"We have to build data centers in the US or they'll just build them all in places with lax regulations" is the same argument that's been used to support every nefarious or corrosive industrial development of the last century.

The summer recess + district town halls are/will continue to be dominated by local opposition to data center development, and rightfully so--how much more industrial technology with questionable and diffuse benefits can we ask rural/suburban folks to shoulder?

A few of the stellar images from Rosie Nalle in last fall's studio, "BUILDING POSTCARBON FUTURES: Truth and Reconciliation in the Canadian Energy Transition."

I'm going to wait a bit to announce more re: book tour events in the fall/winter, but "Building Postcarbon Futures" is on its way to the printer and I've never more proud of anything I've worked on than this. linktr.ee/billyfleming

One of our stellar undergrads, Lindsay Slusser, just won the Udall Scholarship--first Temple student to do so in 9 years. now.temple.edu/news/2026-05...

Maybe it's just me, but all this talk of a pro-data center agenda that's cloaked in talk of "ethical AI" and "public good" or around some tenuous connection to decarbonization is giving "clean coal" from the 2000s.

We're about a month away from the publication date for "Building Postcarbon Futures: Land, Justice, and Energy Transitions." linktr.ee/billyfleming

Abstracts are due in about a month for this! recarbonization.cargo.site

At this point, I wish we did live through the time when Biden/Dems were talking openly and excessively about climate that people on here keep talking about. Do people think he chose the terms "Build Back Better" and "Inflation Reduction Act" (h/t Manchin) to emphasize climate?

w/o getting too far into the NYT piece, why are we pretending that (1) Biden messaging centered climate, (2) that the IRA drove any real benefits to a non-trivial # of people, and (3) that all means we should stop talking about climate when we talk about the economy?

A few shots of the excellent work my students produced this spring in studio, focused on building a postcarbon philadelphia.

It's Earth Day, which means you should preorder my new book, "Building Postcarbon Futures: Land, Justice, and Energy Transitions." cup.columbia.edu/book/buildin...

NEW: I've been shocked by some of the numbers I've been seeing on behind-the-meter power plants for data centers, so I did a little math. less than a dozen gas plants being built to power data centers for big tech companies could emit a maximum of nearly 130 million tons of CO2e each year (!)

Work with me! Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Brown University invites applications for a Doherty Postdoctoral Fellowship in Ocean Sciences. This competitive postdoctoral fellowship will be awarded for a one-year period, + 2nd year possible. Please see apply.interfolio.com/183855!

I'm starting a new project with my friend, Douglas Robb, that aims to document and better understand a process we refer to as "recarbonization", or the sites and systems driving a growth in emissions and reindustrialization alongside growth in renewable energy supply. recarbonization.cargo.site

I'm starting a new project with my friend, Douglas Robb, that aims to document and better understand a process we refer to as "recarbonization", or the sites and systems driving a growth in emissions and reindustrialization alongside growth in renewable energy supply. recarbonization.cargo.site

Highly recommend building a garden with your neighbors

wrote about the most important architectural legacy of the Trump administration: the conversion of logistics warehouses into detention centers www.thenation.com/article/soci...

Well, @cplusc.bsky.social is once again doing the coolest shit on climate that you've ever seen!

🚨🚨 Today, we’re launching “Stop Greed Build Green,” a strategic framework and agenda to confront the affordability crisis and the climate crisis together by putting working people in charge of the economy and the climate transition. (1/10)

finally, mercifully, doing the last proofre and pagination for my book. A few shots of spreads for the field notes section

NEW @cplusc.bsky.social: A New Era of Manufacturing for Public Good: The Case for the CA Grid Manufacturing Initiative In CA, labor-led green industrial policy is the way out of chronic delays and skyrocketing costs for electric grid components that burden ratepayers and slow the green transition.

What a glorious day! Thanks to @johnduda.bsky.social and Meg from @redemmas.org for putting together an incredible climate conference. The book fest brought together a kick ass ecosocialist crew @alybatt.bsky.social @triofrancos.bsky.social @joobilly.bsky.social among others

Today! @joobilly.bsky.social @taoleighgoffe.bsky.social @robbieshilliam.bsky.social @triofrancos.bsky.social @nikifabs2024.bsky.social @alybatt.bsky.social @jmhattem.bsky.social @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social + local climate organizers coming through 4 a bookfest on capitalism & the climate crisis!

