folks at IEEFA have run the numbers on the different options in the Victorian Government’s electrification RIS and their verdict for households is: electrify everything, and electrify it now! We unpack.

One more things

Tennant’s One More Thing is: the 12 months to end March 2025 were the hottest In Australia’s recorded history (AFP report of a BOM scientist - caretaker may be holding back a BOM media release).

Frankie’s One More Thing is: the release of the final report of the Senate inquiry into Residential Electrification, featuring not one, not two,  but three hosts of LMSU!

Luke’s One More Thing is: Will the EU’s rightward shift have further impacts on climate policy and ambition?

And that’s all from us Summerupperers! Send your hot tips and suggestions for papers to us at [email protected] and check out our back catalogue at letmesumup.net.

Support us on Patreon... Team LMSU are calling all Summerupperers to come join the expanded LMSU universe and support our Patreon! This year we are upping the ante and every fortnight the day after a regular episode drops, there will be a delicious, subscriber only BoCo episode. Because THERE IS TOO MUCH! Head on over to https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp.

—

There was a budget! There wasn't much in it! We talked for over 50 minutes anyway!

Checks out.

Back to regularly scheduled programming next episode, so send your suggestions for papers to sum up to [email protected].

Support us on Patreon... Team LMSU are calling all Summerupperers to come join the expanded LMSU universe and support our Patreon! This year we are upping the ante and every fortnight the day after a regular episode drops, there will be a delicious, subscriber only BoCo episode. Because THERE IS TOO MUCH! Head on over to https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp.

—

Your intrepid hosts construct another corner in the LMSU cafe and contemplate how the current geopolitics of it all have impacted the latest talks of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which met to decide the timeline and content outlines of their next (7th) assessment report cycle. That's right folks, it’s IPCCC time! There was a cornucopia of climate contretemps at this cluster in Hangzhou and while plenty of that includes the US, it wasn’t because of their contributions - they ghosted the talks altogether! Will they align AR7 to the next Global Stocktake in 2028? Undecided! Will there be a chapter on CDR and CCUS in the mitigation report? You betcha. And those are but a tantalising taste of the buffet on intrigues the IPCC folks served up.

And now it’s time to slip into some stretchy clothes and get comfy Summerupperers because the LMSU barbecue is firing up!

Our main paper

When a report titled “How The Sausage Is Made: Assessing Australian Policymaking Practices in the Energy Sector” from the McKell Institute and the Blueprint Institute appears on the a la carte menu, what’s a hungry LMSU crew to do?

This double-think-tank bonanza popped some banger energy policies into the meat grinder with some of the wurst to give us a recipe for how to make a better sausage. Sated? Barely! Room for more? Some gristle to clear out!

Stick a fork in this one, we’re done!

One more things

Frankie’s One More Thing is: to tantalise our Summerupperers with the promise that we'll be covering the Federal Budget in our regular public episode for main course, and serving up some exclusive extra sizzle in our BoCo episode for dessert! Make sure you don’t miss any of the juicy details and subscribe to our Patreon for the full Budget buffet!

Tennant’s One More Thing is: US mini-freakout over gas turbine cost/availability - does it mean anything for Australia? (Yes!)

Luke’s One More Thing is: Canada’s impending election is getting wild! Riding a wave of anti-Trump sentiment, Mark Carney, former head of the Bank Of Canada and climate change advocate has won leadership of the Canadian liberal party and will take over as PM from Trudeau, despite not having a seat in Parliament! 

And that’s all from us Summerupperers! Send your hot tips and suggestions for papers to us at [email protected] and check out our back catalogue at letmesumup.net.