David Roberts
@volts.wtf
I run a newsletter/podcast called Volts about clean energy & politics. Subscribe & join the community at http://volts.wtf!
Today on Volts: as you may have heard, there were some elections last week. How did they go for climate world? To find out, I did my annual check-in with @spears.bsky.social of @climatecabinet.org. I don't want to spoil anything, but folks ... they went well. Really well.
So, there were some elections. How'd they go?
I talk with Caroline Spears about the stunning results in key state and local races and the lessons for 2026.
www.volts.wtf
November 10, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Today on Volts: as you may have heard, there were some elections last week. How did they go for climate world? To find out, I did my annual check-in with @spears.bsky.social of @climatecabinet.org. I don't want to spoil anything, but folks ... they went well. Really well.
I will just say, having spent a few hours today arguing with the hopeless dipshits in Will's TL, that the reason people don't do this is that it's f'ing miserable. "The economy is terrible & the working class is suffering" is a religious precept & arguing w/ religious zealots is famously unpleasant.
I’m not going to name names but there are a lot of tastemaker accounts who see the crowd being aggressively wrong about something and instead of saying “Yeah, that’s wrong” step in to try to find a way to say “Well here’s why it’s half right.” The imperative is to find a way to agree with the crowd
I agree that this is a social media problem, but who are these big accounts that are to blame? I always had the feeling that the problem was that there were a lot of mutually reinforcing accounts rather than a few big taste makers.
November 9, 2025 at 8:57 PM
I will just say, having spent a few hours today arguing with the hopeless dipshits in Will's TL, that the reason people don't do this is that it's f'ing miserable. "The economy is terrible & the working class is suffering" is a religious precept & arguing w/ religious zealots is famously unpleasant.
Holy shit. This company claims it has developed an air-source heat pump with a COP of *7* (3-5 is considered good). For you non-nerds, that basically means it produces 7 units of heat for every unit of electricity it consumes. How are they doing it? You're not gonna like this answer, but: it's AI.
Fairland COP7 R290 ATW HeatPump - The Future of AI HeatPump
/PRNewswire/ -- As gentle heat wraps around you, you walk barefoot to bathroom and enjoy an instant hot shower—no waiting, no cold shock. Every corner indoors...
www.prnewswire.co.uk
November 9, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Holy shit. This company claims it has developed an air-source heat pump with a COP of *7* (3-5 is considered good). For you non-nerds, that basically means it produces 7 units of heat for every unit of electricity it consumes. How are they doing it? You're not gonna like this answer, but: it's AI.
"Far from a peak, China's gasoline demand is estimated to have fallen 9% in October on the year to 12.5 million tons, with average daily use roughly flat with September..."
China's oil demand is entering structural decline.
China's oil demand is entering structural decline.
EVs put an end to China's usual holiday surge in gasoline use
Tianyu Jiang took a 2,000-km (1,200-mile) road trip this month during China's national holiday week, driving in his electric vehicle from the southwestern Sichuan basin to Beijing for the first time.
www.reuters.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:18 PM
"Far from a peak, China's gasoline demand is estimated to have fallen 9% in October on the year to 12.5 million tons, with average daily use roughly flat with September..."
China's oil demand is entering structural decline.
China's oil demand is entering structural decline.
A milestone in India: in the electricity sector, non-fossil capacity (renewables, hydro, nuclear) is now larger than fossil capacity.
www.pib.gov.in
November 9, 2025 at 8:13 PM
A milestone in India: in the electricity sector, non-fossil capacity (renewables, hydro, nuclear) is now larger than fossil capacity.
Wild. They are figuring out how to store electricity in ... concrete.
Concrete “battery” developed at MIT now packs 10 times the power
New concrete and carbon black supercapacitors with optimized electrolytes have 10 times the energy storage of previous designs and can be incorporated into a wide range of architectural forms.
news.mit.edu
November 9, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Wild. They are figuring out how to store electricity in ... concrete.
The administration is deliberately starving poor people so that Dems will agree to radically slash the healthcare available to poor people.
Do not let its familiarity dull your outrage. This is monstrous, unforgivable shit.
Do not let its familiarity dull your outrage. This is monstrous, unforgivable shit.
