Happened across my Nathaniel B Palmer lapel pin today on the bookshelf. So sad that it is being taken out of service. Now all the ships I sailed on as an oceanographer are no more. The Palmer is a fantastic ship. I will always remember the grill cheese sandwiches breaking ice on the bow after shift.

Somebody in public comment just said that electricity bills will be higher if we require fire safe gardens. Umm. Every Californian pays about $100 per month more on their power bills than in 2017 because we DON'T have wildfire prepared gardens and home exteriors. Upside down world.

#BREAKING: Over dissents from Justices Sotomayor, Kagan & Jackson, #SCOTUS grants a stay in the Slaughter case (allowing President Trump to remove the last Dem member of the FTC), *and* grants certiorari "before judgment" to decide whether to formally overrule its 1935 ruling in Humphrey's Executor.

The cool kids are at climate week. But the really cool kids will be at the CA Board of Forestry zone zero meeting today. That is where the rubber meets the road on climate adaptation in the western US. Bougainville vs affordable housing for Californians as extreme wildfire risk increases.

Exclusive: Some of the biggest names in climate tech are forming a new coalition to map out the future of decarbonization.

The wildfire version of this is playing out in Los Angeles as we speak. When you burn down 15,000 urban structures, you coat everything downwind (ie the rest of the city) - inside and out - in asbestos, lead and arsenic among other things.

Tonight I’m going to tell you about a California bill called SB326, authored by Senator Josh Becker and cosponsored by Senators Laird and Stern. This bill is perhaps the most significant wildfire legislation to land on Governor Newsom’s desk this year. I hope he signs it.

Eichler homes show the way you can have a great yard and still be fire safe. Only thing this home needs is different fencing and a little work in the courtyard for a gorgeous zone zero. redf.in/6Oefbv

Thinking about the “My job is to call balls and strikes” quote from Justice Robert’s today. Umpires don’t give reasons, they make calls at 110mph and they don’t care about how the call they are making may influence the next. That’s not anything like what we need or want from the Supreme Court.

The best is when someone you deeply respect gets to the end of an hour long wonky, wildfire, podcast and is asked what they are most proud of in their career of leadership in public service and the answer without hesitation is “that I am still married and that I have such an amazing family.“

So impressed by Governor Newsom and his team as well as the legislative Leadership in both houses today. They have, collectively, found a way to get to yes on a whole series of energy legislation that taken individually would represent a massive accomplishment.

Wondering what implications this has for the oldest GHG collection data - the data collected in CEMS for checking SO2, NOx abd and other pollutant emissions. My assumption is that that data wil still be collected. That covers almost all the large point source emitters.

On a webinar hearing about ecosystem losses on the Garnet Fire. It is a huge loss for the Sierra and at least for UC forests, maybe could have been prevented by prescribed fire that was tied up in NEPA process.

A warm fall night at the Greek is a true NorCal pleasure.

I am so grateful to have such a dedicated, passionate, and intelligent team to work with on wildfire and energy problems.

Today we had our Climate and Energy Policy Program team retreat at Stinson Beach. The terns crashed the party.

“We should not have to live in a country where the government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish and appears to work a low wage job,” - Justice Sonia Sotomayor

Does anyone know why primaries expect reinsurance costs to fall substantially next year? www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

We did a policy brief on the use of carbon capture in combined cycle gas turbines. We are skeptical that this technology will meet the use case of backing up renewables for a zero carbon grid. The short answer is low capacity factor makes CCS unattractive. drive.google.com/file/d/1HZbY...

Negligence is a very strong claim for the cause of this fire. Did SCE leave a transmission line in place that it could have removed? Yes. Was that decision overseen by multiple state agencies and was SCE doing a ton of other work to reduce risk. Also yes. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/u...

I am still shocked by this. The article does a great job laying out why. Good context from Riva Duncan. www.hcn.org/articles/fir...

Busy day in the southern Sierra today due to dry lightning in the last 24h.

Mid-century modern that is also fire safe can be done beautifully. Eichler with zone zero, if only they fix the attached wood fences. redf.in/MYlTaP

So my sewer lateral clogged today and made our house essentially uninhabitable. My inclination. And my wife’s too. Is fix this thing as fast as possible.

