Energy Thinks with Tisha Schuller

In this solo Energy Thinks episode, I bring you lessons from my field visit in Panama, about how industry builders can deliver on being the good guys we think we are. On a recent trip to Panama, I got to see what energy infrastructure makes possible—and what life looks like without us—the infrastructure builders. Our work makes a better future possible—but that doesn’t mean the world is going to a...

In this solo Energy Thinks episode: What’s the case energy and infrastructure builders need to make for the future that their projects make possible? A purpose people can join You’ve heard me make the case for what energy abundance is for—and why we should pay prosperity forward. And I told you in my last Arc of Outrage briefing how opposition to infrastructure is becoming a vibe-driven social ide...

This fall, I’m expanding this newsletter to cover energy for development—and what it can teach those of us who are building energy and data infrastructure in North America. A wider lens on abundance After a month away from writing and recording, I’m back and expanding the conversation with a solo Energy Thinks pod. I’ll continue bringing you regular updates on the Arc of Outrage. I’m also going to...

Today, the Arc of Outrage series returns to the forgotten stakeholder in energy infrastructure projects: the future. Evoking the future offers your best bridge to solutions with today’s skeptical communities. What you’ll get in this solo episode of Energy Thinks I have put a lot of Arc of Outrage content out there—from all the ways everything we do is making it worse to why we need to bring the fu...

What you’ll get in this episode of Energy Thinks Humans across history have built networks that provide water, energy, food, transportation, and information—the infrastructure that makes modern life possible! Jim Connaughton, an energy, environment, and technology expert (and the former chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality under George W. Bush), believes we are at the beginnin...

Today, the Arc of Outrage series turns to the forgotten stakeholder in energy infrastructure projects: the future. Evoking the future offers your best bridge to solutions with today’s skeptical communities. What you’ll get in this solo episode of Energy Thinks Your next infrastructure project has a stakeholder who will never attend a public hearing: the future. I have argued that the future has th...

Today, the Arc of Outrage series asks the uncomfortable question: If we demand that energy infrastructure proponents account for the future that they would build, shouldn’t energy infrastructure opponents also account for the future that would result from not building ? What you’ll get in this solo episode of Energy Thinks When it comes to energy and the future, there is no do-nothing option. Doin...

What you’ll get in this episode of Energy Thinks The future requires massive infrastructure build-out. But communities have made it clear: They will not accept infrastructure that feels imposed. That tension in a nutshell—aka Both of These Things Are True: * We need to build. * People need agency over what gets built around them. You know I’ve been writing about the Arc of Outrage : the predictabl...

What you’ll get in this episode of Energy Thinks My most important conversations right now are focused on the Arc of Outrage —and what it takes to lead your company through the Arc when opposition to your projects is no longer theoretical. Last week’s Both True explored the Arc : why data center outrage is still climbing, why the worst is likely ahead, and why leaders need to staff for the Arc the...

This solo pod continues the series on the Arc of Outrage, the predictable and unavoidable opposition cycle that data centers are facing. What you’ll get in this solo episode of Energy Thinks The energy industry has been here before. I warned data center proponents to stop calling the opposition they are facing “misinformation.” The problem is that data centers are now on the Arc of Outrage . I wat...

What you’ll get in this episode of Energy Thinks This week, I sit down with Jonathan Smith , founder and principal of Mobilis Works , an advisory practice to the Problem Solvers on policy innovation, economic competitiveness, and civic capacity, for one of the most thoughtful conversations I’ve had about what it actually takes to move from policy ideas to real-world implementation. Jonathan has sp...

What you’ll get in this episode of Energy Thinks This week, I sit down with Jim Kerr, chairman, president, and CEO of Southern Company Gas , for a conversation about what happens when the realities of physics, economics, and historically high energy demand collide with The Myth of an Easy Energy Transition . Jim would be humble and interesting while talking to a tree stump. But lucky for you, he i...

What you’ll get in this solo episode of Energy Thinks In last week’s Both True , I wrote about a shift I’m watching closely: climate priorities being repackaged as affordability arguments . Affordability is now the governing political test on energy—and some decarbonization-first advocates are repositioning their programs as the key to energy affordability. This week’s solo pod picks up the next,...

