Ted Nordhaus is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Breakthrough Institute, the world's first and most prominent Ecomodernist think tank. We talk about the origins of the concept of ecological decoupling, the New Left's ceding of class and materialist politics to the right and the empty radicalism of the Green New Dealers. Ted shares his thoughts on the wicked problem of climate change which he compares to a chronic disease like diabetes rather then an acute problem like an asteroid str...
Nov 16, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 10
A wide ranging conversation with Michael Shellenberger exploring the Malthusian origins of environmentalism and what happened to the left as it morphed from a promethean movement concerned with material improvement of the living conditions of the masses towards a romantic longing to return to a pre-industrial Eden. Michael explains that modern infrastructure such as flood control systems, weather prediction and modern healthcare have played a decisive role in the 100 fold drop in mortality from ...
Nov 05, 2020•1 hr 26 min•Season 2Ep. 9
The European Union finds itself at an energy crossroads. Germany, the economic powerhouse of Europe, has been rushing to shut down its nuclear plants as quickly as possible while leashing itself to Russian natural gas via the Nordstream 1&2 pipelines. France's nuclear electricity infrastructure is being eroded through premature political closures and taxes on ultra low carbon nuclear to pay for gas backed renewables which is enticing de-electrification. Green taxonomies are being contorted t...
Oct 31, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 8
The Green New Deal has become a catch phrase but very few people, including the politicians who envoke its memory, have a solid grasp of the context and pragmatics of the original New Deal. Today I am joined by Emmet Penney, to discuss an article he co-authored with Adrian Calderon titled “Why we need a Nuclear new deal not a Green new deal.” Emmet walks us through the context and consequences of the New Deal and provides a history of US industrialization with an emphasis on the role of the auto...
Oct 22, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 7
In France we don't have oil but we have ideas! Myrto Tripathi is the founder and president of Voices of Nuclear. We explore the past, present and future of Nuclear Energy in France. Devoid of fossil fuel resources and seeking energy independence, France turned to nuclear energy in an ambitious build out which saw 59 reactors built in just 15 years. The rallying cry was "Nuclear Electricity and Electrify Everything!" Inadvertently this energy transition provided a powerful roadmap of what rapid a...
Oct 16, 2020•1 hr 38 min•Season 2Ep. 6
The Grid has been described as one of the preeminent engineering accomplishments of the 20th century and the world's largest machine. However, when people debate the best strategies to manage a successful energy transition they often limit their analysis to electricity generation. What is neglected is the elephant in the room: the grid. There is an obvious reason. To non-specialists it is complicated. My guest Meredith Angwin is going to help us get a grip on the grid so that we can make informe...
Sep 18, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Dharnai Live was Greenpeace's showcase rural electrification project that aimed to prove that solar microgrids were the way to meet rural India's power needs in a sustainable manner. The solar electricity proved to be frustratingly unreliable and insufficient even for the most basic subsistence needs of the villagers. So much publicity was generated by Greenpeace that when the day came for the ribbon cutting ceremony the Chief Minister of Bihar attended. He was met with placard waving protestors...
Sep 12, 2020•48 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Paris is the Director of Outreach and a former analyst at Environmental Progress who oversees the organization’s outreach and engagement efforts. In 2019, she organized the first global pro-nuclear movement called Stand Up for Nuclear held in over 30 different cities and 19 countries around the world. This year we have just begun Stand Up Season and it promises to be even bigger. Join us as Paris explains the origins of this grassroots movement and where it is going next... Hint its coming to a ...
Sep 04, 2020•35 min•Season 2Ep. 3
In this episode Isabelle Boemeke and I talk about the ins and outs of Nuclear Advocacy with a special look at "Influencers" and the use of novel platforms like instagram and tik-tok. Isabelle is the founder of Isodope, a revolutionary way to teach younger generations about the benefits of nuclear energy. She is passionate about science and the environment. She leverages her background in the fashion industry and culture to transform complex nuclear energy concepts into accessible, youthful enter...
Aug 29, 2020•56 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Dreams of advanced nuclear and the SMR revolution around the corner which will solve all of Nuclear's problems such as economics, safety and load following are very popular within the Nuclear Energy community. These technologies are exciting and an inevitable addition to the nuclear energy mix but are they the quickest nuclear route to deep decarbonization? Are they a substitute for our existing cutting edge large scale nuclear technology like the recently unveiled Barakah station in the UAE or ...
Aug 19, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 1
On the anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing Dr James Conca returns to Decouple to talk about Nuclear Weapons, disarmament and the Megatonnes to Megawatts program in which 20,000 Nuclear warheads worth of Russian highly enriched uranium was turned into fuel for America's nuclear reactor fleet and provided 10% of US electricity for two decades. We also touch on the Beirut explosion, Supernovas and the origin of planet earth, Tritium and so much more!
