The Argument Index
Debate potential by speaker, the highest-scored statement each year, and the companies with the most bearish calls on record. All of it clickable, all of it playable.
People
Average debate potential by speaker
All 132 guests with 5 or more scored statements, ranked. 67 more have fewer than 5, too few for a fair average. Sort or filter below.
| # | Person | Avg debate potential | Statements scored |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bill McKibben Founder, Third Act | 3.4 | 5 |
| 2 | Jeremy Symons Principal, Symons Public Affairs | 3.12 | 8 |
| 3 | Ed Niedermeyer Program Director, Ride AI | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | Steve LeVine Editor of The Electric, The Information | 2.92 | 12 |
| 5 | Bernadette Del Chiaro | 2.86 | 14 |
| 6 | Dr. Mark Paul | 2.83 | 12 |
| 7 | Amory Lovins Co-founder & Chairman Emeritus, RMI | 2.75 | 12 |
| 8 | Emily Domenech Executive Director, Permitting Council | 2.69 | 13 |
| 9 | John Hickenlooper U.S. Senator, United States Senate | 2.67 | 9 |
| 10 | Michael Thomas Founder and Author, Distilled | 2.67 | 6 |
| 11 | Brandon Hurlbut Co-Founder and Partner, Boundary Stone Partners | 2.6 | 10 |
| 12 | Eric Wesoff Executive Director and Board Member, Canary Media | 2.6 | 40 |
| 13 | Ramez Naam Founder & Managing Partner, Planetary VC | 2.6 | 20 |
| 14 | Chris Tomlinson Statewide Business Columnist, Houston Chronicle | 2.6 | 15 |
| 15 | Alejandro de la Garza Freelance Climate Journalist | 2.6 | 5 |
| 16 | Dr. Tatiana Mitrova Global Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy | 2.58 | 12 |
| 17 | Andrew Beebe Managing Director, Obvious Ventures | 2.56 | 16 |
| 18 | Josh Becker State Senator, California State Senate | 2.56 | 9 |
| 19 | Brady Seals | 2.53 | 15 |
| 20 | Amy Westervelt | 2.5 | 12 |
| 21 | Jigar Shah Co-Managing Partner, Multiplier LLC | 2.49 | 80 |
| 22 | Sheldon Kimber Founder and CEO, Intersect Power | 2.48 | 21 |
| 23 | Shomik Dutta | 2.45 | 22 |
| 24 | Nancy Pfund Founder & Managing Partner, DBL Partners | 2.45 | 11 |
| 25 | Marie French Energy and Environment Reporter, POLITICO New York | 2.45 | 11 |
| 26 | Dimitri Gershenson Co-founder and CEO, Enduring Planet | 2.41 | 17 |
| 27 | John Belizaire CEO, Soluna | 2.4 | 5 |
| 28 | Jess Melanson President & COO, Utilidata | 2.4 | 5 |
| 29 | Miles O'Brien National Science Correspondent, PBS NewsHour | 2.4 | 10 |
| 30 | Michael Grunwald | 2.38 | 24 |
| 31 | Anne-Sophie Corbeau Global Research Scholar, Center on Global Energy Policy | 2.36 | 14 |
| 32 | Tamar Haspel Food & Science Columnist, The Washington Post | 2.33 | 12 |
| 33 | Rafi Garabedian Co-Founder and CEO, Electric Hydrogen | 2.32 | 22 |
| 34 | Gabriel Kra Co-Founder and Managing Director, Prelude Ventures | 2.29 | 24 |
| 35 | Michelle Davis Head of Global Solar, Wood Mackenzie | 2.29 | 17 |
| 36 | Brian Janous Co-Founder and CCO, Cloverleaf Infrastructure | 2.27 | 22 |
| 37 | Julio Friedman Chief Scientist, Carbon Direct | 2.27 | 11 |
| 38 | Shalini Ramanathan Director of Origination, Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners | 2.26 | 23 |
| 39 | Apoorv Bhargava | 2.25 | 12 |
| 40 | Emily Pontecorvo Founding Staff Writer, Heatmap News | 2.25 | 12 |
