Great WaPo article on the **10,000** huge diesel generators at Virginia's data centers permitted to emit 13,000 tons of NOx. The article is based on data crunched here at Sierra Club (1/9) @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Wow if only there was some kind of federal agency that could fund scientific research on pharmaceuticals and other aspects of health www.nytimes.com/2026/05/30/b...

It’s bizarre being a policy-oriented researcher in an environment where evidence and public opinion are basically irrelevant to what happens. We’re not informing policy any more, friends; we have to make politics.

hi bluesky scientists can you point me to literature comparing observed local temp and precip extremes to climate modeled?

What strategies have been effective at recognizing flexibility in datacenter load, and translating that into equitably distributed benefits/savings for those customers, utilities, and the other customers? Essentially, how are the ideas from the paper by Tyler Norris et al being applied?

Still remember the crushing moment as a young researcher when I realised that proving something through evidence had damn near no impact on social policy unless it was politically useful to believe it.

www.nature.com/articles/d41... Isn't there a movie series and a book about this, and how it goes poorly?

Climate scientists do this too, “erring on the side of least drama.” Ironically, overly cautious statements by scientists reduce people’s trust in the scientists, which is exactly what the scientists are attempting to avoid. Rx: Say it plainly. @naomioreskes.bsky.social @mason4c.bsky.social

A certain slice of energy punditry makes a big deal about how wind and solar are variable and uncertain because they depend on the weather. Fossil-fueled electricity is variable and uncertain because it depends on the thrashings of rogue petrostates such as the US. At least weather is predictable.

If @massgovernor.bsky.social were serious about climate instead of shilling for big gas & taking utility $$$, we’d be moving 100x faster on solar.

Hello friends, I'm looking to talk with an expert in the health impacts of energy technologies. Someone with expertise in spatially-resolved estimation of disease and mortality impacts, mainly from burning fossil fuels, but also from clean(er) energy supply chains. Would love suggestions.

What could possibly go wrong? #publichealthsky #medsky online.ucpress.edu/elementa/art...

5 million US households in the Northeast and Midwest heat space or water with heating oil. Trump's Iran war has driven heating oil prices through the roof. States should help these households switch to electric heat pumps and heat-pump water heaters before heating season - and the midterms.

www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/is-t... Another article reporting our results – right now, just deploying renewable energy is more cost effective at reducing CO2 than DAC. "fix your broken faucet before you start mopping the floor"

Gas Station Price Sign Using Scientific Notation

Ok and tbf in an attempt at brutal honesty I actually like being right, but about things like "my bunny is cute" and "it's a really nice day today" rather than "wow, things are really on the edge of becoming extremely shitty very fast even though we could easily avoid this"

You say "operational minimum," I say "minimum viable scale," but the point is: 1) I hate being right 2) the point that a smooth, linear transition away from fossil fuels isn't possible is well known by the industry folks and analysts

If we did, my piece about looking at CO₂ removal as a time machine, with direct air capture (DAC) as an example, would have been called “DAC To The Future”.

Sometimes I think about how much amazing creative stuff people would make for each other if we didn't have to worry about losing health care, getting evicted, or missing meals after leaving a crappy job. How much more we could learn from each other. How much more fun we could have together.

This article about @anginedepoitrine.bsky.social makes the case for universal basic income as a way to increase creative output of society. Makes sense to me.

A lot of people saying only spreads via "close contact", but the investigation of a prior outbreak shows otherwise: "did not have any physical contact and simply said “hello” to each other as they crossed paths" "No direct or close contact between the two patients was reported."

Italy: 50% fossil fuels (mostly gas), 50% low carbon sources Spain: 20% fossil fuels, 80% low carbon sources Wholesale Spot Price for electricity: Italy €145 /MWh Spain €64.34 /MWh It’s no longer a trade off between cheap and green. GREEN IS CHEAPER

New study finds renewables are a cheaper climate solution than #DAC. @jjbuonocore.bsky.social tells @gizmodo.com: "We found that $100 million will reduce much more CO2 if this was invested in wind or solar, especially in coal-heavy grids in the U.S., than if it was invested in direct air capture."

*assuming energy used for DAC is not adding to the problem* We don’t need to assume. The evidence says it does. Lots of people in these replies with their strong opinions who didn’t read @jjbuonocore.bsky.social new paper closely and seem unfamiliar with @mzjacobson.bsky.social earlier work.

New study shows this "one weird trick" is the cheapest way to lower carbon in the atmosphere. It's not what you think! www.euronews.com/2026/05/04/t...

