Let Me Sum Up

Another regional conflict precipitating another energy security crisis has your intrepid hosts feeling some deja vu as we find ourselves in an increasingly familiar setting as we contemplate the opportunities and challenges presented in the current US-Israel war on Iran. Beyond the horrific human toll of the Trump administration’s latest incoherent, all-tactics-no-strategy foray into the Middle East, there are some complex consequences to world energy markets playing out and it’s too soon to tell where this all goes from here. Global oil prices? Spiking! And likely to lead to airfare cost increases. Gas prices? Also spiking! But not in Australia, say whaaat? Like we said, ‘It’s Complicated’.

Our main course

We stick solidly ON THEME this week with ‘Fossil energy minimum viable scale: unseen infrastructural threats to safety and decarbonization may arise as fossil energy systems are phased out’ from Joshua Lappen and Emily Grubert, published recently in Science. This compact paper packs a punch and has a couple of big ideas to engage with. One is that energy transition types have been want to assume legacy fossil fuel infrastructure will carry on at the required capacity over the required timeframes to see replacement renewables in place. NOT SO say our authors, who contend that minimum viable scales for operation are not well understood and are certainly not being factored into planning for the transition, when it comes to physical, financial and managerial constraints. Their advice? DO better modelling, planning and managing of these issues at an asset level. Elements of this paper felt super familiar (hello gas distribution network death spiral) whole others worrying novel (oh hi there fuel-refinery-that-won’t-operate-under-65%-capacity). Liked the provocations here we did!

One more things

Tennant’s One More Thing is: Cloud Carrier’s proposal to power a new data centre in NSW entirely by natural gas. Lots of debates sure to come!

Frankie’s One More Thing is: continued excitement at all things methane abatement focused, from the CCA’s stated priority to look at this in 2026 to the NSW EPA’s consultation on measures it may implement to reduce or destroy fugitive methane emissions from coal mining.

Luke’s One More Thing is: listener voicemail from none other than Baethan Mullen, CEO of the Superpower Institute, who left us a note with his reaction to our reaction to their recent paper on pricing carbon pollution. Thanks TSI for keeping us busy reading your excellent work!

And that’s it for now, Summerupperers. There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head to

letmesumup.net

to support us on Patreon, procure merch, find back episodes, and leave us a voicemail!

It’s 2026 and we’re back, baby! Clearly not much has been happening in the world since we left you appreciating the one liners of dreamy cult classic The Princess Bride, so this we’ll keep brief. HA!

Your intrepid hosts cast our sights beyond the binfire of domestic politics for a moment to the latest international institution to draw the ire of the Trump administration - this week featuring the International Energy Agency! The IEA’s recent biennial ministerial gathering in Paris last week saw the US demand climate be dropped as a priority – and specifically that net zero scenarios be dropped from their projections – Or Else! In this case, Or Else means a US withdrawal along with their dollars. Will the IEA succumb to these demands? Your intrepid hosts think unlikely, but Australia and other countries will need to stand firm and/or pick up more of the tab.

Our main course

The folks at The Superpower Institute must have known the LMSU crew leapt into 2026 ravenous for climate content and oh boy, did they deliver. Their recent paper, ‘The Case For Pricing Pollution,’ authored by 2025 Wonky Award winner Reuben Finighan and Ingrid Burford packs not one BUT TWO big ideas for your intrepid hosts to digest. A ‘Polluter Pays Levy’ would see a price on carbon applied to fossil fuel production/supply with price eventually pegged to the EU ETS, combined with a ‘Fair Share Levy’, a two-way cashflow tax of 40% on oil and gas (but mostly gas) producers, replacing the current and not effective Petroleum Resource Rent Tax. In other words: don your meat dress, crank One Direction, and tax rents and carbon while planking. YOLO (again)!

Why has TSI ‘gone there’? we can hear you gentle listeners ask. We are not on track to meet our net zero commitments, structural budget deficits demanding spending restraint in the face of growing costs attached to worthy social supports, and weak productivity suggests the need for a more efficient way to price carbon and raise revenue ($35.6 Bn a year out to 2050 is big dollars). This report is a bold provocation, aiming to stimulate discussion ahead of the 2026/27 Safeguard Review to suggest it’s time to revisit the policy that until recently dared not speak its name. Your intrepid hosts welcome the provocation and thinks there may be multiple ways to skin the carbon price cat. Also, this should definitely have been two papers. Kthnxbye.

