This episode explores growing backlash to data centers, record U.S. fusion funding amid global competition, and political efforts to roll back climate laws as energy prices rise. The hosts also examine how the Iran war is reshaping global energy decisions, with some countries temporarily turning back to coal. Politico’s Kelsey Tamborrino joins to discuss how federal permitting delays are slowing clean energy projects and influencing where developers choose to build.

Intro

Paul Gerke (00:01.552)
Hello, ladies and gentlemen, it's that time of the week already. Time for another edition of This Week in cleantech, your favorite 15 minute roundup with the biggest stories in climate and clean energy each week. If you're keeping track of the date at home, which you should so your bills go out on time, it's Friday, April 10th, 2026, or a later date when you're listening to this. We've got a guest in the waiting room that Mike Casey has been talking about for a long time getting on the show. I don't mean to oversell it, but we've got Kelsey Tamborrino from Politico.

Mike Casey (00:31.308)
Yeah, man. Yeah, man.

Paul Gerke (00:31.394)
If you haven't read it yet, you should. She wrote a story in E&E News. She's going to talk to us about it in just a few minutes. Until that moment, I, Factor This content director Paul Gerke, joined as always by cleantech commentator Mike Casey of TigerCom. Excuse me, man. I had a sneeze and I fought it back just in that moment. That's terrible. We should probably start from the beginning, but I'm to press on. I'm one take Paul.

Mike Casey (00:58.03)
Good, class, good morning Mr. Gerke. How are you sir?

Paul Gerke (01:02.064)
Excuse me. Good man, now that I got that out of the way. Hey.

Mike Casey (01:07.318)
Okay, well, this is so much fun to do with you every week. Did I ever tell you that? Don't let it go to your head. But it's just, this is, I have a lot of fun doing this stuff.

Paul Gerke (01:14.032)
That's really nice, man. I appreciate that. And we'd like to hear positive feedback. So if you like what you hear and see on the show, send us your thoughts. Email us. TWIC at tigercom.us. Send us a story, send us a link. If you got thoughts about the show, whatever it is, we'd love to talk about it. But since we don't have any of that, we got five stories to talk about. Let's start with number one, Mike.

Story 1: Data Center Backlash

Mike Casey (01:43.692)
Heck yeah. Wisconsin city passes nation's first anti-data center referendum, Mr. Gerke.

Paul Gerke (01:54.884)
I don't want to say I told you so, but we have been pointing out how the not in my backyard isms were just going to intensify around the data center space. Port Washington, a small Wisconsin city home to a Trump backed data center project, voted Tuesday to limit future data centers in a first of its kind referendum.

At least three other U.S. communities are set to vote on similar ballot measures later this year. In Ohio, opponents are pushing a statewide ballot measure to ban new construction of certain large data centers. The Port Washington vote doesn't stop the city's $15 billion data center project from OpenAI and Oracle. Instead, it targets future projects requiring voter approval before city leaders can offer developers tax incentives. Mike, your thoughts.

Mike Casey (02:57.208)
The first referendum could be blocked in a few days by a court challenge, but more measures are being considered. Monterey Park, California will vote in June. Michigan residents will decide on another project. In November, Janesville, Wisconsin residents will vote on turning a former GM plant into an AI facility. And the entire state of Maine has become a data center free zone.

Story 2: Fusion Funding

Paul Gerke (03:41.072)
Story number two, Amy Harder from Axios. What's it about, Mike?

Mike Casey (03:52.323)
The Energy Department's ARPA-E will commit $135 million over the next 18 months to speed up fusion energy development. This is the largest fusion investment in the agency's history. But Trump's 2027 budget proposal seeks to cut DOE’s Fusion Energy Sciences Initiative. Meanwhile, China is spending at least $6.5 billion on fusion compared to about $1 billion in the U.S.

Paul Gerke (04:54.575)
Fusion is always 10 to 20 years away. And you could have said that 40 years ago. The industry says $135 million is not enough to scale the tech.

Story 3: Climate Laws Under Pressure

Mike Casey (05:31.596)
Third story, state climate laws are being targeted as the Iran war spikes gas prices.

Paul Gerke (05:41.648)
Countries and consumers are turning to more renewables during the war, but rising gas prices are fueling efforts to weaken state climate laws. In Michigan, Republicans are working to repeal a 2023 law requiring 100% zero-carbon electricity by 2040. Critics blame it for rising costs, but experts say demand—not renewables—is driving prices.

Mike Casey (07:10.774)
California oil refineries warn gas prices could rise further under stricter carbon rules. Chevron says changes could cost $500 million. State regulators reject that claim, saying it doesn’t reflect market reality and arguing the war highlights the need to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

Story 4: Global Energy Shift from Iran War

Paul Gerke (08:11.179)
Story number four, will the Iran war derail the energy transition?

Mike Casey (08:27.544)
Surging gas prices are pushing countries in Asia and Europe to fall back on coal. Japan and South Korea are lifting limits, and Italy is delaying its coal phaseout. But this is likely temporary. Long term, the war is expected to accelerate renewables as countries try to reduce dependence on volatile fossil fuels.

Global renewable capacity has climbed 50% since 2022, and solar costs have dropped about 70%. Still, challenges remain like high interest rates, grid constraints, and political pressure.

Paul Gerke (09:27.223)
Fossil fuels are coming in clutch in a crisis, but long term renewables are stronger. Countries aren’t building new coal plants—they’re extending existing ones. Higher fossil fuel prices are improving clean energy economics.

Story 5: Permitting Delays with Kelsey Tamborrino

Mike Casey (09:57.655)
Kelsey Tamborrino from Politico joins us. What’s the big takeaway?

Kelsey Tamborrino (10:26.245)
A survey of 50 renewable energy developers found most have experienced delays with federal permitting, including NEPA, the Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act reviews. The most interesting finding is that 82% said they have purposely sited projects to avoid triggering federal review.

Paul Gerke (11:48.441)
That’s concerning. Time is money, but are we risking environmental protections?

Kelsey Tamborrino (12:27.552)
That’s part of the debate. But 72% of respondents said what they want most is predictability—not necessarily shorter timelines, just clarity on what to expect.

Mike Casey (12:58.946)
How much do these permitting issues impact deployment?

Kelsey Tamborrino (13:59.467)
There’s optimism that renewables will win on economics, but permitting affects what actually gets built. Developers are avoiding federal processes, which means projects may not be built where energy is most needed.

Mike Casey (16:12.076)
Are attitudes shifting toward using federal processes to block projects?

Kelsey Tamborrino (16:28.366)
There’s some progress—about 20 utility-scale projects are moving forward—but not across the board. Onshore wind is still stalled in many cases, and offshore wind continues to face delays. Permitting challenges remain widespread.

Conclusion

Paul Gerke (17:56.78)
We’ve got two cleantechers of the week: Sam and Juliana Bendek, co-founders of Elastic Energy. The company developed a new technology that stores energy using natural tree sap.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of This Week in cleantech. Special shout out to Kelsey Tamborrino for joining us. Please subscribe, leave feedback, and share story ideas. You can read all the articles we talked about in the episode description and on factorthis.com. Be good people, we’ll see you next time.