David Roberts
@drvolts
I run a newsletter/podcast called Volts about clean energy & politics. Subscribe & join the community at http://volts.wtf! (@volts.wtf on bsky, ahem.)
Some personal news! Friday was my last day at Vox. Today I'm launching a newsletter called Volts, devoted to my twin passions: clean energy and politics. (And I am now, yes, drvolts.) Drop by to learn more and subscribe! volts.wtf/p/welcome-to-v…
Excellent discussion of the Montana Miracle on housing policy.
Today on Volts: Montana has suffered from a severe housing crisis. In response, over the last two sessions, the legislature passed a series of sweeping housing reforms, everything from legalizing ADUs and duplexes to getting rid of parking mandates. I talk with two leg leaders.
This was a really fun episode. Coupled with the other ep with CA housing legislators, @drvolts is starting to sound like New Liberal shill (complimentary). 😅 But seriously, it’s great to celebrate these cross-coalition and cross-partisan wins, in such an important policy space.
Today on Volts: Montana has suffered from a severe housing crisis. In response, over the last two sessions, the legislature passed a series of sweeping housing reforms, everything from legalizing ADUs and duplexes to getting rid of parking mandates. I talk with two leg leaders.
Great pod! Really interesting discussion of how YIMBY reforms split the Montana legislature by age rather than by party. The youngs want more homes, the olds want the prerogative to say no.
Today on Volts: Montana has suffered from a severe housing crisis. In response, over the last two sessions, the legislature passed a series of sweeping housing reforms, everything from legalizing ADUs and duplexes to getting rid of parking mandates. I talk with two leg leaders.
Just discovered this @drvolts series on creating great cities, which anticipates so much of the piece that @ProfSchleich & I wrote for @NiskanenCenter. Check it out: grist.org/article/2011-0…
Here's the first of my two essays for @NiskanenCenter's "party of abundance" series. ⤵️ In the piece, @ProfSchleich & I argue that big-city YIMBYs should endeavor to forge a cross-issue, party-like faction & drive an urban quality of life agenda. @GrowSF is the model. 🧵/24
Interesting listen
Today on Volts: last year, the residents of Ann Arbor, MI, voted to create a "sustainable energy utility" that operates alongside the investor-owned utility & supplements it with clean energy. It is, AFAIK, an entirely novel arrangement. I talk with its architect & champion.
On Thursday I'm talking with a couple of experts about Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) rules, ie, the rules mandating domestic sourcing of parts & materials. The Trump admin. has implemented some broad & unworkable FEOC rules that are gonna hurt clean energy. Got questions?
Neat podcast with @drvolts on electric boats. In some parts of the economy, electrification is very hard and doesn't obviously improve the experience. But electric boats seem on the horizon, and may be much better (less noise, pollution, etc) volts.wtf/p/whats-going-…
Oh my gosh, this was a great discussion.. I started off by being very excited by the #batteryrevolution, and by the end, David's enthusiasm had pushed me over the edge! Solar and batteries are going to change everything for the global electricity system!
Today on Volts: the sun doesn't shine at night, but if you add batteries it might as well! If you're not closely tracking the industry, you're probably not aware of just how cheap solar+storage is getting. I talk with the authors of a new Ember report about the good news.
This was excellent and should be required listening for climate advocates
Tomorrow, I'm talking with folks in Ann Arbor, Michigan, about their new clean-energy utility, which is operating alongside (rather than replacing) big utility DTE. Got any questions?