Episode #41: Paul Fenn: The Reason We Are Mad

These Fools are joined by Paul Fenn, Founder of Local Power and inventor of “Community Choice Aggregation” for municipal energy procurement. Paul shares his fascinating background that includes a deep relationship to philosophy, political theory, psychology, energy policy and municipal engagement, leading to a discussion of the state of the American psyche, (for which Paul has a fearless diagnosis,) and a discourse on “what we should do.” You won’t want to miss this one!

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See our show notes: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GVCVW1h2_-4JOU22KREzTO0lVDiN3icg?usp=drive_link

Chapters:
00:00 Paul Fenn and His Journey
08:57 The Shift from Criticism to Law in Energy Policy
11:55 Community Choice Aggregation
14:52 Deregulation and the California Energy Crisis
18:12 Success of Local Power and Green Bonds
21:03 Microgrids and Local Control
23:49 Philosophical Insights on Enlightenment and Ethics
26:56 Living with Awareness
30:02 Energy and Human Identity
36:13 Owning Land and Self-Sufficiency
39:01 Empowerment of the Individual in Democracy
43:26 The Burden of Individual Responsibility
44:44 The Dialectic of State and Individual
46:40 Crisis of Representation in Democracy
48:24 Governance and Power
49:41 Localism as a Universal Political Concept
51:38 The Boredom of Political Participation
54:03 Selflessness vs. Self-Interest in Politics
01:00:16 The Dynamics of Local Democracy
01:02:26 Cycles of Political Disillusionment
01:07:08 The Failures of the Nation-State
01:18:39 Critique of the Energy Industry
01:27:11 The Illusion of Renewable Energy Certificates
01:34:10 Navigating the Madness of Modern Systems
01:48:27 Reconnecting with Nature and Local Communities
01:57:18 Personal Responsibility and Action