Episode Details

Note: This episode was recorded on March 23, 2026. The situation is fast-moving — some details may have evolved, but the underlying story hasn't.

Today, Matt speaks with award-winning investigative journalist Miranda Green about the fossil fuel dimensions of the U.S.-Iran conflict. Miranda - author of The Understory, Atmos Magazine's weekly climate-culture newsletter - traces how the conflict has disrupted roughly 20% of the world's liquid natural gas and oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, sent gas prices surging past $7 a gallon in parts of California, and exposed just how deeply the global economy remains dependent on fossil fuels.

They also dig into the Trump administration's response: paying a French energy company to abandon offshore wind projects and invest in Texas LNG instead; keeping aging coal plants online under national security law; and Trump's murky, shifting rationale for the conflict itself. Miranda connects the dots from dark money and fossil fuel donors to the policy decisions shaping the U.S. energy landscape — and asks whether the chaos of this moment might, paradoxically, accelerate the clean energy transition.

Read Miranda's piece, The War With Iran Is Already About Energy, at Atmos:

https://atmos.earth/political-landscapes/the-war-with-iran-is-already-about-energy/

Subscribe to Miranda's newsletter, The Understory, at atmos.earth/newsletter

Subscribe now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts.

Miranda Green is an award-winning investigative journalist and climate writer based in Los Angeles. She is the author of The Understory, Atmos Magazine's weekly climate-culture newsletter, and publishes Evergreen, her own climate-focused Substack. A former staff reporter for CNN, The Hill, and The Daily Beast, she has spent nearly a decade covering the intersection of politics, energy, and the environment for national audiences. Her investigative work has appeared in ProPublica, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, and New York Magazine, and has earned multiple national awards including the 2025 National Press Club's Arthur E. Rowse Award and recognition from the National Press Foundation for energy and environmental writing.

• Miranda's piece: The War With Iran Is Already About Energy (Atmos) https://atmos.earth/political-landscapes/the-war-with-iran-is-already-about-energy/
• Subscribe to The Understory: atmos.earth/newsletter
• Miranda's Substack, Evergreen: mirandacgreen.substack.com
• Miranda's website: mirandacgreen.com
• Miranda’s Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFnMYhYC6ymhwiEMLpRfDUg
• A Climate Change on Apple: https://bit.ly/accapplepodcast
• A Climate Change on Spotify: https://bit.ly/accspotifypodcast
• A Climate Change on YouTube: https://bit.ly/ACCvids

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