Robinson Meyer

Washington, D.C.

Founding Executive Editor at Heatmap News

Host at Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse Jenkins

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Articles

Shift Key Classic: The World Will Miss 1.5C. What Comes Next?

1 week ago | heatmap.news | Robinson Meyer

Shift Key is off this week for Memorial Day, so we’re re-running one of our favorite episodes from the past. With Republicans in the White House and Congress now halfway to effectively repealing the Inflation Reduction Act, the United States’ signature climate law, we thought now might be a good moment to remind ourselves why emissions reductions matter in the first place.
The GOP Tax Bill Is a Dangerous Gamble at a Precarious Moment

2 weeks ago | heatmap.news | Robinson Meyer

When President Barack Obama signed the Budget Control Act in August of 2011, he did not do so happily. The bill averted the debt ceiling crisis that had threatened to derail his presidency, but it did so at a high cost: It forced Congress either to agree to big near-term deficit cuts, or to accept strict spending limits over the years to come. It was, as Bloomberg commentator Conor Sen put it this week, the wrong bill for the wrong moment.
How the GOP Megabill Would Reshape the U.S. Energy Economy: Transcript

2 weeks ago | heatmap.news | Robinson Meyer

Robinson Meyer: You are listening to SHIFT KEY, a weekly podcast from Heatmap News. On this week’s show, we are talking about the Republican effort to gut the Inflation Reduction Act. What their cuts will mean for emissions, what their proposed rewrite would mean for the clean energy economy, and why huge changes to the IRA could result in a huge increase in U.S. consumer power bills. It’s all coming up on SHIFT KEY after this. [ad break]Jesse Jenkins: Oh God, this sucks.
How the GOP Megabill Would Reshape the U.S. Energy Economy

2 weeks ago | heatmap.news | Robinson Meyer

Republicans are preparing to tear up America’s clean energy tax credits as part of their budget reconciliation megabill. Hollowing out those policies will have sweeping implications for the country’s energy system — it could set back solar, nuclear, and geothermal development; bring less electricity supply onto the grid; and devastate the country’s fledgling electric vehicle supply chain.
How a House GOP Proposal Would Essentially Gut the IRA’s Biggest Tax Credits

3 weeks ago | heatmap.news | Robinson Meyer

On Monday, the Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee released the first draft of its rewrite of America’s clean energy tax credits. The proposal might look, at first, like a cautious paring back of the tax credits. But the proposal amounts to a backdoor repeal of the policies, according to energy system and tax analysts.
Shift Key Special Edition: The Fight Over the Inflation Reduction Act Has Arrived

3 weeks ago | heatmap.news | Robinson Meyer

The fight over the Inflation Reduction Act has arrived. After months of discussion, the Republican majority in the House is now beginning to write, review, and argue about its plans to transform the climate law’s energy tax provisions. We wanted to record a show about how to follow that battle. But then — halfway through recording that episode — the Republican-controlled House Ways and Means Committee dropped the first draft of its proposal to gut the IRA, and we had to review it on-air.
Spain’s Blackout and the Miracle of the Modern Power Grid

1 month ago | heatmap.news | Robinson Meyer

Last week, more than 50 million people across mainland Spain and Portugal suffered a blackout that lasted more than 10 hours and shuttered stores, halted trains, and dealt more than $1 billion in economic damage. At least eight deaths have been attributed to the power outage. Almost immediately, some commentators blamed the blackout on the large share of renewables on the Iberian peninsula’s power grid. Are they right?
Permitting Reform Is Back - and Buried in Trump’s Tax Bill

1 month ago | heatmap.news | Robinson Meyer

A powerful House Republican committee has proposed shaking up one of the country’s key permitting laws as part of the ongoing process to write President Trump’s tax bill. A new bill, drafted by the House Natural Resources Committee would transform the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. Under NEPA as it stands today, the government must study the environmental impact of any “major” federal action.
The Cagey Congressional Committee Quietly Deciding the Fate of the IRA

1 month ago | heatmap.news | Robinson Meyer

One of the most important fights over the Inflation Reduction Act’s survival has finally arrived. But it’s not playing out in the open. It’s happening behind the closed doors of a powerful House committee in charge of tax policy. The House Ways and Means Committee is writing its version of Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill, the centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda. The committee could release that text as soon as next week.
How Texas Could Destroy Its Electricity Market

1 month ago | heatmap.news | Robinson Meyer

Texas is one of the country’s biggest producers of zero-emissions energy. Last year, the Lone Star State surpassed California to become the country’s No. 1 market for utility-scale solar. More solar and batteries were added to the Texas grid in 2024 than any other energy source, and the state has long dominated in onshore wind. But that buildout is now threatened.