Semafor Net Zero: One Good Text
After winning a $20 billion contract with Google, Intersect Power wants to “create a whole new class of real estate.”
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Turning on a light or filling a glass with water from the kitchen tap are two of the simple conveniences we often take for granted. While energy and water are essential resources, the ways in which they are interconnected is generally not well understood. If a country or region lacks one of these resources, that can limit its ability to access supplies of the other. Producing energy can impact water supply and quality. And producing useable water where its needed takes a lot of energy. Population and economic growth, climate change, government policies, and much more can all further strain access to water and energy, which is becoming ever more critical as developing economies seek access to them for their citizens.
On this episode of Columbia Energy Exchange, host Jason Bordoff sits down with Dr. Michael Webber, Deputy Director of the Energy Institute and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, to discuss the energy-water nexus, which is the topic of his recent book, Thirst for Power: Energy, Water, and Human Survival. Among the topics of they cover:
From oil pipelines crossing the border to integrated electricity grids, energy trade has long been a key part of the economic relationship between the United States and Canada....
After more than three years of intense fighting following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the path to end the war has been challenging. President Trump has...
As President Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan laid out a strategy for what he called a “foreign policy for the middle class.” Using the metaphor of a...
It’s hard to overstate how consequential President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs have been for American economic policy. While the administration has paused the steep reciprocal tariffs it announced...
Saudi Arabia’s recent moves into the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market may be a sign the giant oil exporter is looking to expand into a rapidly growing and politically influential market it had long ignored.
On April 30, 2025, the United States and Ukraine signed a long-anticipated economic partnership agreement establishing the US–Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.
The Trump administration may release a blueprint for a US sovereign wealth fund (SWF) in early May after the president signed an executive order in February giving the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce 90 days to develop a plan.
President Donald Trump’s second term has begun with sweeping changes, just as the candidate promised: tariffs instituted against allies and adversaries alike, budgets and programs cut, and entire agencies shuttered.