Shift Key with Robinson Meyer

Few people have shaped Bidenomics more than Brian Deese. 

From 2021 to 2023, Deese led the National Economic Council at the White House, serving as President Joe Biden’s top economic aide during such events as the post-pandemic recovery, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Before that, Deese was global head of sustainable investing for Blackrock and a senior political advisor to President Barack Obama. He’s now the Institute Innovation Fellow at MIT, where he helps lead the Clean Investment Monitor, a project that tracks investment in climate technology and infrastructure across the U.S. economy.

On this episode, Deese joins Shift Key for a two-part conversation. Part 1 focuses on the future of Bidenomics, Biden’s State of the Union speech, what the 2024 campaign might mean for the politics and policy of climate change. Shift Key is hosted by Heatmap Executive Editor Robinson Meyer and Princeton Professor Jesse Jenkins.

Mentioned: 

The full text of Biden’s 2024 State of the Union speech.

Why Biden Talked Up the IRA Without Saying Its Name

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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by…

Advanced Energy United educates, engages, and advocates for policies that allow our member companies to compete to power our economy with 100% clean energy, working with decision makers and energy market regulators to achieve this goal. Together, we are united in our mission to accelerate the transition to 100% clean energy in America. Learn more at advancedenergyunited.org/heatmap 

KORE Power provides the commercial, industrial, and utility markets with functional solutions that advance the clean energy transition worldwide. KORE Power's technology and manufacturing capabilities provide direct access to next generation battery cells, energy storage systems that scale to grid+, EV power & infrastructure, and intuitive asset management to unlock energy strategies across a myriad of applications. Explore more at korepower.com.

Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For a few weeks now, Heatmap’s staff writer, Emily Pontecorvo, has been trying to figure out if installing rooftop solar panels on your home actually reduces carbon pollution in a systematic way. In other words: If you own a home, and install solar panels on it, are you doing anything to change how much fossil fuel gets burned in your region or around the world? Or — somewhat counterintuitively — will your panels just increase the cost of electricity near you while shifting demand for those fossil fuels around? 

On this week’s episode, we try to answer these questions in a satisfying way. Heatmap Executive Editor Robinson Meyer and Princeton Professor Jesse Jenkins welcome Emily to the podcast to discuss the messy truth of distributed solar power. 

Mentioned: 

An NREL report on the cost of rooftop vs utility-scale solar in the USA.

The most recent Energy Department report on the solar industry.

Seel, Barbonse & Wiser (2014), "An analysis of residential PV system price differences between the United States and Germany"

Jesse’s upshift; Jesse’s downshift.

Emily’s upshift; Emily’s downshift.

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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by…

Advanced Energy United educates, engages, and advocates for policies that allow our member companies to compete to power our economy with 100% clean energy, working with decision makers and energy market regulators to achieve this goal. Together, we are united in our mission to accelerate the transition to 100% clean energy in America. Learn more at advancedenergyunited.org/heatmap 

KORE Power provides the commercial, industrial, and utility markets with functional solutions that advance the clean energy transition worldwide. KORE Power's technology and manufacturing capabilities provide direct access to next generation battery cells, energy storage systems that scale to grid+, EV power & infrastructure, and intuitive asset management to unlock energy strategies across a myriad of applications. Explore more at korepower.com.

Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When we talk about carbon removal, we often focus on “direct air capture” facilities — big factories that suck carbon dioxide out of the ambient air.  

But a simpler and easier way to remove carbon from the atmosphere may exist. It’s called “enhanced rock weathering” — grinding up rocks, spreading them out, and exposing them to the ambient air — and it works, essentially, by speeding up the Earth’s carbon cycle. Enhanced rock weathering recently got a major vote of confidence from Frontier, a consortium of tech and finance companies who have teamed up to support new and experimental carbon removal technologies. In this episode, we speak with Jane Flegal, a former Biden White House climate adviser and now the market development and policy lead at Frontier, about the promise of enhanced rock weathering and why Frontier just spent $57 million to do it.

Mentioned: 

Why Big Tech is pouring $925 million into carbon removal.

More about Frontier’s commitment to Lithos.

Enhanced weathering in the US Corn Belt delivers carbon removal with agronomic benefits.

Rob’s downshift, Rob’s upshift.

Jesse’s downshift, Jesse’s upshift. 

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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by…

Advanced Energy United educates, engages, and advocates for policies that allow our member companies to compete to power our economy with 100% clean energy, working with decision makers and energy market regulators to achieve this goal. Together, we are united in our mission to accelerate the transition to 100% clean energy in America. Learn more at advancedenergyunited.org/heatmap 

KORE Power provides the commercial, industrial, and utility markets with functional solutions that advance the clean energy transition worldwide. KORE Power's technology and manufacturing capabilities provide direct access to next generation battery cells, energy storage systems that scale to grid+, EV power & infrastructure, and intuitive asset management to unlock energy strategies across a myriad of applications. Explore more at korepower.com.

Build your skills in policy, finance, and clean technology at Yale. Yale’s Financing and Deploying Clean Energy certificate program is a 10-month online certificate program that trains and connects clean energy professionals to catalyze an equitable transition to a clean economy. Connect with Yale’s expertise, grow your professional network, and deepen your impact. Learn more at cbey.yale.edu/certificate.

Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A year and a half ago, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest climate law in American history — and arguably in world history. But is it actually working? A new report from a coalition of major energy analysts — including our cohost Jesse Jenkins’ lab at Princeton — looks at data from the power and transportation sectors and concludes that yes, the law is starting to decarbonize the American economy. 

But it isn’t working in the way many people might expect. Robinson Meyer, the executive editor of Heatmap News, and Jesse Jenkins, an energy systems expert and professor at Princeton University, talk about how and why.

Mentioned: 

The new report: Clean Investment in 2023: Assessing Progress in Electricity and Transport

Jesse’s story on the EV bad vibes.

American carbon emissions fell last year for the first time since the pandemic. 

Jesse’s downshift, Jesse’s upshift.

Rob’s upshift, Rob’s downshift. 

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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by…

Advanced Energy United educates, engages, and advocates for policies that allow our member companies to compete to power our economy with 100% clean energy, working with decision makers and energy market regulators to achieve this goal. Together, we are united in our mission to accelerate the transition to 100% clean energy in America. Learn more at advancedenergyunited.org/heatmap 

KORE Power provides the commercial, industrial, and utility markets with functional solutions that advance the clean energy transition worldwide. KORE Power's technology and manufacturing capabilities provide direct access to next generation battery cells, energy storage systems that scale to grid+, EV power & infrastructure, and intuitive asset management to unlock energy strategies across a myriad of applications. Explore more at korepower.com.

Build your skills in policy, finance, and clean technology at Yale. Yale’s Financing and Deploying Clean Energy certificate program is a 10-month online certificate program that trains and connects clean energy professionals to catalyze an equitable transition to a clean economy. Connect with Yale’s expertise, grow your professional network, and deepen your impact. Learn more at cbey.yale.edu/certificate.

Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It has been a catastrophic 12 months for offshore wind in the U.S. Large projects have been canceled, and Orsted, the world’s biggest offshore wind developer, has laid off hundreds of employees. Is the industry dying? 

Maybe it’s actually about to turn a corner. In this episode, Robinson Meyer, the executive editor of Heatmap News, and Jesse Jenkins, an energy systems expert and professor at Princeton University, discuss the future of the sector.

Mentioned: 

Orsted’s troubles: FT

A wind farm powers up: Heatmap.

New offshore contracts and auctions: NYTimes & Reuters

Global Wind Atlas

Lease areas in the U.S.

Jesse’s downshift, Rob’s downshift. 

Rob’s upshift, Jesse’s upshift. 

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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by…

Advanced Energy United educates, engages, and advocates for policies that allow our member companies to compete to power our economy with 100% clean energy, working with decision makers and energy market regulators to achieve this goal. Together, we are united in our mission to accelerate the transition to 100% clean energy in America. Learn more at advancedenergyunited.org/heatmap 

KORE Power provides the commercial, industrial, and utility markets with functional solutions that advance the clean energy transition worldwide. KORE Power's technology and manufacturing capabilities provide direct access to next generation battery cells, energy storage systems that scale to grid+, EV power & infrastructure, and intuitive asset management to unlock energy strategies across a myriad of applications. Explore more at korepower.com.

Build your skills in policy, finance, and clean technology at Yale. Yale’s Financing and Deploying Clean Energy certificate program is a 10-month online certificate program that trains and connects clean energy professionals to catalyze an equitable transition to a clean economy. Connect with Yale’s expertise, grow your professional network, and deepen your impact. Learn more at cbey.yale.edu/certificate.

Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last month, President Biden announced the federal government would temporarily stop approving new export terminals for liquified natural gas. The move was hailed as a victory by climate activists and lamented by fossil-fuel companies. But what will the pause mean for the climate — really? Will it stop exports from rising in the near-term, and can we say with any certainty whether it will make carbon emissions go up or down? 

In this inaugural episode of Shift Key, Robinson Meyer, the executive editor of Heatmap News, and Jesse Jenkins, an energy systems expert and professor at Princeton University, unpack the president’s decision and try to figure out what — if anything — it means for the climate. 

Mentioned:

Research by Shuting Yang, et al.

Robert Howarth’s unpublished paper on natural gas’s effect on the climate

Bill McKibben’s reaction to news of the pause

The People on the Front Lines of the LNG Fight, by Jeva Lange

The Biden administration’s fact sheet on the approval pause

Jesse’s upshift, Jesse’s downshift. 

Rob’s upshift, Rob’s downshift. 

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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by KORE Power and Advanced Energy United…

KORE Power provides functional solutions that push the front line of the transition to clean energy and form the backbone of the decarbonized future worldwide. KORE Power’s manufacturing capabilities and robust portfolio of products provide the commercial, industrial, utility and defense markets with next-generation battery cells, advanced energy storage systems that scale to grid+, intuitive asset management, and EV power and charging infrastructure support. Learn more at Korepower.com

Advanced Energy United educates, engages, and advocates for policies that allow our member companies to compete to power our economy with 100% clean energy. We work with decision makers at every level of government as well as regulators of energy markets to achieve this goal. The businesses we represent are lowering consumer costs, creating thousands of new jobs every year, and providing the full range of clean, efficient, and reliable energy and transportation solutions. Learn more at info.advancedenergyunited.org/heatmap

Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.