clean energy

Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:

(1) Britain bounced back strongly from a shallow recession, providing some relief for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who has so far struggled to deliver on his promise to grow the economy.

(2) President Joe Biden’s administration is poised to unveil a sweeping decision on China tariffs as soon as next week, one that’s expected to target key strategic sectors while rejecting the across-the-board hikes sought by Donald Trump, people familiar with the matter said.

(3) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a defiant tone against President Joe Biden after the US withheld a shipment of bombs as a warning to its top Middle East ally not to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

(4) After months in which the Bank of England and markets have been at loggerheads over the direction of interest rates — with the US Federal Reserve more powerful in shaping expectations than words from the UK central bank — they have now fallen roughly into line.

(5) Arm Holdings shares tumbled after the chip designer gave a lukewarm revenue forecast for the fiscal year, raising concerns that the tech industry’s artificial intelligence spending spree is slowing.

(6) In a small side room, roughly 40 people, including some of Wall Street’s most senior executives of color, crowded around a rectangular array of tables for an invitation-only panel and confronted hedge fund manager Bill Ackman for his attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives, according to five attendees. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Biden gave a raucous State of the Union speech last Thursday, offering his pitch for why he should be president for a second term. It’s the clearest picture we have yet of Biden’s campaign message for 2024. But while he listed off all kinds of proposals, it’s not as easy to parse what a second Biden term might actually look like. So I sat down with my editor Aaron Retica, who had a lot of questions for me about the speech itself and what Biden would be likely to accomplish if he got another four years in the job.

We discuss how my argument for Biden to step aside holds up after he gave such a deft, high-energy performance; what a second Biden administration would likely do when it comes to abortion rights and foreign policy; the issues that didn’t receive much attention in the speech but would likely play a huge role in a second Biden term; the strongest 2024 campaign message that I’ve heard so far; and whether this is a Locke election or a Hobbes election — and what that means.

Book Recommendations:

Tip O'Neill and the Democratic Century by John A. Farrell

A Nation Without Borders by Steven Hahn

The Field of Blood by Joanne B. Freeman

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.

You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Rollin Hu. Fact checking by Michelle Harris, with Kate Sinclair and Mary Marge Locker. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing from Efim Shapiro. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Annie Galvin and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Sonia Herrero.

Why are millions of apartments in China sitting empty? How has the country managed to produce as much cement in two years as the US did in the last century? For a special edition celebrating the Lunar New Year, the BBC's Asia Pacific editor Celia Hatton looks at the significance of eight numbers representing different aspects of modern China. Celia teams up with some of the BBC's China correspondents and analysts to look at topics ranging from China's marriage rates to its zodiac calendar.

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson speaks with geologist, educator, energy expert, and documentary filmmaker Scott Tinker. They discuss the ARC conference, the glacial periods throughout Earth's geological history, where we are now in the cycle, the gross fallacy of the Net Zero movement, the harsh realities of energy in the developing world, and the necessary balancing we can do right now in order to uplift all people, in all places.

Dr. Scott Tinker is an American geologist, educator, energy expert, and documentary filmmaker. Tinker has appeared in more than 20 documentary films with the intent to communicate scientific ideas to the general public. The 2012 film “Switch” presents a scientifically based look at the global energy transition. It's been screened in over 600 colleges and has gained a following for the Switch Energy Alliance, which brings in young people to learn about the processes of sustainable energy firsthand, while broadening discussion on the matter in an open format setting. Tinkers’ PBS show “Energy Switch” is a point counterpoint talk show that features energy communicators, experts, authors, and pundits.

- Links -

2024 tour details can be found here https://jordanbpeterson.com/events  

Peterson Academy https://petersonacademy.com/

For Scott Tinker:

Switch On (Film) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk75bD-C3H4

Switch Energy Alliance https://switchon.org/about/leadership/

Watch Energy Switch (Show) https://www.pbs.org/show/energy-switch/ 

When it comes to solutions to the climate crisis, we’re going to need a whole menu of options. One item on the menu: clean hydrogen.

The Joe Biden administration recently invested $7 billion into developing clean hydrogen hubs across the country, with hopes the technology could help reduce carbon emissions in a variety of industries.

“Many people call it a Swiss Army knife of decarbonization,” said Emily Pontecorvo, staff writer at Heatmap News. “But the problem of thinking of it that way is that it takes so much energy to make hydrogen that you really only want to use it in cases where you don’t really have any other options.”

On the show today, Pontecorvo explains the difference between “clean” and “dirty” hydrogen, how we might use hydrogen fuel, and why some climate advocates are skeptical of its climate friendliness.

