The Ledger

Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.

clear all ✕

why aren't all 10 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 1 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable

Prediction Open · timeframe Feb 2046
Roberts predicts recycled minerals will become cheaper than mined within 20 years
“I would just say that my, I guess my prediction would be that in 10 years, maybe or in 20, that just a unit of critical minerals drawn from recycling will be cheaper than a unit of Mind. I think. I think. Eventually. Like, I think it will end up being our prim…”
David Roberts Feb 25, 2026 ▶ 50:49 Volts crossover: Six big energy questions
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Roberts: A rogue actor could test solar geoengineering cheaply and go undetected
“You could stand up and do a reasonably large scale test on your own without a ton of money, arguably without being detected doing so by the world.”
David Roberts Feb 25, 2026 ▶ 56:44 Volts crossover: Six big energy questions
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Roberts predicts the concept of distinct distributed energy resources will fade away
“You and I know that the way the long-term evolution is that basically everything that is plugged in is gonna become a resource eventually. Like, the notion of DERs as a kind of distinct category, I think, is just gonna kind of fade away, because eventually, li…”
David Roberts Feb 25, 2026 ▶ 26:19 Volts crossover: Six big energy questions
Assertion Supported
Roberts: Pakistan recently imported solar capacity equivalent to 40% of total load
“Pakistan went, like, I think it was like two years or three years, 40% of its total load now was It has imported solar panels equivalent to 40% of its total load.”
David Roberts Feb 25, 2026 ▶ 1:03:19 Volts crossover: Six big energy questions
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Roberts: Thermal batteries will unlock decarbonization of industrial heat
“I think the reason it's going to be a big enough deal that even normies will hear about it is that it is going to be this kind of skeleton key that unlocks the decarbonization of industrial heating and cooling, which is, you know, one of the big quote unquote …”
David Roberts Nov 3, 2023 ▶ 15:48 The Volts crossover episode
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Roberts: Substitution and market supply will solve critical mineral shortages long-term
“I just think substitution plus new sources. Over the midterm, mid to longterm, is going to solve this. I agree that there will be years, couple of years, choke points here and there, as we've all, as we've already seen a couple of materials get tight. But I ju…”
David Roberts Nov 3, 2023 ▶ 59:14 The Volts crossover episode
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Roberts: Autonomous vehicles will become ubiquitous in some cities within 5-10 years
“So anyway, I think within five to 10 years, we will at least see cities where these things become ubiquitous, and then I think at the very least we'll have directionally Answers to some of these things.”
David Roberts Feb 25, 2026 ▶ 7:02 Volts crossover: Six big energy questions
Assertion Supported
Roberts: Power-to-heat thermal storage reaches 95% efficiency
“Which gets you way higher efficiency. Like you can get 95% of your heat back out.”
David Roberts Nov 3, 2023 ▶ 19:11 The Volts crossover episode
Assertion Supported
Roberts: DOE prioritizes standardized nuclear construction practices over modular hardware
“If you talk to the people at the DOE, the loans office, they'll tell you what needs to be replicated and done the same way over and over again is not necessarily the hardware, the chunks of hardware, it's construction practices. It's the construction sub parts…”
David Roberts Nov 3, 2023 ▶ 32:39 The Volts crossover episode
Assertion Supported
Roberts: 25 US states have proposed balcony solar legislation
“25 states had laws either Proposed or announced to be proposed to legalize balcony solar.”
David Roberts Feb 25, 2026 ▶ 1:01:05 Volts crossover: Six big energy questions
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