Shift Key with Robinson Meyer

The Senate will likely vote next week on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, a bill to reshape the federal permitting process.
The proposed legislation has divided the environmental community and the set of interest groups often aligned with Democrats. The Wilderness Society and Earthjustice are opposed, and the Sierra Club wants big changes. The AFL-CIO and the National Urban League support the measure.
One of the few environmental nonprofits to affirmatively endorse the bill — and not express concerns or just stay silent — is Evergreen Action, a relatively young think tank and advocacy group that is entirely focused on climate change, clean energy, and decarbonization. “Despite the monumental election, I do not believe that a better deal is around the corner. The time to act is now,” Lena Moffitt, its executive director, said in a statement last week. “We have to start building clean energy at scale.”
On this episode of Shift Key, Rob is joined by Lena Moffitt, Evergreen’s executive director, and Pete Wyckoff, its vice president of policy. They discuss why Evergreen endorsed the bill, how Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act experience led to this moment, and what still keeps them up at night about the bill. They also chat about how — even if the bill passes — big changes will be needed at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC.
Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap News.
You can find a full transcript of the episode here.
Mentioned:
“Why We’re Supporting the Permitting Bill,” by Lena Moffitt
Senate Permitting Deal Wins First Vote
The Last-Minute Changes to the Senate Permitting Deal, Explained
Martin Heinrich on What’s Next for Permitting Reform
Previously on Shift Key: Why Permitting Reform Is a Historic Victory Over Utilities
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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by ...
Formed through a joint venture between Wärtsilä and RCT Solutions, Valo helps utilities, independent power producers, and developers navigate market and grid complexity without sacrificing system performance. Learn more at valoenergy.com.
Every year Giving Green researches the top climate nonprofits and sends 100% of every dollar donated to its Giving Green Fund straight to them. Make your first gift before the new year, and it will be matched up to $1,000. Go to GivingGreen.earth/Shift.
Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Climate and environmental advocates are sharply divided over the Senate’s bipartisan permitting reform proposal. But what most people agree is that the bill’s changes to electricity and transmission law are really, really good — and in some sense are much better than expected.
Because of how the media works, that means nobody has talked about these proposals very much. So on this show, we wanted to focus on the part of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act that has gotten rave reviews.
On this episode of Shift Key, Rob is joined by David Pomerantz, the executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute and a former Greenpeace campaigner. They discuss how the bill would rewrite electricity law, why the bill is bad for utilities, and why utilities are (in Dave’s view) such a problem for decarbonization.
Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap News.
You can find a full transcript of the episode here.
Mentioned:
The Senate’s Big Bipartisan Permitting Deal, Explained
The Senate Permitting Deal Contains a Data Center Double Tap
The Long, Strange Success Story of America’s Biggest Clean Energy Project
Previously on Shift Key: What a Permitting Reform Deal Could Look Like
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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by ...
Formed through a joint venture between Wärtsilä and RCT Solutions, Valo helps utilities, independent power producers, and developers navigate market and grid complexity without sacrificing system performance. Learn more at valoenergy.com.
RE+ 26 is the largest clean energy event in North America, happening November 16th through 19th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Register at re-plus.com and use code SHIFTKEY20 to save 20% off a Full Conference pass.
Every year Giving Green researches the top climate nonprofits and sends 100% of every dollar donated to its Giving Green Fund straight to them. Make your first gift before the new year, and it will be matched up to $1,000. Go to GivingGreen.earth/Shift.
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Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every midterm, the focus is on Congress — and for good reason. But in two weeks, Americans will vote on a number of state races that will matter immensely to the energy system, the power grid, and the future direction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate Cabinet tracks those races, using what it calls “the moneyball approach” to identify the local offices nationwide with the most potential climate impact. On this episode of Shift Key, Caroline Spears, the founder and executive director of Climate Cabinet, joins Rob to discuss what's at stake this election, which state races will matter the most, and which races to watch to see where climate policy might go in 2027 and beyond.
Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap News.
You can find a full transcript of the episode here.
Mentioned:
Caroline’s elections to watch:
Georgia Public Utility Commission
Arizona Corporation Commission
Eileen Hartnett Albillar in Pennsylvania Senate District 6
Trevor Jung, from Wisconsin Senate District 21
Aaron Lieberman in Arizona Senate District 4
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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by ...