Then, the other labor story of the summer: rounds of walkouts by pharmacy staff at CVS and Walgreens. And we’ll get into how Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s ongoing military promotion blockade has complicated a top military official’s health emergency.

Later, we’ll hear a listener’s concerns about nuclear energy. And another listener was wrong about which countries export petroleum (until they played Tradle).

Here’s everything we talked about:

• • “Biden’s Big Hydrogen Experiment Is About to Begin” from Heatmap News

• • “White House puts $7 billion toward hydrogen hubs” from Marketplace

• • “The race to scale up green hydrogen” from Financial Times

• • “Column: Hydrogen is a crucial climate solution. It’s also a distraction” from The Los Angeles Times

• • “What is hydrogen, and can it really become a climate change solution?” from The Conversation

• • “Biden administration invests in hydrogen fuel, but hurdles remain” from Marketplace

• • “Top Marine General Hospitalized After Apparently Having Heart Attack” from The New York Times

• • “CVS and Walgreens pharmacy staff begin 3-day walkout” from CNN

We want to hear your answer to the Make Me Smart question. You can reach us at makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

The Times Briefing for the Morning of Thursday 21st September

For more on these stories throughout the day tune into Times Radio - on DAB, online, through your smart speaker or on the Times Radio app

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There’s been a lot of reporting lately about a rise in retail theft and a growing shoplifting problem. But a closer look at those claims and the relevant data seems to suggest something else is going on. We also revisit the attack on the World Trade Center and consider how American unity and perceptions have changed in the past 22 years. We end with some smiles about Mother Nature and a significant discovery that could be a big deal for the clean energy economy.

• • “Is retail theft really rising?” from Marketplace

• • “Today, Explained: Blame Capitalism: Souring on the system” from Apple Podcasts

• • “September 11, 2001 — The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” from Comedy Central

• • “Spain federation president Rubiales resigns amid kiss fallout” from ESPN

• • “Ancient Supervolcano in US May Hide Largest Lithium Deposit Ever Found” from Science Alert

• • “In a 1st, scientists grow human kidneys inside developing pig embryos” from Live Science

• • “How We Survive” from Marketplace

ICYMI: To mark our 1,000th episode, we’re giving away a free Make Me Smart bingo card to every newsletter subscriber. Sign up at marketplace.org/newsletters.

Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:
(1) Bloomberg Intelligence has crunched the numbers on why the share prices of European banks lag their Wall Street rivals.

(2) China's Xi calls for open supply chains after curbing the exports of key metals.

(3) The UK's Financial Watchdog sets out plans for a single UK price feed for bond trades.

(4) global temperatures hit an all time record on Monday in a blow for the battle against climate change. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s been a lot of big finance and economics news in 2023. Whether it's stories about rising interest rates, tech industry layoffs or bank runs, it can almost feel like you need an MBA just to make sense of it all. That’s why the Financial Times is launching a bonus series called Behind the Money: Night School. 

Over the next five weeks, this show will help you understand the concepts behind the biggest economic stories of this year. U.S. managing editor Peter Spiegel chats with FT journalists as they unpack the basics around things like energy markets, inflation and the rise of artificial intelligence. This series is supported by Blinkist. If you want to find out more about conversations like this, check out the Blinkist app.

Behind the Money: Night School is out now. Find it by subscribing to the Behind the Money podcast wherever you listen.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the early hours of the morning of the 5 December 2022, a shot – a pulse – was fired that could save the world. It was a shot that achieved what fusion scientists had been seeking for more than half a century. They call it ignition, and it could solve the an energy crisis that’s becoming existential for humanity. This is the story of those precious seconds and the decades leading up to it.

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Molly kicks off Climate Tuesday breaking down the news that the Crypto-Asset Environmental Transparency Act has resurfaced (1:37). Then, she discusses BlocPower’s $155M raise and their collaboration with a town in New York to achieve net zero emissions (6:12). Finally, Kiran Bhatraju of Arcadia joins Molly for 2023’s first official Climate interview (11:38).

(0:00) Molly kicks off the show

(1:37) The Crypto-Asset Environmental Transparency Act resurfaces

(6:12) BlocPower Raises $155M

(10:12) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://linkedin.com/twist

(11:38) Unlocking utility data with Kiran Bhatraju of Arcadia

(21:48) Linode - Apply to Linode's Rise program for up to six figures in discounts at https://linode.com/twist

(23:14) Breaking down Arcadia and Arc

(26:13) Democratizing solar energy with community solar

(33:57) Fennel - Join the fennel waitlist now and get your first month free at http://fennel.com/twist!

(35:27) Arc users + carbon accounting

(43:15) Kiran's journey into climate tech

(45:59) Opportunity in the climate tech space

FOLLOW Kiran: https://twitter.com/kiranraju

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood