The Single Best Guide to Decarbonization I've Heard
About this episode
Klein gets a master class in decarbonization from Princeton energy expert Jesse Jenkins. They break down what 'net zero by 2050' actually requires: a massive expansion of clean electricity to power transportation and heating, plus substitutes for liquid fuels and carbon capture as a fallback. Jenkins lays out the staggering physical scale — a new era of nation-building infrastructure — and explains how the Inflation Reduction Act attacks the problem by making clean energy cheaper through tax credits, loans, and grants. They discuss plummeting wind and solar costs, the case for nuclear and carbon capture as part of a 'balanced diet' of energy sources, electric vehicles and heat pumps, and the huge unfinished job of permitting reform and grid transmission. Jenkins also stresses the near-term health payoff: cutting fossil-fuel combustion could prevent tens of thousands of premature deaths per decade.