Critical Capital

American industry is building factories, mines, and grid hardware at a scale not attempted in decades, and the capital is there. But Erin Price-Wright says the cost of money no longer sets the return on an industrial project. It’s the time spent waiting on a regulator. In this episode, Alfred Johnson speaks with Erin who joined Andreessen Horowitz's American Dynamism practice in 2024 to invest in energy, mining, and industry. She argues the grid's real constraint is transmission and equipment, not generation, which has made smaller, faster hardware competitive with scale. Together, they dig into where venture equity stops and project finance begins, why credit investors distrust the timelines founders quote them, and what she wants written into law so builders can plan past one administration. They also cover Mariana Minerals winning permits to expand a southeast Utah copper mine in a reported six months, and why a first factory stays near its engineers while the second follows the fastest-building states. Critical Capital is a co-production of Crux and Latitude Studios. Learn more about how Crux is financing the future of energy.

Energy policy has become increasingly polarized just as the U.S. faces record electricity demand, a rapidly expanding AI economy, and growing competition from China.  In this episode, Alfred Johnson speaks with North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis about why the country's biggest energy challenge is the inability to build durable, bipartisan policy that survives changes in political leadership.  Drawing on more than a decade in the Senate, Tillis argues for an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy that embraces renewables, natural gas, nuclear, and other generation sources rather than treating them as competing ideologies. He discusses the economic consequences of abruptly cancelling energy projects, the need for stable investment signals, and why rising electricity demand requires policymakers to focus on practical solutions instead of partisan rhetoric. Tillis also discusses domestic manufacturing, critical minerals, AI governance, and the importance of strengthening America's energy supply chains while remaining globally competitive.  Critical Capital is a co-production of Crux and Latitude Studios. Learn more about how Crux is financing the future of energy.

Conflict and disaster displace millions of people around the world every year, and millions more live with food insecurity, unreliable access to electricity or no electricity at all. These same populations are also the most adversely impacted by climate change, geopolitical competition for resources, and global instability. David Miliband, CEO of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and former UK Foreign Secretary, says the world is at a "hinge moment." In this episode, Alfred Johnson sits down with Miliband to discuss the breakdown of the post-WWII international order and what it means for the world’s most vulnerable populations. Miliband explains how "energy poverty" severely cripples humanitarian recovery and highlights the infuriating paradox of our time: the world has never been richer or more technologically advanced, yet distributed clean energy remains out of reach for those who need it most. They discuss concrete, scalable solutions the International Rescue Committee is pioneering, like solarizing health clinics and water pumps, and fueling breakthrough market solutions through Airbel Ventures. Critical Capital is a co-production of Crux and Latitude Studios. Learn more about how Crux is financing the future of energy.

On today’s stage, China is the rising global power, and U.S. dominance is under threat. Geopolitical tensions like wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, combined with supply chain disruptions and a growing demand for rare earth minerals, continue to strain the relationship. But that relationship is key to the future of energy in the United States. In this episode, Alfred Johnson talks with Harvard professor and geopolitical strategist Graham Allison. Together, they unpack the growing rivalry between the United States and China through the lens of the “Thucydides Trap,” a concept Graham popularized in his book “Destined for War.” The "Thucydides Trap" is the idea that when a rising power threatens an established one, conflict often follows. Drawing on history and decades of foreign policy experience, Graham explains how today’s U.S.-China relationship resembles past global power struggles. He also explains how economic interdependence complicates the rivalry, and why energy, rare earth minerals, Taiwan, and global supply chains have become central geopolitical battlegrounds. Critical Capital is a co-production of Crux and Latitude Studios. Learn more about how Crux is financing the future of energy.

For decades, the United States bet on globalization: open markets, cheaper goods, and far-flung supply chains. But that model is breaking down. After pandemic disruptions and rising tensions with China, a new bipartisan consensus is emerging that America needs to rebuild its industrial base. The real question now isn’t whether to reshore critical industries, it’s whether the U.S. can do it consistently. In this episode, we sit down with Sarah Bianchi, former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and current senior managing director at Evercore, to unpack the forces reshaping global trade, industrial policy, and investment. Drawing on decades inside Washington and firsthand experience negotiating trade deals, Sarah explains how we got here and why political volatility may be the biggest risk to America’s economic strategy. Critical Capital is a co-production of Crux and Latitude Studios. Learn more about how Crux is financing the future of energy.

The future of energy isn’t shaped by technology alone. It’s shaped by markets, policy, capital flows, and the institutions that connect them. Trillions of dollars are moving into clean and critical infrastructure, across energy, advanced manufacturing, supply chains, AI, and digital infrastructure. But the forces driving those investments are complex, global, and often misunderstood. Alfred Johnson is the CEO of Crux, the capital platform for the clean economy. He has spent his career working at the intersection of finance, software, and public policy. On Critical Capital, Alfred talks with the people deploying capital, shaping policy, and laying the foundation for the modern economy. This is a show about how power moves across markets, institutions, and systems — and what that means for the future of energy. Episodes drop every other Tuesday, starting April 28. Subscribe to Critical Capital wherever you get your podcasts, or listen at cruxclimate.com.