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In the name of grid reliability, the Trump administration has also pushed to extend the operating lives of coal plants that had been slated for retirement. In January, Trump issued an executive order kicking off a process to withdraw the US from international climate change treaties. And the administration has also taken steps to strongly encourage the construction of new nuclear reactors by setting up a program to help purchase large components in advance. And then in February, the US and Israel struck Iran, beginning a war that continues today and which has had major impacts on the price of oil, and other commodities relying on safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Okay, that's just a very brief and high-level summary of some of the major energy policies and actions taken by the second Trump administration over the last year and a half. And we didn't even get into tariffs there. Now, with the midterm elections approaching in November, it feels like energy issues are at the top of many voters' lists of concerns. Whether it's the price of gasoline, utility bills, the Iran war, data center development, or grid reliability. Tackling these issues is going to be a factor in how successful Democrats may be in gaining some control of Congress. So what strategies are Democrats pursuing and how are they talking about these issues? To get some insights, I spoke with Mary Landrieu. She's a former Democratic senator for Louisiana who served for 18 years, including as chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. She's currently a policy advisor at Van Ness Feldman in DC and co-chairs the leadership council of a group called Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future, which advocates for natural gas and renewables to all be part of emissions reduction strategies. She also sits on the board of Evergy, an investor-owned utility headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. I spoke with Landrieu at the CERAWeek by S&P Global Conference in Houston earlier this year, and she had some thoughts about what Democrats' campaign message should be on energy in 2026.
Dan Testa · Energy Evolution · Discussing Democrats' midterm message on energy · 2026-07-28