#33 "Don't be a Doomer" with Noahpinion

DER Task Force

Colleen, Jimbo, and Duncan are back, this time joined by Noah Smith of Noahpinion. While fellow energy nerds might know Noah for his posts Don’t be a doomer, Why I’m so excited about solar and batteries, or Battery-powered appliances!, his reach goes well beyond our small corner of the world. Noah’s an economist and techno-optimist who engages in a wide variety of topics, from globalization, to NIMBYism, and wokeness.

We had a great time with Noah and discussed all sorts of fun stuff. The conversation also delivered gems such as “the demand for culture war is highly inelastic”, “doomerism is a function of the clout-matrix”, and “ESG was a zero-interest rate phenomenon”.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Timestamps:

* (4:20) Discussing the merits of domesticated rabbits and the morality of eating them.

* (9:59) What type of sci-fi Noah would write, and why it would be solarpunk, and another mention of our eco-rave obsession.

* (12:52) Noah’s hottest energy take, why are so many libertarians nuclear-stans, is distributed solar inherently expensive?

* (22:14) Renewable energy narratives and counternarratives

* (28:13) Is there a path to nuclear at scale?

* (33:24) Noah’s take on who blew up Nord Stream.

* (37:20) Energy costs’ role in the great stagnation starting in 1973, how that drove energy efficiency, industrial off-shoring and focus on low-energy economic activities, expensive energy → going nimby and inequality.

* (52:56) Noah’s interest in battery-integrated devices, Sam D'Amico = Kaylee from Firefly, Noah gets DER-pilled.

* (68:00) Gas stove debates, “the demand for culture war is highly inelastic”, when are bans appropriate, DM Colleen with gas stoves studies, Gell-Mann Amnesia

* (80:23) “Doomerism is a function of the clout-matrix.”

* (91:32) Noah’s the Energy Czar of America for 1 day.

* (93:55) Dope or Nope, “ESG is a zero-interest rate phenomenon”, Noah’s coming to our eco-rave.

* (98:25) Bunny mischief, big shouts, qualified shouts, medium shouts, housing is for rabbits.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dertaskforce.com/subscribe