David Fickling

The $147 Billion Green Hydrogen Bubble That BP Helped Burst Australia’s long-held ambitions to tap its abundant renewable resources and vast uninhabited landmass to become a global green hydrogen leader are fast unraveling.

1/ Australia’s $147b green hydrogen dream is coming apart. At least 7 major projects have stalled, and BP has pulled out of its $36b Pilbara mega-plan. Global hype is deflating — and fast. My colleagues and I dug into why, and how it unraveled.🔗 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Bitcoin Devours the Electricity Meant for the World’s Poor Crypto mines and data centers overwhelm the hydropower projects built to lift nations out of poverty.

Hydropower projects were meant to help pull developing nations out of poverty. Their energy is going to crypto mines and data centers instead - @davidfickling.bsky.social

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

That calculation only works if the weaker USD drives manufacturing back to the US. But foreign investors are pulling out all over the place and there is no certainty for new ones to come in!

I find it hard to see how the EU (consumer economy without import tariffs and with a stronger currency) is doing worse than the US (consumer economy without import tariffs import tariffs and a weaker economy).

I guess we can argue an optimal policy would be able to make the US give up on this act of global economic vandalism!

But the frame of commentary seems to be more about who is weaker/who is stronger. On that reckoning, everyone suffers but the US still suffers the most.

I absolutely agree that 15% tariffs on your exports or whatever is a worse result than 0%. But adding 15% tariffs (or whatever) to your imports from the US makes it even worse!

I’m really looking for a good explainer of why non-US nations are “losing on trade” because they are not harming their consumers as much as the US is harming its consumers via tariff retaliation.

Opinion | 11 tips for becoming a columnist Here’s my advice for handling the awesome responsibility of this job.

Some professional news: After more than a decade of columnizing at The Washington Post, I'm taking the buyout.
This is my last column. It is my advice to any other lucky pundits who land a perch like this -- with 11 principles I've aspired to, even if I haven't always achieved them:
wapo.st/3TU2fGw

How the US Lost the Solar Power Race to China Bloomberg Opinion’s climate columnist visited Michigan, the former heart of the solar industry, and China to learn how good, old-fashioned capitalism won out.

Bravo @davidfickling.bsky.social for hauling in a SOPA award for your epic reporting on the solar race: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

No, Renewables Didn’t Cause Spain’s Grid Blackout Shifting to clean generation might occasionally trip, but the effects are short-lived, and easily fixed.

"When Spain’s grid suffered a blackout, the knee-jerk response — blaming the rapid buildout of renewables — had the virtue of a clear narrative.

"There’s just one problem with that picture: It wasn’t true" - @davidfickling.bsky.social

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Australia Is the Future of Gas, and Always Will Be For all the controversy over the government’s recent LNG decision in remote Karratha, there are too many roadblocks for the project to take off.

1) It wasn't surprising that Australia's re-elected Albanese government took the path of least resistance and extended the life of the North West Shelf despite promises to push forward with action on climate change, writes @davidfickling.bsky.social

Here's why...

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Just as soon as I put out this thermal runaway

I wish I could Google my old articles without provoking AI hallucinations

Degradation of democracy aside, it’s never not going to be funny to me that the FBI is run by a guy so dodgy that even his official portraits look like mugshots

Meta’s ‘Digital Companions’ Will Talk Sex With Users—Even Children Chatbots on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp are empowered to engage in ‘romantic role-play’ that can turn explicit. Some people inside the company are concerned.

The lack of responsibility and ethics never ends with these companies: www.wsj.com/tech/ai/meta...

Stealing a film off a stellar cast with a cameo!

Movie you’ve watched more than six times using gifs.

(“Hard mode” no Star Wars, Star Trek, or LoTR)

The Climate Cost of America’s Infinite Tariffs Years of protectionism have weakened the US solar industry. Levies of up to 3,521% on Asian imports will set energy transition back even further.

There's a climate cost from Trump's infinite tariffs. Levies of up to 3,521% on Asian solar imports will set energy transition back even further, writes @davidfickling.bsky.social @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

A New ‘Carbon-Positive’ Hotel in Denver Takes Sustainability a Step Further Amid a hospitality landscape in which many hotels have moved far beyond single-use plastics, how does the Populus in Denver measure up?

This is like when you say you had a positive Covid test result

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/t...

FINALLY! Recharging bays for cats are here!

Me too, tbh!!

Boomers reading this article: “My doctor is telling me to cut back”

Gen X/Millennials: “I’m still drinking plenty”

Gen Z: “Everyone I know prefers edibles”

Without noticing it, humanity has passed a remarkable milestone: Alcohol consumption has gone into possibly permanent decline 📉🍺

Read @davidfickling.bsky.social: bloom.bg/3YaS7Mi

How Clean Energy Escaped the Boom-and-Bust Cycle The shift toward renewables is accelerating in some places, while Big Oil is investing less.

"This shift suggests that oil and gas is now a sunset industry, managing a long-term, if occasionally profitable, decline."

Always read @davidfickling.bsky.social

🎁 Link
www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Beautiful piece Rachel. Must read

We May Have Already Hit Peak Booze A habit as old as civilization is fading from our society.

"Without noticing it, humanity has passed a remarkable milestone: Alcohol consumption has gone into possibly permanent decline.

That’s a turning point in a habit at least as old as civilization itself."

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

And the effects of a central bank-scale “little trim” on the gold and FX markets could be substantial.

Remember in the early 2000s when the Bank of England and Swiss National Bank did a “little trim” on their gold holdings?

I mean, after what we have seen over the past few months, it is a plausible enough scenario that you might want to trim the sales of your USD exposure a little bit, just in case.