Aug 10, 2020•43 min•Season 1Ep. 12
There is a popular misconception based upon charicatures of Mr. Burns from the Simpsons that Nuclear Energy is an evil, capitalistic and undemocratic form of Energy. In fact almost every major deployment of Nuclear Energy has been a publicly funded social democratic project. This week we talk about Sweden, the homeland of Greta Thunberg and one of the world's foremost social democracies which boasts one of the fastest ever decarbonisations of its electricity thanks to a strategic investment in N...
Aug 03, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In his most recent book, Apocalypse Never, Michael Shellenberger has stirred some major waves particularly in his promotional efforts where he recently penned an article professing an “Apology on behalf of environmentalists for the Climate Scare.” and where the key messaging seems to be “Everything you thought you knew about Climate Change and the environment is wrong.” In this Episode Leigh Phillips, a science writer and author of "Eco-Austerity and the Collapse Porn Addicts" and I discuss Mich...
Jul 27, 2020•49 min•Season 1Ep. 10
A lively and entertaining conversation with polymath Dr. James Conca about the ultimate environmental bogeyman. Jim is a science communicator and renaissance man with an amazing bredth and depth of knowledge on a diversity of subjects like Nuclear physics, Geochemistry, Radiobiology. He has worked at the NASA jet propulsion laboratory and at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Join us on this episode as Jim helps us make sense of the sensible way to manage the very small amount of Used Nuclear F...
Jul 22, 2020•57 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Mark Lynas is a science writer and author of numerous books on the environment including High Tide, Six Degrees, The God Species, Nuclear 2.0 and Seeds of Science. His most recent book is ‘Our Final Warning: Six Degrees of Climate Emergency" In this book Mark summarizes thousands of IPCC source material studies and lays out degree by degree the human and environmental implications of our warming world. Mark has demonstrated a principled committment to following where the science leads him. He wa...
Jul 16, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Zion Lights is a British author and environmental activist. She was a prominent spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion and the founder and editor of XR's Hourglass newspaper. Zion holds a masters in science communication and is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Green Parenting. Most recently Zion has made waves by resigning from her role as one of Extinction Rebellion’s most well known media spokespersons and joining Environmental Progress, an environmental group focused on promoting Nuclear En...
Jul 06, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Dr. Geraldine Thomas is the director of the Chernobyl tissue bank and a Chair in Molecular Pathology at the Faculty of Medicine of Imperial College London. Surprisingly her research on the health impacts of the Chernbyl accident led her towards a pro-nuclear position due to the technologies clear benefits of slowing climate change and saving lives by producing no air pollution. Dr. Thomas shares that contrary to popular belief there is a scientific consensus that the Chernobyl accident has resul...
Jun 30, 2020•47 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Politics, confidence in science and attitudes towards surveillance technology have led to very different outcomes between the East and the West when it comes to COVID-19. Many Asian countries have achieved containment of the virus while the West largely remains caught in a quagmire with no end in sight. What explains these differences? Cultural attitudes? Neo-liberalism vs. State capitalism? Bankrupt social welfare systems? Distrust of elites and institutions? I am joined by Nils Gilman of the B...
Jun 21, 2020•49 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Ecomodernism holds out the promise of decoupling human flourishing from environmental impacts through investment in mission-oriented research, development and deployment of an array of breakthrough low emissions technologies that can transform industry, transportion, agriculture and energy systems. It is a movement founded and largely based in the USA which tries to create a big tent and appeals to an all of the above politics. It embraces the roles of private sector entrepreneurs, free markets,...
Jun 16, 2020•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 4
Germany has pursued a bold 550 billion euro transition plan away from Nuclear Energy towards a 100% renewables energy system. The Energiewende as it is known also aims to phase out fossil fuels but remains heavily reliant on coal, natural gas and biomass to firm up its fleet of intermittent renewables. Thies Beckers, a dutch energy analyst, joins me for a discussion about how the Energiewende is going and discusses his upcoming documentary, Atom-Exit. For more information about the film and to m...
Jun 12, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Between 2005-2014 the Canadian province of Ontario phased out its coal fired electricity generation in what some call the greatest single greenhouse gas reduction initiative in North America to date. It was the equivalent to taking 7 million cars off the road. Climate benefits were accompanied by dramatic improvements in Air Quality with smog days dropping from 53 per year to zero once the phaseout was complete. The elephant in the room that noone wants to talk about is the role that Nuclear Ene...
Jun 04, 2020•48 min•Season 1Ep. 2
My name is Chris Keefer. I am an Emergency Physician concerned with fighting climate change and poverty. Join me on my journey into the frontiers of science, technology and politics as I explore solutions to the climate and poverty crises. I’ve moved from being a green environmentalist advocating degrowth and opposing new technology towards embracing technologies that can decouple human well being from its environmental impact and imagining the kind of politics and economic system necessary to p...
May 27, 2020•49 min•Season 1Ep. 1
