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Columbia Energy Exchange

by Columbia University · English · News

Columbia Energy Exchange features in-depth conversations with the world's top energy and climate leaders from government, business, academia and civil society. The program explores today's most pressing opportunities and challenges across energy policy, financial markets, geopolitics, and climate ch

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 56 min
Latest: 13 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

13 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 5 minNew

Daniel Palken on the Bipartisan Senate Bill to Reform Energy Permitting

Permitting reform—to allow for faster approvals on new projects—is one thing that both climate advocates and energy developers have wanted for a long time. With demand for power climbing, the pressure to act is as strong as it has been in years. Now, a new effort is on the table. Last month, leaders of the Senate's two main energy and environment committees reached a bipartisan agreement on the most significant permitting overhaul in decades. At its core, the bill would make it easier to build energy infrastructure across the board. It would shorten the window for legal challenges, tighten…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

6 Oct 2026 · 50 min
Gautam Jain and Ned Shell on the Promise of Carbon Credit Markets
Carbon credit markets have become one of the most hotly debated tools in the fight against climate change. Supporters call them essential to closing the gap between corporate climate pledges and what companies can actually achieve on their own. Critics call them a shell game that lets polluters buy their way out of real action. But the debate is about more than just whether carbon credits can work; it's about the integrity of the markets designed to trade them. The promise of these markets is fairly straightforward. The complexity comes in determining whether the credits actually deliver the…
29 Sep 2026 · 57 min
Global Gas Markets on Edge as Europe Braces for Winter
Global gas markets, especially in Europe, are approaching winter under serious pressure. With storage inventories lagging behind historical averages and shipping disruptions from the Middle East threatening key liquefied natural gas flows, many nations find themselves deeply exposed. The supply shocks from both the Russia-Ukraine war and now the Strait of Hormuz closure have revealed vulnerabilities in a market that is more interconnected than ever, but also more geopolitically complex. With less global LNG supply and growing sensitivity to weather, the case for new security frameworks is…
25 Sep 2026 · 34 min
Iran Conflict Brief: Jan Stuart on What a US Diesel Export Ban Would Mean
Seven months into the largest oil supply disruption in history, there's still no resolution in sight. This week, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, US and Iranian officials held their first indirect talks since the Memorandum of Understanding collapsed in July—but neither side appears ready for concessions. Energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz remain contested and hard to track. A US blockade has pushed Iranian crude exports close to zero, while naval escorts and dark transits near the Omani coast have allowed a partial, volatile recovery in flows from Arab Gulf states—still…
22 Sep 2026 · 50 min
Erica Downs and Michal Meidan on China's Oil Shock That Wasn't
This week, Chinese President Xi Jinping travels to Washington for a state visit with President Trump, their second face-to-face meeting this year. Energy is likely to be high on the agenda, particularly the fallout from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. One of the more surprising developments since Iran largely closed off the Strait of Hormuz has been how little damage it's done to China's economy. Analysts widely expected the disruption—given China's heavy reliance on Gulf crude—to hit hard. The data tells a different story. What happened? How much of this outcome is owed to the…
15 Sep 2026 · 56 min
Six Months In: Iran War Widens as Energy Markets Feel the Shock
More than six months into the war with Iran, the Strait of Hormuz crisis continues to cause turmoil in the Gulf region and global energy markets with no apparent end in sight. Tanker traffic through the strait has collapsed to a fraction of its pre-war baseline, and the fallout is spreading. Brent crude broke $100 a barrel for the first time since July, and US diesel prices have climbed above $6 a gallon for the first time in history. The US Navy blockade has all but shut down Iranian oil exports, but the conflict is no longer confined to Iran and the strait. Last week, Saudi Arabia's…
8 Sep 2026 · 56 min
Luisa Palacios and Bob McNally on Why the US-Venezuela Oil Deal Matters
It's been a tumultuous year for Venezuela, marked by political upheaval and deadly earthquakes. Then, in late August, the Trump administration announced a deal for over 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves—and a 35% stake in North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP). The move could turn a little-known private company into one of the world's largest corporate holders of oil reserves. But NABEP wasn't the only headline. In the same week, Chevron pledged $7 billion to double its Venezuelan production, Italian major ENI moved forward on a massive oil field agreement, and GE Vernova…