| 41 | Jason Bordoff Founding Director, Center on Global Energy Policy | 2.24 | 17 |
| 42 | Susan Su Partner, Toba Capital | 2.22 | 18 |
| 43 | Jake Jurowicz | 2.2 | 15 |
| 44 | Shreya Dave Co-founder & CEO, Via Separations | 2.2 | 10 |
| 45 | Anna Orthofer Partner, McKinsey & Company | 2.2 | 10 |
| 46 | Carlos Nouel Managing Director, Technology Consulting, EY | 2.2 | 5 |
| 47 | Pierre Noel Senior Advisor, Tony Blair Institute | 2.2 | 5 |
| 48 | Ahmad Farooqi | 2.18 | 11 |
| 49 | Lisa Martine Jenkins Editor, Latitude Media | 2.18 | 17 |
| 50 | Savvy Bowman Program Director, ClearPath | 2.18 | 11 |
| 51 | David Roberts Host and Creator, Volts | 2.17 | 6 |
| 52 | Gabrielle Coppola Auto Industry Reporter, Bloomberg News | 2.17 | 6 |
| 53 | Nate Adams Co-Founder, HVAC 2.0 | 2.17 | 6 |
| 54 | Mario Fernandez Former Head, Breakthrough Energy Catalyst | 2.14 | 14 |
| 55 | Jesse Morris CEO & Co-Founder, Energy Web Foundation | 2.14 | 7 |
| 56 | Nicole Pollack Reporter, Wisconsin State Journal | 2.12 | 8 |
| 57 | Mary Nichols Distinguished Counsel, Emmett Institute at UCLA Law | 2.11 | 9 |
| 58 | Nina Farah Legal Reporter, E&E News | 2.11 | 9 |
| 59 | Michelle Solomon Manager, Electricity Program, Energy Innovation | 2.1 | 10 |
| 60 | Michael Boyle Senior Director of Policy and Strategy, Energy Innovation | 2.1 | 20 |
| 61 | Ben Storrow Energy Reporter, E&E News | 2.1 | 10 |
| 62 | Zach Jones Co-founder and CEO, Graphitic Energy | 2.07 | 15 |
| 63 | Alexandria Herr Independent Journalist & Audio Producer | 2.06 | 17 |
| 64 | Damien Beauchamp President and CEO, 8 Rivers Capital | 2 | 6 |
| 65 | Shayle Kann Managing Partner, Energy Impact Partners | 2 | 12 |
| 66 | Steve Cotton President & CEO, Aqua Metals | 2 | 13 |
| 67 | Adi Basham Head of Europe Research, BloombergNEF | 2 | 21 |
| 68 | Priya Donti Assistant Professor, MIT | 2 | 8 |
| 69 | Julia Atwood Research Director, Sightline Climate | 2 | 6 |
| 70 | Melody Edwards Reporter & Podcast Host, Wyoming Public Media | 2 | 5 |
| 71 | Saloni Multani Partner, Galvanize Climate Solutions | 2 | 8 |
| 72 | Katherine Hamilton Co-Founder and Chair, 38 North Solutions | 1.97 | 65 |
| 73 | Mike Laufer Co-Founder and CEO, Kairos Power | 1.94 | 17 |
| 74 | Layla Madrone EVP, New Founder Pathways, Activate | 1.94 | 18 |
| 75 | Titian Palazzi | 1.93 | 14 |
| 76 | Jeff St. John Chief Reporter, Canary Media | 1.91 | 23 |
| 77 | David Ferris Reporter, POLITICO's E&E News | 1.91 | 11 |
| 78 | Mark Gurman Chief Correspondent, Bloomberg News | 1.9 | 20 |
| 79 | Andrew Friedman Senior Reporter, Weather & Climate, CNN | 1.9 | 10 |
| 80 | Christian Shepard Fellow, GovAI | 1.9 | 10 |
| 81 | Liz Dennett Founder and CEO, Endolith | 1.88 | 24 |
| 82 | Hannah Green Global GTM Strategy Leader, Microsoft | 1.88 | 8 |
| 83 | Dr. Bill Merrill Regents Professor Emeritus, Texas A&M University | 1.88 | 8 |
| 84 | Saritha Paruri VP of Commercialization, Tandem PV | 1.86 | 22 |
| 85 | Rachel Halfacre Director, Milken Institute | 1.86 | 7 |
| 86 | Deborah Gordon Senior Principal, RMI | 1.86 | 7 |
| 87 | John O'Donnell Founder & Chief Innovation Officer, Rondo Energy | 1.83 | 36 |
| 88 | Scott Engstrom Co-founder & Chief Customer Officer, GridX | 1.83 | 6 |
