America’s Energy Wake-Up Call: Why Voters Demand Data Security & Power Dominance

In this episode of Energy Newsbeat – Conversations in Energy, host Stu Turley sits down with Sarah E. Hunt, President of the Rainey Center, to break down groundbreaking new polling that reveals overwhelming bipartisan support for American energy dominance, secure domestic data centers, and rapid permitting reform. Sarah explains how voters overwhelmingly link energy independence to national security, the growing AI arms race with China, and the urgent need to build every possible electron—nuclear, natural gas, solar, wind—to safeguard America’s technological future. From China’s 10x energy build-out to AI-driven permitting solutions, this conversation delivers sharp insights, alarming realities, and a clear call to action for policymakers across the U.S. Highlights of the Podcast 00:00 - Intro 00:33 – Why Energy Dominance = National Security 01:04 – The Shocking Truth About U.S. Data Stored in China 02:27 – Voters See a Tech Arms Race With China 03:23 – China’s 10x Energy Build-Out Advantage 03:58 – Nuclear Power, Permitting, & Speeding Up Builds 05:42 – Using AI to Fix Permitting Bottlenecks 06:08 – The “Three Horsemen” of Energy Dominance 07:02 – Voters Overwhelmingly Support Cutting Red Tape 08:03 – Grid Vulnerabilities & Chinese-Linked Equipment 09:02 – Electricity as a Weapon of War 10:12 – Bipartisan Consensus on Energy Independence 10:40 – How the Rainey Center Started 11:22 – Supporting Local, State & Federal Leaders 14:00 – State-Level Energy Action & AI Competition With China 16:41 – The Electricity War for Human Freedom 17:15 – Wind, Solar, Nuclear & Reality of Energy Costs 18:44 – Who Should Pay for Data Center Power? 20:18 – Solar Already Built But Stuck in Red Tape 21:48 – Critical Minerals, Supply Chains & Energy Security 22:13 – How to Follow & Connect With Sarah 23:59 – Closing Remarks We recommend checking out the Rainey Center for Public Policy: https://www.raineycenter.org/ Follow Sarah on her LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahelisabethhunt/ Check out https://theenergynewsbeat.substack.com/ and https://energynewsbeat.co/