Shift Key with Robinson Meyer

Since Democrats swept to statewide victories in Georgia and New Jersey last year by campaigning against high power prices, “electricity affordability” has been the watchword for climate-concerned politicians everywhere. But what can states and cities actually do to bring down power prices?
The Federation of American Scientists, through its new Center for Regulatory Ingenuity, has a new report out on Tuesday about how to make it happen — and speed up clean energy deployment at the same time. On this episode of Shift Key, Rob is joined by Arjun Krishnaswami, a senior advisor at FAS and the new report’s lead author. He was previously a senior policy advisor for clean energy infrastructure in the Biden White House; before that, he was a special advisor to the chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Energy.
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:
CELS Playbook: Clean Electricity for Local and State Governments
Previously in Heatmap: How Electricity Got So Expensive
Previously on Shift Key: A New Theory About Why Biden’s Big Climate Law Failed
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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …
Accelerate your clean energy career with Yale’s online certificate programs. Explore the 10-month Financing and Deploying Clean Energy program or the 5-month Clean and Equitable Energy Development program. Use referral code HeatMap26 and get your application in by the priority deadline for $500 off tuition to one of Yale’s online certificate programs in clean energy. Learn more at cbey.yale.edu/online-learning-opportunities.
Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are now nearly a month into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. The conflict has lasted much longer than some energy experts initially expected — and it has built up an unprecedented crisis that is set to cascade from Asia to the rest of the world.
On this episode of Shift Key, Rob chats in Houston with Karim Fawaz, an oil and refineries expert and a director in the energy and natural resources group at S&P Global Energy.
Rob and Karim discuss whether the world is already locked into an energy crisis — even if Trump ends the war now. They also talk about why jet fuel has been particularly hard hit and how this crisis could reshape the long-term trajectory of the energy industry — and even of climate change itself.
This episode was recorded on the sidelines of CERAWeek by S&P Global, the big annual energy conference in Houston, Texas. 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:
Previously on Shift Key: Why the Iran War Is a Warning for Natural Gas
Also on Heatmap: The Energy Supply Shock of the Iran War Changes Everything
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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …
Accelerate your clean energy career with Yale’s online certificate programs. Explore the 10-month Financing and Deploying Clean Energy program or the 5-month Clean and Equitable Energy Development program. Use referral code HeatMap26 and get your application in by the priority deadline for $500 off tuition to one of Yale’s online certificate programs in clean energy. Learn more at cbey.yale.edu/online-learning-opportunities.
Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The new draft of China’s five year plan is here, and the news isn’t all good for climate advocates. Although China vows to expand its gigantic “clean energy bases” in the plan, it has actually walked back some of its biggest climate goals since 2021. The new plan also contains a mysterious — and politically convenient — change to one of its most important emissions estimates.
On this episode of Shift Key, Rob is joined by Lauri Myllyvirta, the lead analyst and co-founder of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and one of the world’s top experts on Chinese emissions outside China. Rob and Lauri discuss whether China is creating a new kind of energy hegemony, what really drives the country’s energy strategy, and how the new war in Iran could affect its plans.
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:
Previously on Shift Key: Have China’s Emissions Already Peaked?
China’s 15th Five-Year Plan — Implications for climate and energy transition, by Lauri Myllyvirta and Belinda Schäpe
China Can’t Decide If It Wants to Be the World’s First ‘Electrostate’
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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …
Accelerate your clean energy career with Yale’s online certificate programs. Explore the 10-month Financing and Deploying Clean Energy program or the 5-month Clean and Equitable Energy Development program. Use referral code HeatMap26 and get your application in by the priority deadline for $500 off tuition to one of Yale’s online certificate programs in clean energy. Learn more at cbey.yale.edu/online-learning-opportunities.
Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week saw what is likely the biggest U.S. electric vehicle launch of the year: the Rivian R2, which will go on sale this spring. It’s absurdly well-timed, given surging gasoline prices. But can it carve out enough of a niche to compete?
On this episode of Shift Key, Rob is joined by Jesse Jenkins in his new role as occasional guest cohost. Rob and Jesse discuss the Rivian R2, what the Strait of Hormuz closure could mean for global energy markets, and why the power grid is failing the data center test.
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:
Rivian’s Make-or-Break EV Now Has a Price, Range, and Release Date
Previously on Shift Key: Why the Iran War Is a Warning for Natural Gas
Jesse’s report with Camus and Encord: Flexible Data Centers: A Faster, More Affordable Path to Power
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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …
Accelerate your clean energy career with Yale’s online certificate programs. Explore the 10-month Financing and Deploying Clean Energy program or the 5-month Clean and Equitable Energy Development program. Use referral code HeatMap26 and get your application in by the priority deadline for $500 off tuition to one of Yale’s online certificate programs in clean energy. Learn more at cbey.yale.edu/online-learning-opportunities.
Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in 2022, Democrats imagined he was setting a new policy feedback loop in motion. Voters would see how the law was changing their communities — investing in new factories and solar farms — and then rally to protect it from Republicans.
That didn’t happen. Last summer, Republicans in Congress repealed many of the law’s best climate policies. So what broke down?
On this episode of Shift Key, Rob is joined by Alexander Gazmararian, a political science professor at the University of Michigan and the co-author of a new paper about why the IRA had limited political returns. Rob and Alex discuss whether voters noticed the climate law, the trade-off between taking credit for policies and de-polarizing them, and why politicians’ credibility matters so much when designing economic 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:
The new paper: Why Biden-era clean energy investment policies had limited political returns
Rob’s original article about the ‘Green Spiral’
From Heatmap: Does More Renewable Energy Lead to More Political Support? Not in Texas.
From Heatmap: Inside Form Energy’s Big Google Data Center Deal
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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …
Accelerate your clean energy career with Yale’s online certificate programs. Explore the 10-month Financing and Deploying Clean Energy program or the 5-month Clean and Equitable Energy Development program. Use referral code HeatMap26 and get your application in by the priority deadline for $500 off tuition to one of Yale’s online certificate programs in clean energy. Learn more at cbey.yale.edu/online-learning-opportunities.
Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.