Into the Valley of Death rode the dunderheads...

Cost of extending ACA subsidies: $30B/year Cost of Trump's Iran War: $29B and counting It's not a question of what we can afford. It's a question of priorities.

At this point it would be appropriate for Congress to enact a lex damnatio which invalidates all official acts taken by Todd Blanche in his purported capacity as Deputy or Acting Attorney General

I've worked for three presidents, including one Republican. No previous administration was this awash in corruption and conflicts of interest.

Trump orders end to all audits of his taxes... because he can. DOJ expands settlement in Trump-IRS leak suit to cover audits of all tax returns filed by Trump, family members, companies and trusts. Waiver of IRS' claims contained in addendum signed by Blanche that was not in agreement released Mon

Don’t Overlook This Surprising Climate Victory. A critical mass of the world economy is now working together to phase out fossil fuels. In Santa Marta Colombia, history was made. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Meta just paid its lowest ever effective tax rate, avoiding $13.7B in 2025 federal income taxes thanks to tax breaks and loopholes. But starting this week, Meta will begin laying off 10% of its workforce. More than 8,000 people will lose jobs as it ramps up AI investment. Trickle down hoax.

We cannot allow corruption to be normalized. We'll lose our country if we do. We NEED to stand up — we HAVE to be as ruthless. For things to change, WE NEED TO CHANGE.

If you love hot and humid weather, you’ll love Hochul gutting NY’s climate law. State legislators should VOTE NO on the sleazy budget deal! Call ‘em and tell them that, NYers.

If Democrats had the political instincts and media machine Republicans do, in 48 hours 95% of Americans would know Andrew Paul Johnson's name and be LIVID that the government is getting ready to give him some of your tax money

Check out this webinar I'm co-organizing with @europe-calling.bsky.social europe-calling.de/en/webinar/e... @tadziomueller.bsky.social @betterbayou.bsky.social @justinmikulka.bsky.social @umwelthilfe.bsky.social @parentsforfuture.de @oilfieldwitness.bsky.social @caneurope.org @oilchange.org

The world’s largest sand battery got through Finland’s harshest winter in years. 2,000 tonnes of sand, heated to 500-600°C by cheap power, feeding district heating in Pornainen. And it worked. Result from one install: oil down 100%, emissions down 70%. Industrial process heat is the real prize.

Here’s the bottom line. Donald Trump wants to take $1.8 billion dollars of money that taxpayers like you and me have paid to the government, and he wants to give it to his most hardcore followers. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

I say without hyperbole that this is the most brazenly corrupt action in US Presidential history. That it does not immediately lead to impeachment is a dangerous sign of how far the rule of law has declined.

every single person who touches this needs to go to jail.

There may be hope for humanity yet.

A supermajority of the American people loathe Citizens United. The idea that states can use their corporate-creating powers to curtail the corporate domination of politics is something new. buff.ly/XZSY4cZ

Experts @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social and Jasper Verschuur on ways to make food systems more resilient to shocks: 1️⃣Transition to green ammonia 2️⃣Stockpile food for periods of uncertainty & disruption 3️⃣Grow more plants – less animal farming 4️⃣Electrify transport – ditch biofuels

Sometimes, a scandal is so big you have to pick off one piece of it. So in the case of Trump's insane stock trading, pick this: He did 6 trades of Intel stock. That company now counts the US government as a $9 billion stakeholder, thanks to Trump's intervention. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump has weakened America's international leadership, which is an imbalance in foreign relations.

FYI

I find it very strange that we unequivocally equate "nonviolent" with "less harmful." Attempting to overthrow the democratically elected government is a hell of a lot more harmful than many--perhaps nearly all--violent crimes, and should be punished accordingly.

The right is so intellectually bankrupt now they're recycling decades-old lies, on climate (and pretty much everything else):

A revolution is brewing.

The future of drought isn’t just less rain. Climate change can make land drier even if rainfall doesn’t decrease. Why? Rain is falling in fewer, heavier bursts - causing more runoff + evaporation, and less water stored in soil. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

And how much of this problem just goes away if they stop growing alfalfa and other incredibly low-value cattle fodder with Colorado River water? More than all of deficit. 46% of all withdrawals. 75% of all ag use. 3x more than all the urban water use combined. www.latimes.com/environment/...