1 Sep 2026 · 59 min
DOE's Audrey Robertson on Growing US Critical Mineral Supply
Advanced technologies, a return to domestic manufacturing, and the race to control energy production while also confronting surging demand for electricity. All of these factors mean that for the US, energy security and national security are increasingly centered on critical minerals. But the processing and refining of vital materials like copper, lithium, and graphite is largely done overseas, heavily concentrated in the hands of global competitors like China. This has sparked an urgent, bipartisan push to re-industrialize America and secure the supply chains necessary for everything from…
25 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Editor's Pick: Rajiv Shah on Delivering Universal Abundant Energy Access
Energy abundance means different things in today's global context than it did even a decade ago. It is about expanding electricity access while meeting rising energy demand. It is about navigating geopolitical fragmentation, limited government support, and shifting development priorities. And it is about leveraging new technologies to deliver reliable power at scale. But the challenge is not just technological. It is institutional and financial. Many low- and middle-income countries face high capital costs, limited access to financing, and policy frameworks that struggle to keep pace with…
18 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 6 min
Matthew Yglesias on Abundance and the Politics of Energy
Abundance and affordability have become buzzwords among policymakers, who often have sharply different interpretations of how to attain them. To some, an energy abundance agenda means fewer regulatory barriers to produce more clean, cheap power. Others, however, question whether the narrative glosses over the hard trade-offs around land use, community concerns, or environmental impacts. Yet even as data centers, surging power demand, and rising electricity costs dominate public discourse around energy, how we talk about decarbonization in mainstream politics has radically changed. So what…
11 Aug 2026 · 54 min
Luisa Palacios on Rebuilding Venezuela's Oil Industry After the Quakes
It started last year as a pressure campaign at sea, with the United States seizing tankers as part of what President Trump called a "total and complete blockade" of vessels carrying Venezuelan crude subject to US sanctions. It crescendoed on January 3, when US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, bringing him and his wife to New York on narcoterrorism charges. Since Maduro's removal, confusion remains over whether—and to what extent—the US is controlling the country's oil sector. But one thing is clear: despite holding the world's largest oil reserves, Venezuela is producing…
4 Aug 2026 · 1 hr
Javier Blas on Lessons from Closing Hormuz (So Far)
Over the past five months, the Strait of Hormuz has been closed for extended stretches of time, disrupting roughly 10 to 15 million barrels of oil supply each day. It is the biggest energy supply shock in history, but global energy markets are defying historical expectations. Despite lost production and heightened geopolitical instability, crude oil prices are far below the catastrophic levels many analysts predicted early on. But beneath the headline numbers, the broader energy system tells a far more complicated story. Refining margins have spiked to unprecedented levels, global coal…
28 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 8 min
Senator Alan Armstrong on Building American Energy Infrastructure
As the demand for power surges across the US, the debate over how to build energy infrastructure has reached a fever pitch. And while both sides of the aisle broadly agree that the current permitting process is broken, turning that consensus into actual legislation remains a challenge. So how do we define permitting reform, what does meaningful progress actually look like, and where do we stand today? Alan Armstrong is keenly focused on those questions. After spending his entire career in the energy industry, he was sworn into the US Senate in March, representing Oklahoma. (Oklahoma…
21 Jul 2026 · 53 min
Tom Moerenhout and Tomasz Nadrowski on Fixing the Mineral Supply Chain
Critical minerals sit at the intersection of energy technology, industrial competitiveness, and economic resilience. The issue has hit a fever pitch in the United States, driving the Trump administration to establish a $12 billion Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve and take other steps to support domestic mining projects. More broadly, G7 countries recently agreed to step up coordination to cut their countries' reliance on China for critical minerals. All of these moves are targeted at breaking China's stronghold on the sector, which it built over decades as the US largely turned away from…
14 Jul 2026 · 58 min
Suzanne Maloney on Whether Perpetual Conflict is New Normal for the Gulf
Nearly a month after a ceasefire, the US-Iran deal seems to have all but collapsed as both nations have slipped back into active conflict. On Sunday, Tehran announced that the Strait of Hormuz is once again closed—a move President Trump immediately countered, stating the waterway will remain open "with or without Iran." Since then, both the US and Iran have reportedly begun new attacks, and the President said the US will reinstate its blockade to become the "guardian" of the strait, even floating a controversial plan to charge commercial ships to ensure their safe passage. We are in a…