One more things

Tennant’s One More Thing is: another obscure but entertaining pop culture find: V: The Original Miniseries. Available we’re not sure where. You’re welcome!

Frankie’s One More Thing is: a strange and unexpected role reversal as she plugs the long-awaited, much lusted after in one T Reed’s heart, the final report from the Government’s carbon leakage review! Slipped out the same day as #LibSpill2026 no less. TL;DR is: do the CBAM! (and not much change from draft report).

Luke’s One More Thing is: the currently-showing-in-theatres-Baz-Luhrmann-spectacular “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert”. Stitched together from footage of different Elvis concerts over time, Luke reckons even if you’re not a hunk of burning love for Elvis before seeing this, you might be after. 

And we throw in a cheeky plug right at the end for Climate Action Week Sydney! Get on it!

And that’s it for now, Summerupperers. There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head to

letmesumup.net

to support us on Patreon, procure merch, find back episodes, and leave us a voicemail!

We're back, and we're kicking off a big year with the first annual LMSU Summer Book Club! That is right, Tennant, Frankie, Luke and Alison curled up with a climate themed read over summer: Existential Politics: Why Global Climate Institutions Are Failing and How to Fix Them by Jessica F Green.
What did we make of it? Views were... mixed at best. Tune in to find out more, and if you are so inclined this book is available on Kindle!
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Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by Victorian bushfires over summer, within the climate and energy community and beyond. You can help out by chipping a few bucks to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal.
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We'll be returning to regularly scheduled programming in a couple of weeks, but until then there is a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head to
letmesumup.net
to support us on Patreon, procure merch, explore the back catalogue, and leave us a voicemail!

Give the gift of LMSU BoCo to your loved ones!
In the awkward position of forgetting a Christmas gift for your beloved? Want to set your climate conscious friends up for success in 2026? Look no further than a one year subscription to LMSU’s Patreon which gets you bonus, subscriber-only episodes - unpacking the sector decarbonisation plans with special guests - and all manner of additional absolute silliness, like our recent bonus episode of Luke, Tennant and Frankie’s Dungeons & Dragons adventure. Hop to it!
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The 2025 Wonky Award
It’s that time of the year when your intrepid hosts dole out the Wonky award for our favourite paper of the year! We revive the recurring argument about the criteria for the award and don’t let the fact that two of our three finalists weren’t even papers stop us. Our finalists and highly commended for 2025 are:
‘Abundance’ by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
‘Quarterly Essay 99: Woodside Versus The Planet’ by Marianne Wilkinson
‘The New Energy Trade: Harnessing Australian renewables for global development’ by Reuben Finighan at The Superpower Institute.
While there was no denying the zeitgeisty vibe impact of Abundance on the political discourse in Australia and all-round appreciation for Marianne Wilkinson’s thoughtful provocation on the influence of gas giant Woodside, your intrepid hosts all rallied around the seminal ‘New Energy Trade’ paper from the Superpower Institute as having a clear-eyed vision and significant and ongoing impact on policy thinking around Australia’s green export potential. Bravo to Reuben Finighan and colleagues at TSI for winning the 2025 Wonky Award! A custom meme will find its way to your socials in the not-too-distant future!
Holiday Movie Special
We’ve always wondered how many of our eagle-eyed Summerupperers got the movie reference in our podcast title ‘Let Me Sum Up’, taken from none other than the iconic, swashbuckling fantasy fairy tale "The Princess Bride" - so it was INCONCEIVABLE that we choose any other movie for our 2025 Holiday Special. From the origin story around choosing the pod name (including the names that didn’t make the cut), how this movie has influenced us and where we saw it first, to our favourite moments from an all-star cast and the endless choice of banger quotes, we go long! Such is our mutual love for this movie, there was no containing the joy of this Holiday Special. 
One more things
Tennant’s One More Thing is: a bit of light holiday reading with the equally zeitgeisty and current The Secret History by Procopius? You tell us which current Australian political figure comes to mind when you hear Tennant’s quote from the book.
Frankie’s One More Thing is: a very late to the party endorsement for Stranger Things on Netflix, which she is just getting around to watching. Better late than never!
Luke’s One More Thing is: Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another which is nothing short of masterpiece and still showing in the odd cinema. LMSU says – see it on the big screen.
And that’s it until the New Year, Summerupperers. Don’t forget we are convening a summer book club, diving into ‘Existential Politics: Why Global Climate Institutions Are Failing And How To Fix Them’ by Jessica F. Green, and will be recording an episode to discuss sometime in January together with sometime co-host Alison Reeve. 
And don’t forget there is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head to
letmesumup.net
to support us on Patreon, procure merch, find back episodes, and leave us a voicemail!
P.S. don't big shout out to our friends at The NEMchat Singers, who have a proud tradition of summing  the energy year in song. We hope you enjoy one of their 2025 contributions at the end of this episode, and be sure to check out the other here!

