Podcasts about superpower one man's quest

In late June 2020, Covid-19 claimed one of the largest giants in the energy industry: Chesapeake Energy. Chesapeake is a leader in the fracking industry that had been on the rocks for a few years now. In this episode, we detail the rapid rise of the fracking industry with Russell Gold, WSJ senior energy reporter in Texas. Gold’s first book, "The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World," documents the invention of hydraulic fracturing in 1974, how it is both a threat and a godsend for the environment, and how it led the revival of manufacturing in the United States. We also discuss Gold’s second book, "Superpower: One Man's Quest to Transform American Energy," in which he discusses renewable energies and focuses on the legendary figure Michael Skelly, who used his Harvard Business School contacts to create impressive companies. The midwest can produce the most amount of renewable energies because of the cheap land and suitable climate, so Skelly’s vision was to build low-cost clean energy options between places such as Oklahoma and non-midwest states. The already crazily complicated deal was even further complicated by the strong political opposition at the time, from which we discuss the today’s landscape from The Green New Deal to a realistic vision for sustainable energy use. Russell Gold is an award-winning investigative journalist at The Wall Street Journal, responsible for covering all facets of global energy with a particular focus on the U.S. energy boom, power generation and the global energy transition. He’s been covering energy for the journal since 2002 and his reporting has taken him to five continents and above the Arctic Circle two times. In 2010, he was part of the Wall Street Journal team that covered the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. The Journal’s work was awarded the Gerald Loeb Award for best business story of the year and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting. In 2020, he will inaugurate a new beat the Journal: Climate change and business. Outside of his work at the Wall Street Journal he’s written two books. His first book, The Boom, was longlisted for the FT Goldman Sachs Business Book of the year prize in 2014. Superpower, his second book, was published in June 2019.

Our special guest on Shades of Green was journalist and author, Russell Gold. We talked about his recently published book ”Superpower: One Man’s Quest to Transform American Energy” Russell Gold is from Austin, Texas and he has reported on energy regularly in The Wall Street Journal since 2002. His coverage of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was honored with a Gerald Loeb Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The author of two books: The Boom and Superpower.

SPEAKERS Lynn Doan Team Lead for Power and Gas, Bloomberg News Russell Gold Reporter, The Wall Street Journal; Author, Superpower: One Man's Quest to Transform American Energy Jigar Shah Founder, SunEdison; Co-Host, "The Energy Gang" Greg Dalton Founder and Host, Climate One This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on August 5th, 2019.

What’s new in renewable energy? In April, 23 percent of America’s electricity came from renewables, surpassing coal for the first time. Ten states, and Puerto Rico and Washington DC, have policies in place to run on 100 percent clean power in coming decades. Achieving that presents a host of challenges, from updating an aging electricity grid to financing energy innovation to figuring out how to transport and store the renewable power. Fortunately, says author Russell Gold, we have the talent to take those challenges on. “There's a lot of creativity in the space right now,” says Gold. “There's creativity on reducing demand, there's creativity in how we aggregate solar… and frankly, given what's going on with the climate, we sort of need to be trying them all -- simultaneously.” And if we succeed, we stand to gain a lot more than just cleaner air, a stable planet and lower electricity bills. We also open the door to a wealth of employment opportunities. Bloomberg’s Lynn Doan says this is the perfect time to diversify a sector that has been traditionally dominated by white males – what she calls the industry’s “dirty little secret.” “The renewable energy industry is creating more jobs than any other industry in the United States,” says Doan. “The solar technician and wind technician jobs -- those are the two fastest-growing professions in the U.S. today. So if women and minorities are missing out on this renewable energy industry opportunity, then they’re being left out of the biggest job boom that America has to offer today.” Something else to look forward to? The end of the gas-guzzler. Jigar Shah, co-host of The Energy Gang podcast, says drivers won’t miss having to stop to fill up their tank. “It’s not like an enjoyable experience; it’s a necessary evil for what they need for mobility,” he tells the audience. “And I think people are starting to realize now that with these 200-plus mile range electric vehicles, you really can go across the country.” Guests: Russell Gold, Reporter, the Wall Street Journal; Author, Superpower: One Man's Quest to Transform American Energy (Simon & Schuster, 2019) Jigar Shah, Founder, SunEdison; Co-Host, The Energy Gang podcast Lynn Doan, Team Leader, Power and Gas-Americas, Bloomberg News Related Links: Superpower: One Man's Quest to Transform American Energy (Russell Gold) The Energy Gang Podcast Women Are Missing Out on the Biggest Job Boom in America (Bloomberg) This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on August 5, 2019.

A key initiative at the Center on Global Energy Policy is our Energy Journalism Initiative, which provides aspiring young reporters with a bootcamp to better understand the deeply complex issues of energy and the environment. This initiative is important because when journalism is at its best, the public’s understanding of these deeply complex issues is elevated. Few reporters meet that standard for excellence time and again the way this week’s guest does.  In this episode of Columbia Energy Exchange, host Jason Bordoff is joined by the award-winning investigative reporter for energy at The Wall Street Journal, Russell Gold. Some might remember reading his work during the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in 2010, which was honored with a Gerald Loeb Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His recent work has shed light on the bankruptcy of PG&E, which he calls the “first climate change related bankruptcy in history.” And he wrote the go-to resource for understanding the transformational shale revolution with his first book, The Boom.  Russell has now followed that up with Superpower: One Man's Quest to Transform American Energy. It captures the country’s ever-more urgent quest for renewable energy, and it tells the story of one pioneer who tried to make it happen. It takes us beyond renewable generation to the critical but often overlooked part of the grid: transmission.  Jason and Russell sat down to talk about Superpower, efforts to tie electricity grids together across the panhandle of the United States, and much more.