10 Jul 2026 · 43 min
Iran Conflict Brief: How Renewed Strikes Impact Global Energy
In the 23 days since the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire, strikes have returned, following a familiar pattern: Iran attacks vessels using an internationally backed sea lane in Omani territorial waters, the US retaliates against Iranian military infrastructure, and Iran strikes back at US bases across the region. This week, alongside funeral processions for the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, both physical and verbal attacks escalated. Yet, both the US and Iran are still signaling they prefer diplomacy over a return to full-scale war. Despite this week's events, Brent crude oil prices…
7 Jul 2026 · 1 hr
Alice Yake on Planning for a Reliable, Cleaner Grid
Grid operators sit at the center of many of the biggest forces reshaping the global energy system. They're navigating rising electricity demand, a lack of transmission infrastructure, shifting regulatory policies, and maintaining the tricky balance between affordability, reliability, and the need for dispatchable power. Both here in the US and around the world, operating a reliable and resilient grid—in the face of increasingly severe weather and complex interconnection demands—is more difficult than ever. And these challenges are felt well outside the power sector. Spiking utility rates in…
30 Jun 2026 · 56 min
Doug Arent and Robin Millican on What's Really Driving Electricity Prices
Concerns about the affordability of electricity in the US have been rising along with prices. And while the headlines have pointed to AI and data centers as the underlying factors, the exact causes are more complex. The problem reflects a convergence of pre-existing structural failures, including inefficient infrastructure planning, utility incentives that are misaligned with cost efficiency, slow permitting times, and storm damage and wildfire costs. And now, higher electricity demand, including from data centers, is accelerating all of these pressures and adding some of their own. Today on…
23 Jun 2026 · 58 min
Michael Cembalest Does the Math on the Energy Transition
The energy transition is in the midst of its own transition. Spiking electricity demand and geopolitical events are driving up energy prices, while debates over the best sources of generation play out amid supply chain constraints and questions about whether or not the energy crisis in the Strait of Hormuz will accelerate a transition away from oil and gas. But underneath all those debates is a more basic question: do we have the data, evidence, and analytical clarity that is needed to understand where the energy world actually stands? Today on the show, Jason Bordoff speaks with Michael…
18 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer on the US-Iran Deal, Hormuz Realities, and Iran's Nuclear Future
Yesterday, the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding starting the clock on a 60-day truce. The agreement intends to halt attacks, begin lifting the US naval blockade, and restore commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. But deep uncertainty remains over how energy will actually flow through the waterway—and over the ultimate fate of Iran's nuclear program. Add to this, an increasingly tense relationship between the US and Israel, which has said it does not consider itself bound by the MOU. And here in the US, political pressure could quickly shift Washington's calculations…
16 Jun 2026 · 38 min
Iran Conflict Brief: The US-Iran Deal and a New Phase of Accommodation
The 109-day-old Iran crisis is heading toward an off-ramp in the form of a not-yet-public Memorandum of Understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. While energy markets are celebrating with a sell-off, the actual operational future of the waterway chokepoint remains unclear. Navigable shipping corridors remain constricted by mines, hundreds of vessels are still trapped, and full recovery could take months. Furthermore, the ground rules have fundamentally shifted, according to reports that Iran intends to enforce its own regulatory protocols and collect mandatory "service fees" for passage.…
9 Jun 2026 · 51 min
Jessica Uhl on the Fractured Energy Transition: Why Speed Matters Now
The clean energy transition had real momentum at the end of 2024. It was buoyed by federal support, billions of dollars of investment in new technologies, and broad acknowledgment of the costs of climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions. But major roadblocks have emerged over the past 18 months. US support for some forms of clean energy was revoked. And rising energy costs, due in part to an urgent call for data center build-out, have made affordability a priority for many stakeholders. The challenge is truly daunting. Despite significant clean energy investments, some 80 percent of…
2 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Ashley Finan and Amy Roma on Speed, Safety, and Reforming Nuclear Energy
For years, the energy transition was discussed as a shift that would happen in steady, predictable increments. But a massive surge in electricity demand in recent years—now colliding with a fracturing geopolitical landscape—has reshaped the global race for clean, reliable power. All this has pulled nuclear energy back to the center of the national conversation—with many policymakers from both sides of the aisle calling for a nuclear renaissance. But past multi-billion dollar cost overruns on traditional gigawatt-scale projects still hang over the sector, even as a novel pipeline of small…
