What's Working - and Why It Matters

What I'm thankful for this Fourth of July

There’s a lot to be discouraged about in America right now. I don’t need to tell you that. But even in moments like this—especially in moments like this—I believe it’s important to stop and take stock of what’s actually working. Because it turns out, there’s more progress underway than we sometimes allow ourselves to see. It’s not always loud. It’s not always flashy. But it’s real.

And it gives me hope.

Take California. After years of gridlock and good intentions getting buried under paperwork, state lawmakers just passed a major permitting reform package—one that includes long-overdue updates to CEQA, the state’s cornerstone environmental law.

This is a big deal. For too long, CEQA has been used to block the very kinds of projects we need most: infill housing, clean energy, transmission lines, and even public transit. These reforms represent more than a technical fix—they mark a broader shift from a culture of caution to a culture of building.

To hit California’s 2045 climate goals, we need 68% more clean electricity. That won’t happen if it takes half a decade just to get a permit. Now that the legislation is passed, the next chapter is execution. State agencies must be held to real timelines. Permitting speed should be tracked as a core climate and economic KPI. That’s what real follow-through looks like.

Meanwhile, the pace of progress on clean energy continues to accelerate. This month, the U.S. surpassed 200 gigawatts of installed solar capacity—a 100x increase since 2010. Nearly one in three new cars sold in California is now electric. And Tesla’s Fremont factory is the most productive auto plant in North America. These are not just stats—they’re market signals.

And the next generation of industries is beginning to scale. Fervo Energy’s Sugarloaf well in Utah reached 500°F at 15,000 feet—setting a new high-water mark for enhanced geothermal. Domestic battery manufacturing is ramping up from Michigan to Georgia. Long-duration storage developers like Form Energy are breaking ground.

These are proof points and they show what’s possible. But they also raise the bar: we need to keep building—grids, supply chains, talent pipelines. We need to keep going.

And if you’re looking for momentum, look no further than the private sector.

Amazon now has one of the largest electric delivery fleets in the world. Microsoft and Google are signing round-the-clock clean energy deals to future-proof their AI data centers. That’s what conviction looks like.

I had the opportunity to speak in Sacramento last week alongside leaders like Patti Poppe of PG&E and Hamid Moghadam of Prologis, in a room filled with Stanford researchers, state legislators, business leaders, and technologists. The topic? How California can—and must—modernize its energy systems to meet the demand of the AI era.

The message was clear: California has long been a proving ground for what comes next. But leadership in the AI age won’t happen by default. It has to be designed. That means faster interconnection, smarter siting, resilient grids, and policy alignment to build the physical backbone of the future.

And finally, there’s the most important force of all: people power. Across the country, voters are still choosing climate progress—when it’s framed in the right way. They’re saying yes to clean energy, public transit, and affordability. They’re turning out. They’re showing up.

The civic heart of this country is still beating—loudly. And that’s where I draw my optimism, even in difficult times.

Thanks for reading. More soon.

–Tom