New @volts.wtf episode with our Senior Fellow @betonyjones.bsky.social unpacking the Biden administration’s clean energy rollout. Betony points to permitting and implementation capacity—not community or labor standards, as some suggest—as the main bottlenecks that prevented greater success. 🎧⬇️

We cover a lot of ground— check it out www.volts.wtf/p/a-limited-...

Universal free college would be $28 billion per year. The ICE budget increase this year is $30 billion.

May 2026 be the year of Bread and Roses

In my personal experience, solar firms bid what they think you can tolerate in terms of ROI. With generous NEM policy and high rates, solar projects are expensive. The pricing is totally decoupled from the actual cost of installation. 1 of 2

Thank you @boeckler-stiftung.bsky.social for hosting an amazing conference, setting up so many enriching meetings, and asking important and thought provoking questions.

NEW from @betonyjones.bsky.social @rooseveltinstitute.org: Tying Labor Standards to Clean Energy Incentives: How Biden’s Department of Energy Tackled Climate Industrial Policy. Betony shows how DOE reorganized to center workers in the energy transition. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

How can the federal government bring industries in line with its climate goals? Using the Department of Energy as a case study, @betonyjones.bsky.social recounts the wins, losses, and lessons learned from climate industrial policy in the Biden era. rooseveltinstitute.org/public...

🍝 Last week, our Science & Tech Policy Fellows joined @betonyjones.bsky.social, former Labor Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy, for dinner at Roma Antica. 💼 Betony drew on decades of experience to share insight on making the clean energy transition work for workers.

We're lucky to have @betonyjones.bsky.social at @dataforprogress.org. In a new piece, she outlines how we can continue to help communities shape & benefit from Biden-era federal investments & ensure we're ready for our next chance at federal climate action: www.dataforprogress.org/insights/202...

Great piece by @evanhalper.bsky.social and @shannonosaka.bsky.social exploring the multi-year struggle to ensure Hyundai and other clean energy investors follow high-road labor practices. W/ comments from @betonyjones.bsky.social of @rooseveltinstitute.org. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Trump’s ICE raid at the Hyundai/LG plant isn’t protecting American jobs — it’s propaganda. >>

When asked which approach they want to see the Democratic Party take, Democratic voters overwhelmingly favor: - Fighting for the working class - Taking on corporate interests - Taking on corruption in D.C. - Lowering prices - Emphasizing a bold, progressive agenda

Seeing lots of innovative social leadership on climate- very uplifting to see what’s possible when people activate: news.bloomberglaw.com/employee-ben...

Chicago Teachers Secure Deal for Greener, Healthier Schools truthout.org/articles/chi...

While I am as alarmed about my 401k as the next guy, I agree that the S&P500 is a poor indicator of the health of our economy or the economic well being of a lot of working Americans. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/o...

Democratic failures result from creeping authoritarianism. The elected ruler gradually eviscerates political pluralism and institutional checks and balances until the irreducible minimum condition for democracy—the ability of the people to replace their leaders in free and fair elections—is gone

"Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked." -Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny

I just read that Bill Gates estimated he’s paid $14B over the years, but could have/should have/would have paid $40B. All of us in the 99% should unite around tax reform.

@rutgerbregman.com Bregman’s book Humankind changed my worldview in profound ways. I read it at the beginning of the pandemic and return to his thesis when things get particularly dark. Now he’s calling for tax fairness— a foundational solution that philanthropy won’t fund. gofund.me/a0943d91. Join

Tragic as it is for his family, the slaying of United Healthcare’s CEO provides a spotlight for a massive concentration of personal stories of health insurance claim denials— equally tragic in the harm, suffering, and deaths they have caused. The system is not working->

In the Biden Administration we were focused daily on building back the economy from the bottom up and the middle out. Trickle down economics is a euphemism for a top-up economics.

The U.S. is still way behind Germany in apprentices per capita, but this growth is real. There are ever expanding education and training pathways to a good career that won’t put you in debt.

Members of labor unions broke for Harris with huge margins— 17pts— but the rest of the working class migrated further toward Trump. We fought our tails off for working people, but only organized labor had the ground game to deliver the message. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...

Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in. —Leonard Cohen, Anthem