Merry whatever!
Happy holidays, y’all!
I had a cool pod lined up for today, but it got rescheduled at the last minute. It’ll be happening early in the new year. This will be the last email of 2021 — I’m taking next week off for family in town and possibly a little early snowboarding. I hope you’re all warm and safe and Omicron-free.
Since we’re here anyway, how about a few Fun Volts Facts?
Fun Volts Facts
The most downloaded podcast of the year: “Rooftop solar and home batteries make a clean grid vastly more affordable”
The most downloaded podcast interview of the year: “Jesse Jenkins on energy modeling”
The most opened email of the year: “Don't Look Up: the first good movie about climate change”
The post that led to the most subscriptions in the ensuing 24 hours (aside from the introductory post): “Volts podcast: rampant environmental rule-breaking and how to fix it, with Cynthia Giles”
The post most quickly and harshly disproven by subsequent events: “The year in federal climate politics and what lies ahead” (F’ing Manchin.)
The long, nerdy series you bookmarked and definitely mean to get back to:
The posts about clean-energy progress in states that you should catch up on:
“Washington state now has the nation's most ambitious climate policy” (see also: “Volts podcast: Washington Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon on the Evergreen State's excellent new climate laws”
“Volts podcast: Will Toor on Colorado's burst of clean energy policy”
The interviews you should listen to while cleaning up your holiday mess:
Will Wilkinson on libertarianism, pluralism, and America's political crisis
Treating fossil fuels like nuclear weapons, with Tzeporah Berman
How the left can suck less at messaging, with Anat Shenker-Osorio
The most common reader request: recorded versions of the written posts
The second most common reader request: transcribed versions of the recorded posts
Ways you can make year two of Volts even more jolly
If you’re in a position to support my work on clean energy and politics, I’d love it if you became a paid subscriber.
If you’d like to do something nice for someone you care about, consider giving them a Volts subscription as a gift.
If you can’t afford a subscription but you’d like to be part of the community, get in touch and I’ll hook you up like Santa Claus.
Also! I am editor-at-large for Canary Media, an awesome new media nonprofit that is closely covering the clean energy transition, especially the tech and policy sides. It is reader-supported, so if you’re a fan, please consider donating to its current fundraising drive — all donations through the end of the year will be matched. And while you’re at it, follow Canary on Twitter.
Hi David, I was looking for a place to post this question, I know this isn't neccesarily the right place, but here goes: It would be interesting, motivating and empowering to know how much of right wing funding comes directly or indirectly from fossil fuel interests. Imagine is we could defund the right wing by simply buying an electric car or putting up solar panels or insisting on 100% fossil fuel free electricity? I suspect the number is in region of 20~30%. Here's the cool part though. The various legs of the right wing are mutually supporting. For example, Evangelism is one leg with lots of funding but without the support of the rest of the right wing it would just a be a political wilderness. If we progressives can knock out one leg of funding, the whole riight wing edifice could come tumbling down.
It's a huge research project and I have no idea where to begin but do you think it's a topic that dovetails in with your research? You may already have some of the answers from the other topics you research.
Hey there! Love your work and just became a subscriber! Am consuming a lot of your stuff over the holidays! Wondering if you saw this study out of Austin on electrifying last mile transportation? Would love your take / analysis / summary of it
https://www.pecanstreet.org/elm/