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Volts

Volts is a podcast about leaving fossil fuels behind. I’ve been reporting on and explaining clean-energy topics for almost 20 years, and I love talking to politicians, analysts, innovators, and activists about the latest progress in the world’s most important fight. (Volts is entirely subscriber-supported. Sign up!)

www.volts.wtf

Copyright: © David Roberts

Latest Episodes:

Octopus extends its tentacles into America Nov 07, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, I chat with Nick Chaset, CEO of Octopus Energy US, about bringing the company’s customer-focused, tech-forward model to America. We get into the details of how Octopus simplifies home energy management for its retail customers and its plan to help regulated utilities do the same. We also touch on ambitious ideas like the “Zero Bills” home and how to build gigawatt-scale virtual power plants that benefit both consumers and the grid.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe

Hey governors: you can salvage sustainable transportation, but you need to do it quick! Nov 05, 2025

Show notes

With the White House actively dismantling clean transportation policy, what can states do to salvage progress? I talk with former DOT policy advisor Liya Rechtman about a little-known authority that lets states transfer highway dollars to fund transit, EV charging, and bike lanes. We explore how governors can use this tool, but only if they act quickly.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe

Michael Liebreich on a "pragmatic climate reset" Oct 31, 2025

Show notes

Lately, everyone from Tony Blair to Daniel Yergin is calling for a “climate reset,” so I brought on clean-energy analyst Michael Liebreich to discuss his own, very different version. While others push expensive distractions, Liebreich argues that the inexorable growth of cheap renewables is already on track to displace fossil fuels, a “tortoise” strategy that will win without the need for crisis politics.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe

The escalating battle over renewable energy certificates (RECs) Oct 29, 2025

Show notes

In this episode I’m joined by Wilson Ricks and Killian Daly, who are involved in the process of updating the Greenhouse Gas Protocol that governs (among other things) corporate clean-energy procurement. We explore the proposed shift to requiring hourly, local matching for Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), a change designed to end the “race to the bottom” where companies buy cheap, low-impact RECs to paper over the fact that being “100 percent clean” is genuinely difficult.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe

Can "second life" EV batteries work as grid-scale energy storage? Oct 22, 2025

Show notes

Redwood Materials has long dominated EV battery recycling, but what if they could drain every last drop of energy from those batteries before recycling them? I talk with the company’s CTO, Colin Campbell, about Redwood Energy, a new division doing just that by deploying used batteries as grid-scale storage at a massive scale. This isn’t just a side project; it’s a plan to turn a massive wave of incoming used batteries into a key resource for the grid.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe

Yes, you weenies: a war on cars Oct 20, 2025

Show notes

I chat with Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon, the hosts behind the unapologetic podcast “The War on Cars,” about their new book and the fight to reveal our car-dominated world as a political choice, not an inevitability. We explore the many ways automobiles suck, from the “motonormativity” that makes us angrier and more isolated behind the wheel to the devastating impact on children’s freedom and development. We also get into the positive, radical vision that animates their work: a future with fewer cars, where our streets are reclaimed for human connection and community.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe

How to get New York back on track toward its climate targets Oct 17, 2025

Show notes

New York passed one of the most ambitious climate laws in the country, but is now struggling to meet its goals. I’m joined by Doreen Harris, president of NYSERDA, the agency on the front lines of implementing the law. We explore what’s working, from community solar to new transmission lines, and what isn’t, including the slow pace of scaling up renewables and decarbonizing transportation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe

Seattle mayoral candidate Katie Wilson on governing a blue city in 2025 Oct 15, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, I talk with Seattle mayoral candidate Katie Wilson, a longtime transit and housing organizer who scored a surprise primary victory against the city’s establishment-friendly incumbent. Wilson makes the case for why her deep experience as a community organizer and coalition-builder is precisely the kind of leadership needed to restore faith in government and get big things done.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe

Super-deep geothermal drilling ... with microwaves Oct 10, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, I chat with Quaise CEO Carlos Araque about unlocking geothermal energy on a planetary scale by drilling miles into the Earth’s crust. He explains how his company’s technology vaporizes rock with microwaves to reach depths where intense heat sends the water supercritical, packing ten times the energy density of conventional geothermal. The ultimate goal: persuading the oil and gas industry to put its capital and expertise toward mining heat rather than fuels.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe

Pay attention to the most important political race of 2025 Oct 08, 2025

Show notes

Why should you care about a utility commission race in Georgia? Because it’s a national bellwether, a sign of how voters are going to react to skyrocketing power prices and a test of whether Democrats can get their act together. I talk with candidate Peter Hubbard and activist Brionté McCorkle about the state’s Public Service Commission, its coziness with utilities, and what reform would look like.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe

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