Planning your 2026 leadership event? Order The Myth and The Moment for your team. ( Reach out for bulk pricing.) What you’ll get in this solo episode of Energy Thinks Last week, I made the case that energy abundance is a civic good —and that oil and gas remain central to achieving it. This solo pod explores some of the consequences of that argument: What does energy abundance as a civic good requi...

What you’ll get in this episode of Energy Thinks My most important conversations right now are focused on The Problem Solvers—those civic leaders squeezed between the climate ambition of their constituents and energy reality. In this episode, I sit down with Matt Baker, Commissioner at the California Public Utilities Commission , to talk about what Problem Solver leadership looks like on the front...

Planning your 2026 leadership event? Order The Myth and The Moment for your team. ( Reach out for bulk pricing.) What you’ll get in this solo episode of Energy Thinks Fear works—up to a point. So even before we found ourselves amid a war in the Middle East and an energy crisis, a fear-driven politics was forming in reaction to AI, data centers, and energy buildout. Why? Because fear is politically...

What you’ll get in this episode of Energy Thinks I sit down with Alex Trembath, executive director of the Breakthrough Institute, because I wanted to explore a question that’s been on my mind for a while: Are we really moving past what Alex calls the “peak climate” era? (Because I’m not so sure.) For much of the past two decades, climate change has been the central organizing force for energy poli...

What you’ll get in this episode of Energy Thinks The most important conversations often must reckon with a profound tension: two opposing ideas that are both true. Example: * Communities deserve voice and process. * Communities can’t keep using their voices to “ban” the stuff that keeps the lights on—pipelines, transmission, firm generation—without consequences: spiking bills, stalling projects, a...

Planning your 2026 leadership event? Order The Myth and The Moment for your team. ( Reach out for bulk pricing.) What you’ll get in this solo episode of Energy Thinks The political center matters—and it won’t hold itself. Whereas the political extremes reward polarization and populism, sustaining a functioning and productive polity requires … you! The work ahead needs your engagement, curiosity, a...

I have a strategic advisory slot open for one leader in Q2— email to learn more . What you’ll get in this solo episode of Energy Thinks Tailwinds have blown open a political window for natural gas—especially among moderate Democrats. This Moment is real. It’s also fragile. If our industry mistakes momentum for durability—or indulges our worst habits because it feels as if “we’re finally winning”—w...

What you’ll get in this episode of Energy Thinks Climate activists have overplayed their political hand with righteous language, inflexible targets, and clear villains. But you don’t have to look far to see industry supporters displaying a similarly overconfident absolutism—just pro-fossil and anti-renewables. We can do better—much better—than an energy politics focused on accumulating temporary w...

Happy new year! To celebrate the holiday season, I’m running some of 2025’s most popular episodes of Energy Thinks —including this dance favorite of mine. … What you’ll get in this solo episode of Energy Thinks There was so much volatility in 2025. Were you occupied just doing the freak, as in the classic Chic song ? (“All that pressure got you down? Has your head been spinning all around?”) What...

Happy holidays! To celebrate, I’m returning to 2025’s most popular episodes of Energy Thinks —including this five-star feast with Chad Zamarin , CEO of Williams. What you’ll get in this episode of Energy Thinks A great conversation (as usual) with Chad. His optimism is infectious. So is his discipline in resisting telling potential partners “I told you so” about The Myth. He’s focused on building...

Planning your 2026 leadership event? Order The Myth and The Moment for your team. ( Reach out for bulk pricing.) What you’ll get in this solo episode of Energy Thinks The Myth of how climate progress is “supposed” to happen is visibly unraveling in both politics and the media. But it isn’t dead yet! We’re probably not even past “peak climate-crazy.” How we work and engage now—in The Moment—will sh...

The best holiday gift for your team? The Myth and The Moment ! What you’ll get in this solo episode of Energy Thinks In this episode , I take you with me into the Red Sea to make sense of today’s increasingly strange climate and energy narratives. After traveling to Egypt and swimming (voluntarily! for a long time!) in the Red Sea, I came home thinking differently about courage, villains, and what...