National Press Club… Washington DC… December 2025… Hosted by Kevin Cirilli, founder, mtf.tv’s meet the future (mtf) | Host, iHeartMedia’s HELLO FUTURE with Kevin Cirilli…. mtf convened its latest signature Power Breakfast with:
Dan Brouillette, former U.S. Secretary of Energy
Tala Goudarzi, former Acting Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy & Carbon Management, DOE
PACKED HOUSE —> current and former DOE officials, DARPA officials, national security leaders, senior executives from America’s biggest energy companies, technologists, researchers, and reporters from Reuters, NPR, the Washington Examiner, and more.
MEET THE FUTURE → We are in a full-on global race to build the energy backbone of the next economy — and China is not jogging. China is sprinting.
MTF’S TOP 6 TAKEAWAYS:
1. China isn’t hiding the game plan. We just aren’t keeping up.
Brouillette: “We’re in a race — and China knows it.” China is building:
industrial power hubs in the time it takes the U.S. to hold a scoping meeting
nuclear reactors every ~5 years (U.S. timeline: 20+ years)
transmission lines at national-strategy speed
WHY YOU CARE: Whoever builds energy fastest owns AI, robotics, data centers, and advanced manufacturing. Beijing is operating like it already knows that — because it does.
2. Data centers are the new foundries — and our grid isn’t ready.
America is one heatwave or cold snap away from brownouts while electricity demand is going vertical. Data centers are now: the foundation of the modern economy… the heartbeat of AI and national defense… giant power drains that our current grid cannot support. We are simultaneously underbuilding and overconsuming.
3. Permitting is now a national-security vulnerability.
A line that froze the room: Brouillette: “It takes 7–10 years to permit a single transmission line in America.” For perspective: That is longer than it took the U.S. to win World War II. China laughs at this timeline. Investors do too.
WHY YOU CARE —> If America cannot build faster, we cannot defend faster — or innovate faster.
Tala Goudarzi
4. LNG is America’s diplomatic cheat code — if Washington doesn’t smother it.
Tala Goudarzi: “Companies are making record FIDs because, for once, they think Washington won’t pull the rug at the 99-yard line.” Highlights: 33 LNG tankers left the Gulf Coast in two weeks this October — nearly all to U.S. allies… LNG has already kept Europe’s lights on when it broke from Russian gas… Europe says it will end all Russian LNG imports by 2027 (we’ll see — but the phone call goes to the U.S. either way)… LNG is not a commodity story. It’s a geopolitical weapon.
5. Critical minerals = the new oil war, and we’re late to the battlefield.
Goudarzi: “China controls the board and can move prices whenever it wants. We’ve seen this movie with chips — we can’t rerun it.” Reality check: China dominates mining, processing, and pricing… The U.S. is trying to stand up dozens of small critical-minerals companies… What those firms need isn’t another ribbon-cutting — it’s decades of patient capital… Every AI server, every EV battery, every grid upgrade depends on winning this fight. Right now, we’re playing catch-up with our shoes untied.
Former Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette with mtf.tv’s meet the founder founder Kevin N. Cirilli speaking at the National Press Club.
6. The fusion horizon
When asked what America looks like at its 500th birthday: Brouillette: “Fusion. We bring the sun to Earth. Every argument we’re having today becomes irrelevant.” It’s the most optimistic vision of the future — but getting there requires winning the next 20 years, not the next 200.
BOTTOM LINE (THE ONE TO FORWARD TO YOUR BOSS)
America has the talent, capital, and natural resources to dominate the next industrial revolution. What we don’t have: time, a permitting system that moves faster than a glacier, or a margin for error in a world where China is already building the future at scale. The race is on. China isn’t waiting for our comment period to close.
hello, future. it’s me, kev.
…and that’s your special report from the frontlines of America’s energy battle for the future of artificial intelligence. My name is Kevin Cirilli —> LinkedIn. iHeart | iTunes | Spotify | Amazon | Pandora. Sign-up to receive the future in your inbox here.
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ABOUT mtf.tv’s meet the future: mtf.tv’s meet the future is a cutting-edge platform focused on addressing key challenges at the intersection of national security, technology, and business. With a mission to embrace freedom to meet the future’s challenges and opportunities, mtf.tv offers forward-thinking media offerings and forums. mtf.tv produces the daily HELLO FUTURE show on iHeart Media’s Premiere Network, which reaches 9 in 10 Americans. iHeart | iTunes | Spotify | Amazon | Pandora
mtf.tv’s meet the future founder Kevin Cirilli.