The Trump administration told states that they must “immediately undo” any actions to provide full food stamp benefits to low-income families, in a move that added to the chaos surrounding the nation’s largest anti-hunger program during the government shutdown. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
November 9, 2025 at 7:56 PM
The administration is deliberately starving poor people so that Dems will agree to radically slash the healthcare available to poor people.
Do not let its familiarity dull your outrage. This is monstrous, unforgivable shit.
Do not let its familiarity dull your outrage. This is monstrous, unforgivable shit.
This is a fact.
A large share of politics coded as “left” on this site is in fact reactionary nostalgia - an inchoate belief that times were better in the good old days and nebulous forces have taken that from us.
November 9, 2025 at 7:42 PM
This is a fact.
Sigh. I apologize on our behalf.
Meet gen X: middle-aged, enraged and radicalised by internet bile | Gaby Hinsliff
Who is driving the populist insurgency? It’s not grumpy pensioners or vulnerable teenagers – it’s my generation, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Sigh. I apologize on our behalf.
Reposted by David Roberts
There’s no daylight between what Candace says here about “the Jews” & what Nazi propagandists & Father Coughlin said about the Jews in the 1930s. Her show is one of the top 5 “conservative” podcasts in the US. She has 5.5 million subscribers on YouTube and 7.3 million followers on X.
November 8, 2025 at 8:37 PM
There’s no daylight between what Candace says here about “the Jews” & what Nazi propagandists & Father Coughlin said about the Jews in the 1930s. Her show is one of the top 5 “conservative” podcasts in the US. She has 5.5 million subscribers on YouTube and 7.3 million followers on X.
One way to find yourself extremely disheartened about the prospects for residential electrification is to talk to any homeowner who has actually attempted to electrify.
November 8, 2025 at 9:30 PM
One way to find yourself extremely disheartened about the prospects for residential electrification is to talk to any homeowner who has actually attempted to electrify.
New report on the benefits of offshore wind for grid adequacy & reliability.
The contribution of offshore wind to grid reliability & resource adequacy | Reports | Charles River Associates
In this white paper, the authors assess the potential role of offshore wind (OSW) in addressing emerging reliability challenges under these conditions. The analysis finds that, from a resource adequac...
www.crai.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:56 PM
New report on the benefits of offshore wind for grid adequacy & reliability.
What an absolute shitshow.
The Sierra Club Embraced Social Justice. Then It Tore Itself Apart.
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:30 PM
What an absolute shitshow.
I was on the This Week In Cleantech podcast yesterday:
What does a pragmatic 'climate reset' look like? – This Week in Cleantech
On this episode of the This Week in Cleantech podcast, David Roberts, host of the Volts podcast, discusses recent calls for a "climate reset."
www.renewableenergyworld.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:27 PM
I was on the This Week In Cleantech podcast yesterday:
Oof.
Elon has never experienced this and neither have his biggest fans but now they can create these visuals with the help of a computermachine
November 8, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Oof.
Reposted by David Roberts
This is a good article, worth reading.
Gigantic SUVs are a public health threat. Why don’t we treat them like one?
The anti-smoking playbook is worth studying and learning from, and is completely applicable to oversized cars.
Via @davidzipper.bsky.social in @vox.com #CarBloat
Gigantic SUVs are a public health threat. Why don’t we treat them like one?
The anti-smoking playbook is worth studying and learning from, and is completely applicable to oversized cars.
Via @davidzipper.bsky.social in @vox.com #CarBloat
Gigantic SUVs are a public health threat. Why don’t we treat them like one?
The anti-tobacco playbook could help turn the US public against their beloved oversized cars.
www.vox.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:48 PM
This is a good article, worth reading.
Gigantic SUVs are a public health threat. Why don’t we treat them like one?
The anti-smoking playbook is worth studying and learning from, and is completely applicable to oversized cars.
Via @davidzipper.bsky.social in @vox.com #CarBloat
Gigantic SUVs are a public health threat. Why don’t we treat them like one?
The anti-smoking playbook is worth studying and learning from, and is completely applicable to oversized cars.
Via @davidzipper.bsky.social in @vox.com #CarBloat
Reposted by David Roberts
This is a great episode--don't miss out.