This is the reality we must face head-on: "Climate risk is increasingly expressed through weather and weather risk is rapidly translating into economic risk. [It] is no longer isolated or local. It is now a systemic and global threat that we must face together." Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General WMO

The corruption is breathtaking & no one will raise a finger to stop it.

"Heat pumps just shift gas burning to the power station." Wrong. Even if 100% of electricity came from gas, a heat pump at SCOP 3.8 uses 51% less gas than a boiler. At a terrible SCOP 2.5, still 25% less. David MacKay made this point in 2008. The maths hasn't changed.

One cool thing about heat pumps: The heat they provide is at least ~2/3 renewable, regardless of the electricity source. (Note the circular flow between the indoors and outdoors.) If the power source is renewable, then the system operation is 100% renewable, although manufacturing generally is not.

Nuclear is already too late and too costly for the climate and energy crises. Every pound invested in nuclear is a pound not invested in renewables, energy efficiency, storage and grid resilience - investments that would provide a much bigger pay-off. bennettinstitutesussex.org/stories/nucl...

I suppose if I took a bunch of fossil fuel money, I'd rather nobody talked about climate or air pollution. Then I'd never need to stick my neck out. I'd likely be fine with talk about affordability, since even though fossil options are more expensive in many settings, they're vibe-coded as cheap.

She knows nothing, about either climate or economics. She’s using a paradigm from the 1990s. @governor.ny.gov is simply old and out of touch, which makes her dangerous in today’s world!

This paper addresses the question why some tech learns fast and other tech doesn't. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... ht. @dekkerdekker.bsky.social

Basically the lesson is the same in all cases: humans (experts included) underestimate to what extend learning changes what will happen in the future. That leads to the overestimation of fossil fuel and nuclear and the underestimation of PV, batteries, grid-forming inverters, batteries, etc.

Interesting new paper documents clearly how the IAEA has been overestimating the growth of nuclear time and time again. It's the inverse of what I've documented for solar and batteries. doi.org/10.1016/j.er...

This would constitute one of the most brazen, most appalling acts of corruption in U.S. history. I know we’re numb to all of this but this is a seven-alarm fire. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/b...

This dependency is completely nuts @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu @wopkehoekstra.ec.europa.eu @teresaribera.ec.europa.eu @president.europarl.europa.eu @eucopresident.consilium.europa.eu @bernd-lange.bsky.social! ieefa.org/articles/eur... @parentsforfuture.de @tadziomueller.bsky.social

She says “Only a few years ago, AI was not a factor in our lives,” and the crowd cheers wildly 😂 The kids are alright, people… the kids are alright. www.nbcnews.com/video/shorts...

“The issue that’s going to resonate with voters is affordability, and it just turns out that at this point in the energy transition, doing the right thing is cheaper.”

“At a moment when few politicians are speaking out about #ClimareChange, Tom Steyer has thrust the issue to the center of the California governor’s race. Steyer’s focus on climate … has placed him among the top Democratic candidates in most polls.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/c...

I don’t think people are responding negatively to AI, per se, as tool, but to the arrogance and selfishness of so many who are pushing AI down our throats.

Let’s remember: (1) the fossil fuel industry is desperate to pollute for free; if they can’t pollute for free, their business model collapses. 🧵

We have more polling to prove that AI data centers are unpopular with just 👏 about 👏 EVERYONE 👏 Let’s come together and unite against Big Tech’s efforts to squeeze our communities dry – because we can’t allow a few companies to profit at the expense of our society and future!

I'm off to Montreal tomorrow for the ASLO/SIL meeting. Look me up if you're there. I'm lead on one poster & co-author on 2 others on Thursday: a model of HABs in the Finger Lakes, paleo data on toxic blooms in the Finger Lakes, & changes in N and P across the landscape of the US in recent decades.

this graduation speech moment is notable, and her amazed shock at having failed to read the room feels instructive. when you're inside the bubble, you think everybody else is. but everybody isn't.

They’re used to false facts. How about Citizens United’s “no need to worry about corruption, all the political money we just released is going to be transparent: you’ll know who the donors are”?