“This hearing will provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate to the committee that you'll implement Congress's vision of energy abundance.” – Senator Martin Heinrich
“Technology really is the key for growing our energy future, for…growing more abundance to better lives.” – Secretary of Energy nominee Chris Wright
“We're all about abundance.” – Senator Bill Cassidy
The word “abundance” appears 11 times in the confirmation hearing transcript for President Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Energy, Chris Wright. It was invoked by Senators across the political spectrum, ranging from Mike Lee (R-UT) to Bill Cassidy (R-LA) to Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to Martin Heinrich (D-NM).
Politico describes “The unlikely friends of Chris Wright’s ‘energy abundance’ future” who will help drive policymaking in 2025. There was a similar story about Secretary of the Interior nominee Doug Burgum. We are excited for the abundance community to resume work with the new administration on electricity transmission and permitting reform, which came so close to becoming law at the end of 2024.
In the meantime, here’s the latest on what we are thinking, doing, reading, and hearing:
What We Are Thinking
It is abundantly clear that new factions are gaining influence in both parties, and we are encouraged that this realignment will create opportunities for bipartisan legislation, especially against the backdrop of a historically slim House majority and the filibuster remaining intact. Passing anything outside of reconciliation will require support from a significant number of Democrats. In addition to permitting reform, we see opportunities in innovation policy (especially around artificial intelligence) and government modernization.
One reason for this optimism is that the rise of the tech right is reshaping the Republican party, with their views on issues such as high-skilled immigration creating tension with traditional MAGA factions. The mission of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been clarified as “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity,” a promising development. As Josh Barro suggests, “Now It's Republicans' Turn to Try for Abundance.”
Democrats are also increasingly embracing abundance. Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) told Matt Yglesias, “New York should be a laboratory for the implementation of a 21st century abundance agenda.”
And as I write this newsletter, I’m reading a proof copy of Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s terrific new book Abundance, which will be released on March 18 (make sure to pre-order a copy!). If you live in NYC and want to see them discuss their book on March 17, you can get tickets here.
What We Are Doing
Apparently, we are helping corporate money regain control of the Democratic Party while rebranding neoliberalism, at least according to The American Prospect ;-)
In all seriousness, we’re thrilled that an ideologically inclusive set of funders and partners is driving the abundance movement forward. As Ezra Klein exclaimed, “Bunch of fantastic organizations worth following listed in this hit piece, worth bookmarking and following-up. I’m pretty read-in and I learned about some groups I didn’t know of!”
We are also celebrating a productive policy change made by the outgoing Biden administration, which we refer to as the “Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) reduction act.” This guidance clarifies that agencies don’t need to undertake an extensive approval process to ask users of government services how to do a better job delivering those services. Ben Bain and Jen Pahlka at Niskanen call it a “welcome development that will have an enormous positive impact.” We agree: this is a big win for a more nimble, dynamic, “customer”-centered public sector — and thus a big win for abundance — made possible by many state capacity advocates in our network.
What We Are Reading
- The proof copy of Marc Dunkelman’s Why Nothing Works, coming out on February 18. This excellent book explores how progressivism’s fear of empowering anyone in a position of authority has thwarted the exact kind of progress we’d very much like to see.
- A creative proposal from Alex Armlovich at Niskanen and Chris Elmendorf at IFP that suggests how to reform the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) to encourage expensive big cities to upzone for more density.
- Speaking of upzoning in expensive big cities, we were pleased to see New York City pass the City of Yes. This is a great start to unlocking the density we need, although clearly there is a lot more work to be done, as Curbed explains in the “City of Yes-ish.”
What We Are Hearing
- Santi Ruiz’s “How Bureaucracy is Breaking Government” conversation replays a panel discussion from our Abundance 2024 conference on the elaborate procedures behind government action, their costs, and how we can do better. Listen to Santi and the brilliant Jenny Mattingley, Kathy Stack, and Nick Bagley.
- Steve Teles and Jen Pahlka’s “In This House, We’re Angry When Government Fails” on The Ezra Klein Show helps situate the abundance movement in its proper intellectual place: between those who defend government institutions reflexively, and those who want to “burn it all down.”
This newsletter is a product of the Inclusive Abundance Initiative, a 501(c)(3), in partnership with Inclusive Abundance Action, our affiliated 501(c)(4).