How America Thwarted a Giant ‘Extension Cord’ for Renewables

<p>America is a place where if you can dream something — no matter how big or ambitious — you can do it.&nbsp;</p><p>Unless you’re trying to string 700 miles of high-voltage transmission lines to bring wind power from Oklahoma to Tennessee.&nbsp;</p><p>Our guest this week is Russell Gold, author of a new book about the saga that unfolded when wind energy pioneer Michael Skelly tried just that.&nbsp;</p><p>The book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Superpower-Quest-Transform-American-Energy/dp/1501163582" target="_blank">Superpower</a>,” is all about Skelly’s attempt to build one of the most ambitious energy infrastructure projects in recent history — and how he faced nearly every obstacle imaginable. What does Skelly’s journey tell us about America’s diminishing ability to do great things?</p><p>Russell Gold is a veteran newspaper reporter who was a pulitzer prize finalist for his reporting on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He wrote a book in 2014 on the rise of fracking, called “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1451692293/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1" target="_blank">The Boom</a>.” He’ll join us to talk about the reasons why Skelly’s transmission plan failed.</p><p>Then, two top presidential candidates are calling for a ban on fracking and promising to phase out nuclear power. What would be <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2019/09/07/why-a-ban-on-fracking-will-never-happen/" target="_blank">the consequences</a> if a democrat actually put those promises into action?</p><p>Finally: we’re digging into <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/what-if-we-stopped-pretending" target="_blank">a piece from Jonathan Franzen</a> in the <em>New Yorker</em> that got a lot of angry criticism. Should we just give up and stop pretending we can do anything about climate change?</p><p><em>Support for this podcast is brought to you by&nbsp;</em><a href="https://en.sungrowpower.com/" target="_blank"><em>Sungrow</em></a><em>. With the world’s most powerful 250-kilowatt, 1,500-vo