26 May 2026 · 57 min
Katie Auth on How the 'Modern Energy Minimum' Can Drive Economic Growth
Despite all the advancements we have achieved globally in recent decades, as many as 750 million people still lack access to electricity. Tackling energy poverty requires far more than linking communities to an electric grid. Closing the massive disparity in opportunity for people around the world will require building energy abundance, not just access. Energy is prosperity, and one way to measure it is by the Modern Energy Minimum. Developed by the Energy for Growth Hub, this benchmark posits that a truly modern life requires at least 1,000 kilowatt-hours per person, per year—10 to 20 times…
19 May 2026 · 53 min
Speed to Power: Christian Bruch on Siemens Energy's Turnaround
For years, the energy transition was discussed as a shift that would happen in steady, predictable increments. But the last 24 months have shattered that illusion. Energy providers now face extreme industrial volatility—where companies tasked with building the future of clean energy are also grappling with multi-billion dollar losses, supply chain fragility, and a sudden, massive surge in power demand. As the president and CEO of Siemens Energy, Christian Bruch sits at the epicenter of these contradictions. The company is a global giant, responsible for a massive portion of the world's power…
18 May 2026 · 28 min
Iran Conflict Brief: How the Iran Standoff is Rewriting US-China Relations
The Iran crisis is in its 80th day. Right now, roughly 1,500 vessels laden with oil, natural gas, fertilizers, and oil products sit trapped in the Persian Gulf by a dual US-Iranian blockade. One thing is certain: prolonging this standoff for another 80 days risks triggering profound global economic consequences. Global oil inventories are depleting fast and are projected to hit critical levels by the end of June. For the Trump administration—caught between accepting Iranian power over the Strait of Hormuz or risking a major military escalation—the path of least resistance may be to keep…
12 May 2026 · 48 min
Arctic Expert Iris Ferguson on Greenland's Resources, Geopolitical Risks
Much of the world's attention today is understandably focused on conflict in the Middle East, and the immediate implications for energy markets and global security. But other regions remain strategically important because of critical minerals, emerging shipping routes, military positioning, and energy security. Among these regions are Greenland and the broader Arctic. The far north is key to geopolitical competition among the United States, China, and Russia. Though it has fallen out of the recent news cycle, President Trump put Greenland and its resources in the spotlight last year by…
5 May 2026 · 58 min
Bob McNally and Jason Bordoff on Handling an Energy Crisis
In moments of geopolitical crisis, energy is never just a backdrop. It's often at the center of the story. Today, as conflict involving Iran sends shockwaves through global oil markets and raises fears of supply disruptions, the stakes for policymakers in Washington couldn't be higher. Prices are rising, risks are multiplying. And as we've seen in recent weeks, there are no easy solutions when energy and national security collide. So what does effective decision-making look like inside the White House at times like these? Today on the show, to help answer that question, Bill Loveless speaks…
29 Apr 2026 · 30 min
Iran Conflict Brief: Why the UAE Is Leaving OPEC Now
It has been a tumultuous 24 hours for the global energy landscape. Yesterday, the United Arab Emirates sent shockwaves through the oil industry by announcing its withdrawal from OPEC, marking a historic break with Saudi Arabia in the midst of the ongoing regional crisis. This move comes as the Strait of Hormuz remains almost entirely shut, with the US intensifying its naval blockade and threatening to cut off major Chinese banks from the US financial system to halt the processing of Iranian oil. Despite a diplomatic impasse, the physical realities of the market are reaching a breaking point.…
28 Apr 2026 · 40 min
The Iran Oil Shock: Will it Force the World to Re-think the Future of Energy?
In this special episode Jason Bordoff, founding director of the Center on Global Energy Policy, sits down with Robin Pomeroy, host of the World Economic Forum podcast, Radio Davos, to talk about the global and likely lasting impacts of the current energy shock. This episode is a crosspost originally published by Radio Davos . During the first weeks of the war in Iran, most analysis focused on the immediate energy shock it triggered. To explore the longer-term implications of the conflict, Jason and Meghan O'Sullivan, director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at…

About Columbia Energy Exchange

Columbia Energy Exchange is a English news podcast from Columbia University. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Columbia University
Language: English
Category: News
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 56 min
Latest episode: 13 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1081481629

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