Guys in my replies below: there’s a good faith argument to be had re: efficiencies of decarbonization pathways, orders of operations, and greenwashing. I study all this from an ecology POV. But a lot of you seem to really need there to be a role for carbon capture no matter what the data show. Why?

🧪 FIRST STUDY to compare direct air capture of CO2 vs renewables: “An amount of money spent deploying wind or solar delivers more combined climate and public health benefit than if it is spent on DAC.” Releasing CO2 into air and then trying to suck it up is dumb. techxplore.com/news/2026-05...

A new study co-authored by Willis, @jjbuonocore.bsky.social, @sovacool.bsky.social, and colleagues reveals that the declining coal industry has mixed effects on human health. @busph.bsky.social

“Being employed is good for your health, but environmental pollution is bad for your health, and these two things are operating at the same time in some communities,” @marydwillis.bsky.social tells @eos.org's @gvd.bsky.social on shifting life expectancies as coal dwindles.

DAC has substantial health and climate opportunity costs 💡If we want the biggest #climate and #health impact per dollar, scaling renewable electricity remains the far more effective path. @jjbuonocore.bsky.social @marydwillis.bsky.social @bostonu.bsky.social @busph.bsky.social @bu-igs.bsky.social

Preventing 1 tonne of CO2 from getting in the air with RE has the same effect as taking 1 tonne of CO2 out of the air, but using RE also eliminates air pollution, fossil mining & infrastructure and costs less. Thus, DAC increases CO2, air pollution, pipes & mining vs spending the same on RE.

Yet another paper finding that Direct Air Capture is an opportunity cost that increases air pollution and climate damage relative to spending the same money on clean, renewable energy. www.nature.com/articles/s44... Other papers web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/j... web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/j...

Good news for our wallets and our lungs! 🔋🌬️ A new study confirms that wind and solar are far better investments for the climate than experimental carbon capture. We already have the tools we need to protect our kids. Let’s use them! #CleanEnergy #ClimateHope www.miragenews.com/renewable-en...

We have a new study out, with Yannai Kashtan at PSE Healthy Energy, @marydwillis.bsky.social, and a bunch of people not on here. In this paper we looked at how cost effective direct air capture is at reducing carbon in the atmosphere compared to deploying renewables www.nature.com/articles/s44...

I was on a flight and I watched an interesting documentary about the Straight of Hormuz

"They are driven by vested interests and political power and the incentive structures they create through money, ownership, regulation, class and ideological networks, and governmental policies."

You have to really emphasize this because the kind of people who become scientists & academics are also the kind of people prone to self-criticism & self-loathing & their first reaction will inevitably be, "oh no we did something wron, we're awful, we talked bad, we used the wrong words," etc.

Especially this: "... attacks on science or scientists are rarely driven organically; nor are they caused by confusion, error or poor science communication. ..."

The transition to clean energy brings myriad environmental and health benefits. But what does it mean for communities in coal country? eos.org/articles/as-...

“There’s really nobody anymore that will be looking out, with a comprehensive, independent perspective, at the quality of our environment and the quality of our health.” —Dr. Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, who led the EPA research office under first Trump administration www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/c...

Biden's EPA was going to eventually require gas plants to use carbon capture & sequestration. No more. They can pollute freely forever, says EPA.

Excellent haul from indie bookstore weekend, featuring @drkatemarvel.bsky.social and @doctorvive.bsky.social. I’m really curious about this Heavy Metal one…

You can't XC ski on mud. You can't separate physical and mental health from the natural world. Jeff C. from Rochester knows #WhyClimate — do you? Tell us yours this in the comments or DM's #EarthMonth. 💚

The great thing about @volts.wtf in this interview with @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social is that you go in expecting to hear about oil prices, federal shenanigans, etc, but you get the juxtaposition of pastoralists vs promethians which I haven’t thought about since my env philosophy class 20 years ago

By @sovacool.bsky.social @marydwillis.bsky.social @jjbuonocore.bsky.social & colleagues

Still full of dread about what this company is actually planning. Best case scenario is that it's being massively oversold and inflated. So many risky and problematic arguments being made to create permission space for geoengineering deployment at the moment www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...

I think there's an untold story here that an intrepid journalist could investigate: When a big tech company builds a data center with on-site natural gas turbines, who pays for the pipelines the utility lays or expands to bring gas to the turbines? My guess: All gas ratepayers, not the tech company.

Fantastic commentary on manufacturing the need for more evidence to develop policies. www.thelancet.com/action/showP... 🛟