Robinson Meyer

executive editor and “shift key” podcast host, @heatmap_news | contributing opinion writer, @nytimes

[Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer]

It’s the age of electricity and America isn’t ready.

Virtually every goal that Americans care about requires big changes to the power grid. I’m in @nytopinion today on why power bills are going up, whether AI is to blame, & what we need to do about it:
https://t.co/wgJeAEzF8h

[Lisa Friedman @LFFriedman]

lolllll

[Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer]

I feel like I am going crazy. The Q will not be getting four Republican senators next year — it will be getting 10 R senators, because Trump will veto any permitting measure that can get all 56 Ds. (And of course, any bill that can get 56 Ds won’t get 10 Rs.)

[Seaver Wang @wang_seaver]

David is right here--there is no path to passing a "better" permitting bill next Congress, let alone one that Trump would sign.

[David Pomerantz @DavidPomerantz]

1. Reasonable people can oppose BAAJA; many people I respect do. Calling it a "utility giveaway" is not supportable, imho.

Utilities opposed it until yesterday am, when they threw in largely for optics/relationship preservation.

[Ben Walsh @BenDWalsh]

getting your face 3 inches from the laptop screen while on the phone is how you know real journalism is happening (laudatory)

[Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer]

I know there’s a lot of payola on social media, but whenever I hear the figures, I realize there’s even more money going around than I thought.

[Julian Brave NoiseCat @jnoisecat]

Lot of anti-BAAJA people in my mentions mad about my descriptions of the bill and the political dynamics concerning climate & tribes.

FWIW, I connected The Wilderness Society—who were offering me, a new dad, $10k to make anti-BAAJA content, to an actually famous Native environmentalist because he has a larger following and would make the case against the bill in as strong and vital a way as possible.

His videos on the subject now have 1 MIL views and that’s just on Instagram

[Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer]

In retrospect, I think it’s clear that the Democratic tsunami strengthened the politics of permitting reform. I wrote about why: https://t.co/x0AsnU5QvH

[Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer]

I struggle to see how the permitting bill is a data center accelerator, but it simply is NOT a utility giveaway. It subjects utilities to increased competition and weakens their monopolies. There’s a reason anti-utility activists support it. https://t.co/00zT7XDCc8

[Zephyr Teachout @ZephyrTeachout]

The permitting bill is a data center accelerator and an oil and gas and utility giveaway. It’s a boon to the big tech barons that the country just rejected.

Listen to Al here on why it’s especially bad w a Trump

[Igor Bobic @igorbobic]

2028 split on advancing permitting reform today:

Yes: Ossoff, Slotkin, Gallego, Warnock

No: Kelly, Van Hollen, Booker

[Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer]

Legislating is so cool. Counting yes and no votes. Whipping. Procedure. Floor time. They should do this more often.

[Will Poff-Webster @willpoffwebster]

Environmental Defense Fund supports a yes vote tonight on BAAJA, saying it would help get new power lines and clean energy built

[jae holzman @jaeporeon]

Podesta, who chairs CAP’s board, says their statement “reflects my views.” He added that the underlying transmission provisions “are quite good.”

Says he “discussed this extensively” with Neera Tanden, CAP president and CEO.

[jae holzman @jaeporeon]

NEW: In an email to me, John Podesta tells me he backs @amprog statement on revised BAAJA. Says senators made “some improvements” but still needs “a clear exception to let a future Administration reverse a permit” that is “illegally granted” by Trump’s admin. CAP calls for amdt.

[Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer]

@bobbyfijan Oh no, I'm so sorry, Bobby.

[Burgess Everett @burgessev]

New: Sen. Whitehouse says “we believe we have the votes to proceed” to the permitting reform bill. Says there should be a robust amendment process after

“People voting not to go onto this bill need to understand that what they are doing is providing data centers a 35 plus billion dollar handout”

[Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer]

Though I suppose that would be a ménage à quatre.

[Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer]

Has there ever been a story like the Jensen scandal — something that ties together corruption, sex, national security, a late-term POTUS, the most important trend in the economy, the most famous CEO associated with that trend, *and* a widely panned policy helping that company?

[Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer]

It’s like if John Jacob Astor had a ménage à trois with X, Y, and Z.

[Joshua Siegel @SiegelScribe]

NEWS: Former Biden Energy @SecGranholm has drafted a statement shared w/me urging Dems to back BAAJA, saying changes "respond directly to concerns" the bill "could weaken env enforcement, undermine Tribal consultation, and constrain state authority to protect water quality."

[Lauren Ashley Simmons @LASimmonsTX146]

It’s true. 😂

I have them saved in my phone just like this.

[Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer]

me and the boys reading this tweet

[Fortissax @FortySacks]

Blowing an Indian colleagues’ mind by explaining that “firangi” in Hindi and Punjabi, meaning foreigner, usually white, comes from Persian “farangi”, via Arabic “al Faranj”, meaning “the Franks” (French). A medieval catch all word for “Westerner” from the crusader era.