What you’ll get in this episode of Energy Thinks

My most important conversations right now are focused on the Arc of Outrage—and what it takes to lead your company through the Arc when opposition to your projects is no longer theoretical. Last week’s Both True explored the Arc: why data center outrage is still climbing, why the worst is likely ahead, and why leaders need to staff for the Arc they are actually in—not the one they hoped for.

This conversation with Lee Beck, chief global policy officer at HIF Global, picks up from there. In this episode, I sit down with Lee to talk about what it takes to make progress in a world that increasingly rewards outrage.

Why Lee Beck?

Whenever I see Lee at a conference, I grab the seat next to her.

Partly because she’ll inevitably raise her hand and ask an insightful and provocative question. Mostly because we will have the kind of wide-ranging conversation you will hear in this episode.

Lee challenges us to reframe the way we understand the political polarization of energy. Why is energy so incendiary? Because of the issues, values, and meaning we’re now attaching to it: identity, fairness, who pays, who benefits, and who decides. She connects the global energy debates to the local infrastructure fights so central to the Arc of Outrage. Affordability, security, AI, and local control—these topics get bundled together, and the bundle raises the emotional temperature fast.

If we can’t avoid outrage, how do we mitigate it? If communities are being asked to host the infrastructure that powers the future, what do they deserve in return? Lee has wise counsel on that, too.

Some of Lee’s insights:

On building trust with communities: “These interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence matter more than throwing another ad campaign at people: hearing to understand, not just to respond, and moving from persuasion to participation.”

On why the deal has to get better: “How do we sweeten the deal for the communities to host these? There is a lot more participatory capitalism, where communities get a say in how it gets built, potentially equity shares, support for local taxation. There is a lot that can be done in addition to the relationship layer.”

On the momentum of the Arc: “We’ve seen a lot of what I like to say is political agenda hitchhiking. We’re attaching more and more issues to the energy debate and also the climate discussion. That has led to a politicization where energy and climate are now politically divisive issues.”

Bonus content!

More about Lee: Prior to her role as chief global policy officer at HIF Global, Lee held leadership roles at Clean Air Task Force, and the Global CCS Institute, and worked across carbon capture, hydrogen, synthetic fuels, industrial policy, and pragmatic approaches to energy transition and decarbonization. She is currently a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, and serves on the Advisory Boards of Project Tempo and EPG Romania.

Watch the episode on YouTube or listen to the podcast on Substack.

More from my Arc of Outrage series: “The Arc of Outrage Has Come for Data Centers” and “Stop Calling It Data Center Misinformation.”

My recent podcast episodes “The Ride You Can’t Get Off,” “What You Don’t Know About Community Buy-In” with Jonathan Smith, “Jim Kerr on Your Generational Opportunity,” and “Energy Abundance Is Non-Negotiable. Responsibility Is, Too.”

Jason Bordoff’s recent Wall Street Journal article, “The Winners and Losers of Oil’s New World Order.”

Order your copy of The Myth and The Moment: From Polarization to Progress in the New Energy Landscape.

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To participation over persuasion,

Tisha

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