| 89 | Rachel Kibbe Founder & CEO, Circular Services Group | 1.83 | 6 |
| 90 | Alex Harris Lead Climate Change Reporter, Miami Herald | 1.83 | 6 |
| 91 | Greg Mulholland Co-Founder and CEO, Citrine Informatics | 1.82 | 11 |
| 92 | Mateo Jaramillo Co-founder and CEO, Form Energy | 1.8 | 30 |
| 93 | Chris Taylor CEO & Founder, GridStor | 1.8 | 10 |
| 94 | Jen Downing Operating Partner, Ara Partners | 1.76 | 17 |
| 95 | Mike Phillips | 1.75 | 12 |
| 96 | Dr. Melissa Lott Partner for Energy Technologies, Microsoft | 1.74 | 19 |
| 97 | Dacia Leone Co-Founder and CEO, Supercool Earth | 1.73 | 26 |
| 98 | Amanda Lee Co-Founder & COO, Banyan Infrastructure | 1.71 | 14 |
| 99 | Erin Sikorsky | 1.71 | 14 |
| 100 | Grant Canary Founder and CEO, Mast Reforestation | 1.71 | 17 |
| 101 | Cindy Taff CEO & Co-Founder, Sage Geosystems | 1.69 | 13 |
| 102 | Rick Needham Chief Commercial Officer, Commonwealth Fusion Systems | 1.69 | 26 |
| 103 | Karthik Rao | 1.69 | 13 |
| 104 | Greg Patterson CEO & Co-founder, Origami Solar | 1.67 | 9 |
| 105 | Annette Clayton | 1.67 | 9 |
| 106 | Will Hazlip President, National Grid Ventures US | 1.67 | 9 |
| 107 | Sam White Co-founder & Director, Promethean Power Systems | 1.65 | 17 |
| 108 | Doug Chan | 1.64 | 14 |
| 109 | John Woolard CEO, Meridian Clean Energy | 1.62 | 16 |
| 110 | Christina Binkley Co-Host, Hot Buttons | 1.62 | 8 |
| 111 | Phil Goodman Director of Carbon Removal Portfolio, Microsoft | 1.61 | 18 |
| 112 | Marty Adams Former GM & Chief Engineer, LADWP | 1.6 | 20 |
| 113 | Raphael Brose Principal, Engineered Carbon Removals, Microsoft | 1.6 | 5 |
| 114 | Dr. Diana Hernandez Associate Professor, Columbia University Mailman School | 1.6 | 5 |
| 115 | Pat Risner | 1.58 | 12 |
| 116 | Eric Klinenberg Professor of Sociology, NYU | 1.57 | 7 |
| 117 | Steve Oldham Chief Executive Officer, Captura | 1.56 | 18 |
| 118 | Tadeu Carneiro Chairman and CEO, Boston Metal | 1.56 | 16 |
| 119 | Drew Baglino Founder & CEO, Heron Power | 1.5 | 16 |
| 120 | David Groarke Managing Director, Indigo Advisory Group | 1.5 | 6 |
| 121 | Yayoi Sekine Head of Energy Storage, BloombergNEF | 1.5 | 12 |
| 122 | Elizabeth Cook VP of Technical Strategy, AEIC | 1.5 | 6 |
| 123 | Bettina Baumgarten | 1.5 | 6 |
| 124 | Nico Pinkowski CEO and Co-Founder, Nitricity | 1.48 | 21 |
| 125 | Maria Gallucci Senior Reporter, Canary Media | 1.48 | 52 |
| 126 | Julian Spector Senior Reporter, Canary Media | 1.46 | 48 |
| 127 | Dan Shugar Founder & CEO, Nextpower | 1.45 | 11 |
| 128 | Sarah Jewett COO, Fervo Energy | 1.42 | 26 |
| 129 | Yesh Pavlik Slenk Senior Director, Environmental Defense Fund | 1.3 | 10 |
| 130 | Neha Palmer CEO and Co-Founder, TeraWatt Infrastructure | 1.25 | 8 |
| 131 | Dr. Sue Natale Senior Scientist, Woodwell Climate Research Center | 1.22 | 9 |
| 132 | Paul Lau CEO & General Manager, SMUD | 1.17 | 6 |
Companies
The most bearish calls
Debate potential is an AI score of how much a statement invites disagreement. Bearish counts tally what was said about a company on the show; they describe the conversation, not the company. Every count opens to the exact tape. full disclaimer →
All 134 companies, funds and products with at least one bearish claim on the record.
Highest debate potential, by year
2026