RE+ 26 is the largest clean energy event in North America, happening November 16th through 19th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Register at re-plus.com and use code SHIFTKEY20 to save 20% off a Full Conference pass.
Every year Giving Green researches the top climate nonprofits and sends 100% of every dollar donated to its Giving Green Fund straight to them. Make your first gift before the new year, and it will be matched up to $500. Go to GivingGreen.earth/Shift.
Formed through a joint venture between Wärtsilä and RCT Solutions, Valo helps utilities, independent power producers, and developers navigate market and grid complexity without sacrificing system performance. Learn more at valoenergy.com.
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Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No researcher has been more cited in lawsuits against fossil fuel infrastructure than Peter Erickson. As an affiliated researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute, Peter studies how pipelines and other oil and gas supply expansions can increase global carbon emissions. His work has been critical to the activist fights against the Keystone XL pipeline, the Enbridge pipeline, and others.
But in recent years, he’s taken a more nuanced approach to fossil fuel supply — in part because, as he has shown, it can enrich the oil and gas industry in a surprising but direct way. On this episode of Shift Key, Peter joins Rob to discuss why blocking fossil fuel supply can lower emissions, why it can counterintuitively transfer wealth from energy consumers to fossil fuel firms, and what it all might mean for the future of climate policy.
Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap News.
You can find a full transcript of the episode here.
Mentioned:
Peter’s papers:
"Assessing carbon lock-in”
"Impact of the Keystone XL pipeline on global oil markets and greenhouse gas emissions"
"Would constraining US fossil fuel production affect global CO2 emissions? A case study of US leasing policy"
"Limiting fossil fuel production as the next big step in climate policy"
"Rethinking the case against new oil and gas fields"
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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by ...
Every year Giving Green researches the top climate nonprofits and sends 100% of every dollar donated to its Giving Green Fund straight to them. Make your first gift before the new year, and it will be matched up to $500. Go to GivingGreen.earth/Shift.
Formed through a joint venture between Wärtsilä and RCT Solutions, Valo helps utilities, independent power producers, and developers navigate market and grid complexity without sacrificing system performance. Learn more at valoenergy.com.
RE+ 26 is the largest clean energy event in North America, happening November 16th through 19th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Register at re-plus.com and use code SHIFTKEY20 to save 20% off a Full Conference pass.

Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are two big trends in the American battery sector at the moment. The first is that the electric vehicle market is deteriorating. GM, for instance, sold just 25,000 EVs in the third quarter of this year. Ford sold 6,000 EVs. Even the long-awaited return of the Chevy Bolt sold just 8,000 units — a small fraction of the vehicle’s already-limited production run. At the same time, the data center boom and the return of electricity growth is boosting batteries of all kinds ​not​ designed to power EVs.
Our guest today is in charge of navigating those opposing trends and figuring out what comes next. Kurt Kelty started his career at Panasonic in 1993, where he led the company’s battery research lab. He then went on to Tesla, helping to build the first Gigafactory. Since February 2024, he’s been vice president of battery and sustainability at GM. We talked about manufacturing generally, how the U.S. battery manufacturing sector should look, and how companies should be structured to compete globally, even though they’re making batteries for a mostly U.S. audience.
Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap News.
You can find a full transcript of the episode here.
​Mentioned:
The Senate’s Big Bipartisan Permitting Deal, Explained
On Rivian’s record-setting Q3
Previously on Shift Key: Data Centers Are Creating a New Kind of Battery Monster
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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by ...
RE+ 26 is the largest clean energy event in North America, happening November 16th through 19th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Register at re-plus.com and use code SHIFTKEY20 to save 20% off a Full Conference pass.
Every year Giving Green researches the top climate nonprofits and sends 100% of every dollar donated to its Giving Green Fund straight to them. Make your first gift before the new year, and it will be matched up to $500. Go to GivingGreen.earth/Shift.
Formed through a joint venture between Wärtsilä and RCT Solutions, Valo helps utilities, independent power producers, and developers navigate market and grid complexity without sacrificing system performance. Learn more at valoenergy.com.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.