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.)