Jurowicz: Gen-IV reactors solve problems the industry does not currently face
“The things, the problems that Gen-Fur reactors solve are not the problems we're faced right now, we're facing right now. We just need a lot of low-cost, affordable nuclear power. We don't have to reinvent the wheel.”
Gershenson: Climate VCs often give under-informed board advice with unearned certainty
“The challenge that I have with that group of investors is that oftentimes the advice that they give to founders, or the guidance that they give to founders while they're on their boards, is often not as informed as it should be, but is given as very definitive…”
2025
Garabedian: Siemens, ThyssenKrupp, and Cummins margin models will fail in hydrogen
“If you look at the incumbent electrolyzer producers they're the big industrials. I'm talking about companies like Siemens and ThyssenKrupp Cummins, who are not in the business of mercilessly driving cost out of their products, right? They're heavy industrial s…”
Garabedian: Nel and Plug Power lack the technical innovation to cut costs
“Then there are kind of some pure plays, companies like Nell, like Plug Power's not quite a pure play, but you could put them in that category. And these are folks who Haven't shown the desire maybe, or the ability to be highly innovative technically to drive c…”
2024
Elon Musk scrapped Tesla's Model 2 on the spot for the robotaxi
“When he saw the robotaxi, he was so bowled over by whatever it was he saw in it, right, that he remarked to his to his team, wow, you know, this looks great. Let's just do this. He scrapped the Model Two on the spot, and he said, let's do the robotaxi. We're d…”
Sussman warns refining industry may lock into blue hydrogen permanently
“It's really scary to me to think that the whole refining industry, which is one of the two largest users of gray hydrogen today, and is a prime candidate for switching to green, could go permanently in the direction of blue now, Sussman said.”
2023
Niedermeyer: Tesla's self-driving pitch works by matching consumer mental models
“And the reason Tesla's been successful at that is not because it's technically plausible at all. It's because it fits exactly what's in the mental model of the American consumer when they hear the word self-driving cars. And Tesla's the only company that's sel…”
2022
Brophy: Fossil fuel assets are the new subprime mortgages
“The fact that fossil fuel assets are basically the new subprime mortgages. It's existential for them because some of these disclosures could expose that.”
Utility union president directed extreme misogynistic slurs at female city council members
“At a city council meeting, after it was clear that things were not going to go in their direction, the president of the union himself said, I'm not resting till that fucking red flower, Corella de Vil cunt, and all those other fucking bitches are voted off tha…”
2021
Rathi: US and China originated the COP26 'phase down' coal language
“And that two or three page document that Came on Wednesday was what then set the tone for the deal to happen on the Saturday, and in that deal is where we had the language around phase down of coal, and that's the language that eventually made it into the fina…”