Subscribe to LMSU’s Patreon for a sector plan BoCo bonanza!  
All aboard folks! Team LMSU is continuing our BoCo odyssey, adventuring through each of the six sector decarbonisation plans. AND we’re bringing friends! That’s right, we’re calling in even nerdier reinforcements. This week, we’ll be joined by Ag sector knower Steve Hatfield-Dodds to unpack the Agriculture and Land Sector Plan. And if somehow that isn’t temptation enough for you crazy climate cats, we can reveal that episode two of our dungeons and dragons odyssey is incoming in time for the Christmas listening of Super Summerupperers... so hop to it!
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Main topic(s)
While we have been occupied with Conferences of Parties, developments in Australian energy and climate policy have been coming thick and fast. So what is a summing up podcast with one substantive episode left before the end of the year to do? Why, a demolition derby of All The Things, of course! 
Buckle up, and tune in for:
Klimate Krampus, AKA the Coalition’s abandonment of a net zero by 2050 target (to really get the vibe of the thing, we encourage a close read of the Liberal and National positions, such as they are )
Climate Christmas, specifically the Albanese Government’s 2025 Climate Statement, the Climate Change Authority’s 2025 Annual Progress Report and DCCEEW’s 2025 Emissions Projections.
Energy Eisteddfod, featuringAEMO’s Draft 2026 Integrated System Plan
CSIRO’s Draft 2025-26 GenCost Report
AEMO’s 2025 Transition Plan for System Security
Tim Nelson and friends' NEM Review final report
Ministers various’ ECMC Communique
Gas Market Review rumblings and reservation speculation
Home Battery Program recharged
Electric Car Discount reviewed

And for dessert, Environment Efflorescence...EPBC reforms passed!

One more things
Frankie’s One More Thing is – jumping on a favourite hobby horse, the imperative to tackle methane emissions, noting promising activity in NSW that could help build national momentum!
Tennant’s One More Thing is – a big spruik for our 2025 Wonky Awards! Yes that’s right, we are once again surveying the papers we covered on the podcast over the last 12 months and picking our favourite! But this year we are inviting you, dear summerupperers, to stick your oar in – leave us a voice note and tell us which paper should reign supreme!
Luke’s One More Thing is – the announcement of the first annual LMSU summer book club! Because this podcast clearly doesn't have enough corners, angles and side hustles already, Tennant, Frankie, Luke and Alison will be curling up with a climate themed read over summer and once we’ve read it, we'll chat about it on a special summer episode of the pod for release sometime in January. And what is our inaugural read for book club? Why it is Existential Politics: Why Global Climate Institutions Are Failing and How to Fix Them by Jessica F Green. Available on Kindle for a surprisingly high price! Or for a free taster, hear Jessica chat about the book on the Shift Key podcast!
Plus in special bonus spruiking, Frankie highlights the upcoming LMSU Holiday Special, in which we watch a movie and talk about it. And this year we’re changing things up – we are going to talk about a classic movie that we have heavily referenced on LMSU! But obviously it is rich pickings, so which one? Well that is up to you! Vote in our handy dandy poll now!
That was a lot. But that’s it for now, Summerupperers. There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head to
letmesumup.net
to support us on Patreon, procure merch, find back episodes, and leave us a voicemail!