David Roberts @volts.wtf · 3hToday marks the 5,694th time someone I barely know has spontaneously told me that I remind them of Nick Offerman. 3520
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 4hI don't know what went wrong with the universe such that I don't live in Denmark. I don't understand it. I'm clearly supposed to live here. 171687
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 4hToday on Volts: Heat-pump water heaters use a fraction of the energy of the conventional kind, but they've often been bulky, loud, & a hassle to install. A company called Reservoir has made one that's smaller, quieter, & much smarter, installed in hours by their own plumbers. I talk with the CEO.volts.wtfWhat’s up with heat-pump water heaters?A conversation with Luke Winston-Almanzar of Reservoir. 710018
Reposted by David RobertsMatt Dragon @mattdragon.com · 8h🧵AI is already killing people by coaching children how to die by suicide, or how to best hide their suicidal ideations and self harm from their parents or other adults in their lives who could help them.newsletter.mattdragon.comAI won't kill us — At least not like thatGen AI companies are laying the groundwork for escaping accountability. Don't let them. 23219
Reposted by David RobertsSøren Have @sorenhave.dk · 29/09/2026Exactly. Here's a summary of how we got there. bsky.app/profile/sore... 04214
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 29/09/2026What if we just ate them instead?nytimes.comWashington Taxed Its Millionaires. Now the Rich Want It Repealed.Washington State voters will get a chance to accept or reject the 9.9 percent income tax on millionaires approved by the Legislature, which broke the state’s taboo against levying income taxes. 131429
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 29/09/2026In Denmark, 96% of private individual vehicle sales are electric these days. 86% of total (fleets are slightly slower). 9494104
Reposted by David RobertsRazzball @razzball.bsky.social · 29/09/2026How it started/how it’s going 753774686
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 28/09/2026I'd bet a million dollars that the NYT got the idea for this story from my pod.nytimes.comThe World Needs Better Power Grids. Why Smaller May Be Better.Jonas Birgersson, a Swedish entrepreneur, wants to use decentralized networks modeled on the internet to transform how electricity is distributed. 820615
Reposted by David RobertsCarter Lavin @carterlavin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026And if you aren't in Denmark and want to order it from the state-side website, check out @princetonupress.bsky.social press.princeton.edu/books/paperb... Get 30% off with discount code PUP30press.princeton.eduIf You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight 1306
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 28/09/2026The people are wondering: when is @aoc.bsky.social going to come on Volts?nytimes.comAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez on 2028: ‘Life Doesn’t Wait for You to Be Ready’In a wide-ranging interview, the New York congresswoman offered her most detailed insight yet into how she is thinking about a possible presidential run. 81518
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 28/09/2026Somehow I missed the fact that the Moss Landing battery caught fire *again*. Great work guys. Really helping the industry's reputation.canarymedia.comVistra’s Moss Landing grid battery is on fire yet againThe California facility, with its outdated building and battery design, had a catastrophic fire in 2025. Now, a new fire ignited during the… 6697
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 28/09/2026Cities rule, mayors rule.time.comWe Need a Mayor for President“As the federal government fails to address skyrocketing costs, the case for a mayor-president has never been stronger,” writes Alexander Heffner. 10837
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 28/09/2026Great commentary in Nature Energy: "Smart energy must address enshittification risks." I really don't think people are taking these risks seriously enough.nature.comSmart energy must address enshittification risks - Nature EnergyNature Energy - Smart energy must address enshittification risks 59528
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 28/09/2026If you want to understand just how pathetic the clean energy is on politics, read this excellent piece in @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social. There are like a half-dozen quotes in here that make me want to jump off a fucking roof.washingtonmonthly.comWhy Won’t the Clean Energy Industry Play Dirty?After Republican attacks, why does the industry still spend so little on elections? 1523963
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 28/09/2026I just completed my final professional obligation of the trip (excellent Denmark podcast incoming) and now I am standing on top of Copenhill, the giant waste incineration plant on the edge of Copenhagen, drinking a beer and looking out over the city. Life is good. 132787
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 28/09/2026Love Daniel Dale & his work, but this piece is very frustrating. There's nothing in here about *why* Trump behaves the way he does, what it says about his psyche or his personality, how it ought to inform the way reporters or voters should deal with him. It's just, "gosh, he lies a lot!"edition.cnn.comI started fact-checking Trump 10 years ago. Here are 15 things I’ve learned | CNN PoliticsTen years ago this month, in my old job as Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star, I started what I believed would be a quick little side project: fact-checking underdog presidential candidate ... 2629144
Reposted by David RobertsWill Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 28/09/2026A great illustration of the way social media has essentially shredded society’s informational immune system: The USSR spent a fortune trying to spread conspiracy theories, without success because they couldn’t crack newsrooms. Today, you can reach the globe with a post that costs $20 to make. 13840229
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 27/09/2026I slept almost 12 hours last night. Zero hours the night before that. My poor f'ing brain has no idea what time zone I'm in any more. It's 12:30am Denmark time and I feel like I just did a shot of espresso. Blurg. 😵💫🥴😵 81012
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 27/09/2026You say that a wave of nuclear hype is crashing on the shoals of "cost and regulatory hurdles"? Huh.bloomberg.comAI’s Nuclear Power Push Runs Into Cost and Regulatory HurdlesNuclear startups in the US have pulled in $4.6 billion this year. But even with surging demand from data centers, it will take many years for most new reactors to get switched on. 1513214
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 27/09/2026Don't look now, but Trump's DOE is doing ... a good thing.canarymedia.comAdvanced grid tech gets a $1.9B DOE boostAs the U.S. grid strains to meet rising demand, 31 projects across 26 states get federal funds for high-tech cables, sensors, and controls to boost… 118910
