Senator Angus King is a former solar developer, and knows the energy industry well.
Here he quizzes Interior Secretary, Trump Toady, and grifter, Doug Burgum.
King asks why solar and wind, being domestic, reliable resources, should not be given equal permitting status with fossil fuels.
Burger talks about “the wind doesn’t blow all the time” – King says “that’s what batteries are for.”
Burger brings up the statistical canard about batteries only being able to supply the world for an hour, King’s not buying it.
The reason it’s bullshit is because batteries, which are growing exponentially, do not supply the whole world. They are backing up particular grids, states, and regional system operators.
For instance, as Mark Jacobson regularly points out on X, California, with big solar build, and rapidly increasing battery storage, has cut natural gas demand in a massive way in just a few years.
..battery output in 2026 is now almost half of gas output.
Solar output is 60% higher than gas output.
Gas is down 61%, batteries are up 320%, and solar is up 61% in 2026 vs ’23
28 straight and 94th of 118 days (80%) in 2026 with WindWaterSolar meeting >100% of demand for part of the day.
So, amongst the reasons I think we’re screwed is that a major conference that actually addresses the root problems we have is also marginalized by the powers that be:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/29/capitalism-colombia-climate-summit-gustavo-petro
Who has heard about this in the major media? It has been covered by sites like Democracy Now and the Guardian, but that’s about it. No petro states attended it except Canada. China wasn’t there. These countries attend the UN summits, though, and always manage to neuter them.
On the other hand, at least some in the world are actually talking about doing something:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/30/colombia-climate-talks-end-fossil-fuel-phaseout
Decentralized electrical production threatens monopolized capital. Debt is used as a weapon by the wealthy to prevent decentralization.
‘“[Avoiding climate breakdown] requires systemic change to the current energy model – away from fossil fuelled corporate dominance and towards bottom-up, decentralised renewables that ensure energy sovereignty for all,” she said.’