Our utility wildfire staff attorney, Eric Macomber, wrote a long post summarizing changes to utility liability for wildfire that have occurred across the West this year.

This book took me a while to get through. But it was so worth the effort. An incredible education in the post-WW II world order that is being torn apart. And an education as well in the deep history of isolationism in US politics. Strong recommend if you have time and interest.

SB326 just made it out of Assembly Appropriations!!

On my run today I ran into two guys doing a fuels project along the fire road. I stopped to ask them whether they worked for PG&E or the local water district because I always wonder who is doing what. They immediately had fear in their eyes.

My plan: Wear a smart suit to my meetings. Keep my face and jaw relaxed all day. Stand tall. And as one of my leg besties always says “never fall in love with a bill!”

If you care about legislation in California, today is a day of holding your breath. Everything that can be done has been done. Now you just have to see what makes it off of suspense.

Matt Weiner wrote an oped about one of the most important wildfire bills in California this year: SB 326 (Becker) www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-e...

ICE is arresting contract firefighters on active wildfires. This is especially significant for the fire workforce in the PNW because of the heavy reliance on contract workforce. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

If only Trump had been around to convince the Founding Fathers of his compelling LOGIC!

Offshore wind has higher capacity value than gas CTs, according to PJM. So when the Trump admin claims offshore wind makes no contribution to resource adequacy/reliability, it's lying. #energysky #greensky www.pjm.com/-/media/DotC...

Rock climbing along the Marin coast today. Pelicans dropping sardines all over the place and lots of visitors just offshore. California is an incredible place to live.

The good part of having a teenager: Him: I want a cat. Me: no bc mom is allergic. Him: what if we kept it outside? Me: with the coyotes around here, it would have to be a mountain lion. Him (without missing a beat): then I could take my driving test with it!

My colleague Debbie Sivas just posted a new blog post on the CEPP substack whose title says it all: "The future of petroleum refining in California is not more oil drilling" in California. Check it out: cepp.substack.com/p/the-future...

“This car identifies as a Rivian” has to be the most Marin bumper sticker I could possibly imagine.

When I left the climbing gym in Crissy Field at 7:15pm, you could see the smoke column to the north. Hopefully CalFire makes good progress tonight while things are cooler and RH recovers.

A fast-moving wildfire broke out Thursday on the northern edge of Calistoga, prompting emergency evacuation orders for parts of rural Napa County as crews race to contain the flames. The Pickett Fire has burned more than 1,000 acres. Read more → www.sfchronicle.com/california-w...

I did an interview for the Risky Science Podcast on wildfire, the idea of a public cat model, the use of private cat models in insurance, and what we need to do to burn down fewer houses. Check it out. Help me improve my priors with your feedback: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...

The new DOE report tries to downplay rising sea levels, but independent analyses and NOAA data show that sea level rise is not only happening, it’s picking up speed along the U.S. East Coast. Ignoring this will have consequences for U.S. financial stability. open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

As Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo put it: "A city where you can get let go of your child's hand"

Out for an after dinner run and this was in the sky. Looked like a comet. This is looking north. The two bright stars in the upper left are the big dipper’s pointers to the north star. Does anyone know what this was? Only there for a few minutes. Rocket launch?

My crack insurance team is out with new visualizations of the recent California FAIR plan data release. The picture is not pretty. This data release covers the period from September of 2024 to June of 2025. Think of it as the first look into the post-LA Wildfire insurance environment.

This is a great summary for policymakers of the realities and true policy challenges related to closure of California refineries. The tldr is that we need to focus on removing bottlenecks for importing both finished gasoline and its components (called blendstocks).

This whole thing is so good. Read in full and the paper.

One of the absolute best things about managing a team of talented young people is when you read their writing about a topic you thought you understand and come away thinking about it in a completely new and unexpected way.

Check out this comment from the home owners association for an affluent Northern Calfironia beach community built on a sand spit. Sea level rise is a collective responsibility that other people should pay for... wow. Lots in this community (or tear downs) have recently sold for $11M a pop.