The State of Energy · Rocky Mountain Propane Association

Propane, Power, and Policy Featuring Michael Baker, Chief Legislative Officer, National Propane Gas Association

·30 min·2 clips

Michael Baker says the shutdown could resolve in seven to 14 days as paychecks, SNAP, WIC, and LIHEAP tighten pressure.

1. The State of Energy centers this episode on propane, power, and policy, with Tom Clark and Randy Witt moving between transportation energy and federal shutdown politics. 2. Tom Clark, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Propane Association, and Michael Baker, senior vice president and chief legislative officer at the National Propane Gas Association, drive the interview because they connect propane to both state and federal energy decisions. 3. The episode asks what practical energy policy looks like when Clean Cities, coal plants, shutdown politics, and propane vehicles all collide. 4. Clark describes a Clean Cities Coalition event in Denver where his team brought a propane-powered school bus and a propane-powered F-250 for a ride-and-drive. 5. He says the event also featured electric vehicles, including a large garbage truck, and argues that “zero emissions” on the side of a vehicle does not reflect upstream power generation. 6. Clark says the propane vehicles were producing 70 percent less emissions than the electric vehicle on site. 7. Clark then moves to Pueblo, Colorado, and describes the Comanche generating station as a coal-powered plant with three giant generators. 8. He says two of the generators are almost 50 years old, one unit has already been shut down, and the number three unit opened in 2010. 9. Clark says more than a billion dollars is still owed on that 2010 installation. 10. He adds that the plant has a life expectancy to 2070 even though the state and environmental groups want it shut down sooner. 11. Baker says he expects the federal shutdown to end sometime over the next seven to 14 days. 12. He ties that estimate to pressure on service members, emergency responders, airport workers, air traffic controllers, TSA, SNAP, WIC, and LIHEAP. 13. Baker says the shutdown becomes more damaging once people miss multiple paychecks while still being required to work. 14. He says essential federal workers can be forced to show up even when they are not currently being paid. 15. Baker explains that the travel impact is likely to worsen if the shutdown reaches week five or week six. 16. He says the current shutdown is already the second-longest in U.S. history at 30 days, behind the 35-day shutdown of 2018 to 2019. 17. Baker describes the discussion as politically polarized and says each party blames the other for holding the government hostage. 18. The interview style is conversational and detail-heavy, with Randy Witt pushing for direct answers and Tom Clark jumping in with energy-industry examples. 19. Listeners interested in propane policy, federal shutdowns, and transportation energy will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners looking for a light entertainment show or a nonpolitical conversation may skip it.

As heard by us

Shutdown pressure, a Montana propane incentive, and a guest who answers directly.

Michael Baker gives the segment its clearest stretch of straight talk. It moves from shutdown pressure points like TSA, SNAP, WIC, and LIHEAP into a Montana propane incentive that could help replace a diesel truck with a propane-powered one.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Want a blunt propane-policy conversation with real deadlines, plus a few jokes along the way?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The State of Energy