DOE's $1B Nuke Bet, China’s Coal Loop, & Al Gore’s COP Circus | 11.21.25

Chuck and Mark crank up the camp as they riff on the Landman season two premiere, bouncing from the show’s oil-patch chaos to the real-world energy circus. They torch the DOE Loan Programs Office’s messy reputation while breaking down its latest billion-dollar moves, like the $1B revival of Three Mile Island for Microsoft and AEP’s $1.6B transmission upgrade, along with its surprisingly strong 3.3% default rate and Tesla’s quick 2013 repayment. Then it’s off to China, where a coal-to-liquids boom big enough to replace 1.3 million barrels a day pairs with thorium molten-salt reactors and plans for a 200-MW nuclear-powered mega-ship by 2035, all signaling Beijing’s trademark long-game dominance. And in peak absurdity, ManBearPig strolls into COP30 as media fawns over Al Gore’s “climate rockstar” entrance, even as new studies warn of a potential Gulf Stream collapse that could freeze Europe like Arctic Canada. All the chaos, all the laughs, all the BDE energy.Click here to watch a video of this episode.Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.ioClick here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 - Intro02:43 - DOE LPO Funding12:15 - China Energy Policies19:59 - Energy Tariffs Impact23:15 - Thorium Molten Salt Reactors26:17 - Closing the Energy Loop28:17 - Al Gore COP26 Speech34:14 - MIT Gulf Stream Collapse36:00 - Episode Wrap-Uphttps://twitter.com/collide_iohttps://www.tiktok.com/@collide.iohttps://www.facebook.com/collide.iohttps://www.instagram.com/collide.iohttps://www.youtube.com/@collide_iohttps://bsky.app/profile/digitalwildcatters.bsky.socialhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/collide-digital-wildcatters