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 27/09/2026Good on @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social for coming back to the question on Trump & wind permits again & again, causing Chris Wright to cycle through several rounds of nonsense and end up saying, basically, 🤷♂️heatmap.newsEnergy Secretary Chris Wright on Trump’s Pro-Nuclear, Pro-Fossil Fuel AgendaPlus more on nuclear, EVs, China, and more, recorded live at our Heatmap House event at New York Climate Week. 29612
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 27/09/2026This is the second ruling against the illegal recision of Solar For All money. In a country with rule of law in effect, that would be it -- the money would be restored. But we have to ask ourselves whether Trump will simply ignore the ruling & if so whether there will be any consequences.utilitydive.comFederal judge restores $7B Solar for All program, says EPA illegally axed itA Trump-appointed judge said the One Big Beautiful Bill Act did not convert the funding into “a lump-sum amount subject to EPA’s discretion.” Defendants acted contrary to Congress’ intent and with “no... 6303100
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 27/09/2026I love this paper so much. If I had my way every single journalist, pundit, analyst, and politician in the US would read it & then read it again. I want to quote all of it. www.frontiersin.org/journals/soc...frontiersin.orgFrontiers | The problem with polarization research in an age of extremism"I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block i... 14635192
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 27/09/2026The real loneliness crisis is among poor people.slate.comThere Is No Male Loneliness Crisis. What’s Actually Happening Is So Much Darker.The data tells a different story. 415825
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 27/09/2026I keep telling y'all, electric aviation is a dark horse.techspot.comThe largest all-electric plane ever flew for 27 minutes, on $5 of electricityHeart's X1 demonstrator flew for 27 minutes from a regional airport in upstate New York, running on battery power the entire time. The aircraft reached 1,100 feet... 3757398
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 26/09/2026The fraud is that they are paying for insurance ... but not using it? Who exactly is the defrauded party here? 69954127
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 26/09/2026I got to Copenhagen this morning and have been biking around all day and, y'all, I don't know if you've heard about this, but ... this place has pretty good bike infrastructure. You read about it but it's still just mind-blowing to see. Swarms of bikes, everywhere. Swarms! 4396089
Reposted by David RobertsChris Conaton @conatonc.bsky.social · 26/09/2026A familiar story for anyone who follows @volts.wtf. “The Chronicle spoke to more than half a dozen grid experts…to try to understand why Texas’s notoriously unreliable grid had a remarkably reliable summer. The answer was unanimous: solar panels and batteries.”houstonchronicle.comTexas shattered energy demand records this summer. Here's why the grid held up.Texas repeatedly broke electricity demand records this summer, but ERCOT avoided emergencies as booming solar and battery capacity helped keep the grid stable. 352246763
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 26/09/2026Class solidarity.hollywoodreporter.comThe Major Social Media Platforms Are All Rejecting Paid Ads for Alex Gibney’s ‘Musk’ (Exclusive)YouTube, TikTok and Meta have all turned down the trailer for the Oct. 9 doc, citing "political" content. X won't even take Bleecker Street's calls. The distributor is appealing. 642162612
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 25/09/2026In the US context, there is one and only one political strategy that has reliably led to better climate & energy policy.vox.comThis one weird trick can help any state or city pass clean energy policyA political strategy that actually works. 37218
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 25/09/2026Governors need to get serious about disciplining utilities. Or claiming some of their planning powers for the state. Or making them publicly owned. Enough of this shit.canarymedia.comUS utilities get failing grade on clean energy transitionToo many utilities are keeping coal plants open, planning new gas plants, and building less renewable energy, the Sierra Club’s latest "Dirty Truth… 425059
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 25/09/2026One grim conclusion I take from every Climate Week I've attended is that the core old-school "climate communicators" have not updated their priors or their approach in decades, despite everything that's happened, and still, on a deep fundamental level, do not understand conservatives. 1318026
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 25/09/2026Republicans made climate partisan. Republicans are keeping climate partisan. The exact words & tone that people who give a shit about reality use to talk about climate are not the reason climate is partisan. Using different words will not make climate less partisan.time.com 1033363
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 25/09/2026I kind of think it's an ongoing testament to their pathetic cowardice and lack of moral character. 1322544
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 25/09/2026Every single word of this article seems custom designed to make me more furious than the last.cbc.caToronto needs more homes. These neighbours say they're paying the price | CBC NewsAn elderly downtown couple says they’re shocked and upset that the city has approved a duplex next door to their three-story Victorian home that they say will tower metres above their chimney and rend... 2921825
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 25/09/2026No YOU spent all climate week envying other dude's jackets. 5562
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 24/09/2026Air traffic control fuckery and an impending nor'easter are making me extremely anxious about my flight out of town tomorrow. Everyone knock on wood for me. 111792
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 24/09/2026Oooh, Copper has released the 2.0 version of Charlie, its electric induction range. It now can plug into a normal 120V outlet! Bigger battery, more power. NYC is gonna buy a bunch of these for public housing, help bring the cost down.copperhome.comCharlie - battery-equipped induction rangeMeet Charlie, a powerful battery-equipped induction range that plugs into 120v and 240v outlets. Ranges are built in the U.S. and installed across the country. 1320735
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 24/09/2026"Taxes," and "inflation," and "the economy," do not mean to the median voter what they mean to wonks. To the median voter all these words just mean, how do things feel to me? What are the vibes? How do things seem, generally? 511215