I'm super stoked to be speaking at this event at @redemmas.org mas.org in Baltimore on Saturday, alongside @triofrancos.bsky.social y.social @taoleighgoffe.bsky.social @joobilly.bsky.social @alybatt.bsky.social C'mon by! It's gonna be a great time redemmas.org/events/end-p...

I'm heading to Baltimore this weekend for a stellar "Climate and Capitalism" Book festival at @redemmas.org. Come hangout w/me, @triofrancos.bsky.social, @alybatt.bsky.social, @taoleighgoffe.bsky.social, @johnduda.bsky.social, @megberkobien.bsky.social on Saturday! withfriends.co/event/275648...

And wrapping things up at 6:30 will be @jmhattem.bsky.social in conversation with @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social on "Shelter from the Storm: How Climate Change Is Creating a New Era of Migration" withfriends.co/event/277679...

At 5:30, after a brief intermission, we'll have @alybatt.bsky.social on "Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature" withfriends.co/event/277677...

Then at 4pm, it's @triofrancos.bsky.social talking with @nikifabs2024.bsky.social about "Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism" withfriends.co/event/277674...

At 3pm, @taoleighgoffe.bsky.social is in conversation with @robbieshilliam.bsky.social on "Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis" withfriends.co/event/277673...

We've got an amazing one day of festival of new books on the the climate crisis coming up on Saturday, April 4th... Free talks kick off at 2pm with @joobilly.bsky.social talking about "Building Postcarbon Futures" withfriends.co/event/277747...

This is the largest oil supply shock in history in mb/d The enemy gets a vote. Iran is now delivering pain to Trump via multiple paths (1) Gulf Kings (2) Financial meltdown (3) AI tech oligarchs (4) Fuel, fertilizer, food disruptions Read our Polycrisis Dispatch: buttondown.com/polycrisisdi...

Apparently, an author wrapping up a book that is similar in theme to mine has been going through my exact list of blurbers to ask them to do endorse theirs too. Is it just me, or is this extremely corny/weird?

New neighbor in South Philly

now that I have a pub date for my book, I guess it’s time to revive this account a bit.

Coming 4/4: End Papers—our mini-book fest on the climate crisis & capitalism, w/@triofrancos.bsky.social @alybatt.bsky.social @joobilly.bsky.social @taoleighgoffe.bsky.social @jmhattem.bsky.social @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social @robbieshilliam.bsky.social + more TBA withfriends.co/event/275648...

See @joobilly.bsky.social on the coal mine-to-prison pipeline

I've never been so ashamed of my alma mater (University of Arkansas). www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/u...

cover art is juuuuust about final

A few shots from my stellar grad students final review, “Building Postcarbon Futures”, focused on a pair of First Nation owned renewable energy systems in the sub-arctic region of Canada.

Friends in Ottawa: I'm heading to Carleton in March for the Canadian launch of my next book, "Building Postcarbon Futures." I'll have another 20 or so of these to share in 2026 a bit later this year. In the interim, I hope to see some of y'all in Ottawa! architecture.carleton.ca/event/forum-...

Some new spreads as the book heads into final proofing

I don't know how much stock to put in these projections, which are giving a lot of weight to a nominal decrease in the rate of carbon emissions growth (the actual emissions in 2024 were still higher than in 2023). I say this for a couple of reasons:

Not that he didn’t already know, but now Trump knows for sure he can roll the Dems every time and there’s no need to negotiate for anything

My favorite comment on the FT story

The current federal administration is destabilizing the offshore wind industry with stop-work orders and slashed subsidies. We need a credible plan to meet climate targets and build capacity—enter a federal Offshore Wind Authority. climateandcommunity.org/research/off...

I want to push back on this message a bit for those thinking about pursuing a PhD. It is true that the academic job market sucks & that non-university research jobs—like mine—are unfortunately becoming rarer. But it is also true that a PhD program provides an unparalleled opportunity for many.

I’d like to amplify others’ pleas to *please* acknowledge and build upon the work of librarians and other organizers — @heykellyjensen.bsky.social, @tasslyn.bsky.social, @everylibrary.bsky.social, et al — who’ve been tracking *all of this* and developing expertise for YEARS.

NEW: It would have been one of the world's largest photovoltaic power plants. Now it's canceled [gift link]