Today on Volts: Octopus Energy came out of nowhere to become the biggest retail energy provider in the UK by focusing on smart home-energy management & good customer service. Now it's coming to the US (& figuring out how to work with vertically integrated utilities). I talk with the CEO.
Octopus extends its tentacles into America
Nick Chaset of Octopus Energy US joins me to discuss how the UK's biggest electricity supplier plans to conquer the American market.
www.volts.wtf
November 7, 2025 at 7:37 PM
This is a great episode--don't miss out.
Reposted by David Roberts
OK, folks, change of plans: Triple Rock is closed tomorrow night for a private event, so we're pivoting to Cornerstone, just across the street.
So, to reiterate: tomorrow (Friday) night, I and some random other energy/urbanism folks will be at Cornerstone from ~7pm on. Drop by!
So, to reiterate: tomorrow (Friday) night, I and some random other energy/urbanism folks will be at Cornerstone from ~7pm on. Drop by!
November 6, 2025 at 10:43 PM
OK, folks, change of plans: Triple Rock is closed tomorrow night for a private event, so we're pivoting to Cornerstone, just across the street.
So, to reiterate: tomorrow (Friday) night, I and some random other energy/urbanism folks will be at Cornerstone from ~7pm on. Drop by!
So, to reiterate: tomorrow (Friday) night, I and some random other energy/urbanism folks will be at Cornerstone from ~7pm on. Drop by!
Today on Volts: Octopus Energy came out of nowhere to become the biggest retail energy provider in the UK by focusing on smart home-energy management & good customer service. Now it's coming to the US (& figuring out how to work with vertically integrated utilities). I talk with the CEO.
Octopus extends its tentacles into America
Nick Chaset of Octopus Energy US joins me to discuss how the UK's biggest electricity supplier plans to conquer the American market.
www.volts.wtf
November 7, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Today on Volts: Octopus Energy came out of nowhere to become the biggest retail energy provider in the UK by focusing on smart home-energy management & good customer service. Now it's coming to the US (& figuring out how to work with vertically integrated utilities). I talk with the CEO.
Reposted by David Roberts
Elections are like baseball and @spears.bsky.social is the Shohei Ohtani of climate politics, so only fitting for her to sit down with Dave Roberts, the Dave Roberts of climate podcasting.
Tomorrow, I'm talking with @climatecabinet.org about the 2025 elections! Specifically, we're going to look at the races with meaningful climate/energy consequences -- how they turned out and what it means.
Got any questions? Any races you want to make sure we touch on?
Got any questions? Any races you want to make sure we touch on?
November 7, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Elections are like baseball and @spears.bsky.social is the Shohei Ohtani of climate politics, so only fitting for her to sit down with Dave Roberts, the Dave Roberts of climate podcasting.
Ladies, Dilbert guy has identified the problem.
November 6, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Ladies, Dilbert guy has identified the problem.
I keep hearing that Dems are running on "energy affordability" but ... what does that mean, exactly? If they're just promising rate freezes, or yelling about data centers, that's ... kinda weak. I'm so stressed out about them getting this right.
November 6, 2025 at 10:44 PM
I keep hearing that Dems are running on "energy affordability" but ... what does that mean, exactly? If they're just promising rate freezes, or yelling about data centers, that's ... kinda weak. I'm so stressed out about them getting this right.
Hey Bay Area folks, you coming to this tonight?
Canary Live Bay Area
Join the Bay Area's clean energy community for an evening of expert insights, networking, drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and live music.
www.eventbrite.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Hey Bay Area folks, you coming to this tonight?
So, I'm flying home on Saturday. Just got an email from Delta saying that the administration is demanding that they cancel 10% of their flights and ... they're figuring it out. Might be cancelled, might not. Hard to know.
Comforting.
Comforting.
November 6, 2025 at 10:03 PM
So, I'm flying home on Saturday. Just got an email from Delta saying that the administration is demanding that they cancel 10% of their flights and ... they're figuring it out. Might be cancelled, might not. Hard to know.
Comforting.
Comforting.
I would love it if public discourse on data centers could be just a skosh more sophisticated than "data centers good vs. data centers bad."
November 6, 2025 at 9:38 PM
I would love it if public discourse on data centers could be just a skosh more sophisticated than "data centers good vs. data centers bad."