I write about collisions between human ambition and the natural world: The Golden Spruce, The Tiger, The Jaguar's Children, FIRE WEATHER: @pulitzerprizes.bsky.social 10 Best Books: @nytimes.com https://www.lyceumagency.com/speakers/john-vailla
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US Federal Judge got this exactly write when she concluded it was “difficult to conclude anything other than that defendants used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
United States of Amurderca . . . #ExcessDeaths
#ExcessDeaths may be this administration's most enduring 'accomplishment'
Murder porn for the #FoxNews groundlings . . .
Murder porn
#RFK #ExcessDeaths
💪💪💪
Wildfire veterans say the operation was nearly unprecedented, a breach in longstanding protocol that federal agents don’t disrupt emergency responders to check immigration status.
Well, the blowback was prompt and intense: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
“We have observed approximately 90% of the workers targeted for terminations due to a perceived association with diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are women or nonbinary,” said an attorney representing federal staffers. (Published June)
Bienvenue!
This is literally the largest act of union busting in American history. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/u...
This does not make America great.
The world as we know it is slipping away. "Canada is strengthening defence ties with Finland and Sweden." www.cbc.ca/news/politic... Canada needs a "whole-of-society approach" to security and defence if it intends to hang on to its sovereignty.
"Despite this assault on their existence, we have barely heard a peep from unions. Where is organized labor in the fight to maintain union jobs, stop the stripping of the safety net & lead the fight for democracy?" @erikloomis.bsky.social asking the right question www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
A ballot measure in Maine that would add new restrictions on mail voting would have an outsize effect in this state, where the average age is the highest of any state in the country and there is a high incidence of disability.
great - but how does that stack up against Norway being one of the world’s biggest extractors and exporters of oil?
"No regional ad campaign is any match for the chaos coming from the White House" is the goal and a house specialty: always keep em on the back foot.
“In a major U-turn, more U.S. residents drove into Canada in June and July than Canadians making the reverse trip … It was the first time that happened in nearly two decades with the exception of two months during the pandemic.”
NPR is among the news organizations that has signed an appeal calling for Israel to stop attacks on journalists in Gaza, and demanding foreign journalists' access to Gaza. www.npr.org/2025/09/01/n...
Backside of a dictatorship revealed 😂
Make no mistake, everything that’s happening in the United States is being significantly enabled by the right wing oligarch capture of media. Every other country needs to do everything possible to keep that from happening where they are. Including protecting the CBC from Poilievre here in Canada.
The latest issue of Renew- the UK's long running newsletter on #renewables renewnatta.wordpress.com/.../2014/11/...
"Under the common law and the dictates of the Royal Proclamation of 1763, the Crown was, and still is, bound to secure access to Indigenous lands only with their agreement, obtained at an open, public meeting of each nation." @liberalca.bsky.social #canpoli www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Solidarity Forever youtu.be/XGcDbMjFRfQ?...
That Trump and Trumpism are fascist doesn’t explain the sheer vandalism of unleashing mass murdering mayhem via RFK to replace medical/scientific institutions of immense value and prestige with medieval peasant superstitions. That is a criminal madness facilitated by but above and beyond fascism.
"Together, we will make the US a subservient client!"
From layoffs to billion-dollar budget cuts and ideological battles over history itself, the National Park Service is facing one of the most turbulent moments in its 109-year history. This week on @revealnews.org:
In July, #ICE arrested 2,782 people in California. 67% had no criminal convictions and 54% had never been charged with a crime. Nationwide, 22,611 people were arrested in July. 65% had no criminal convictions and 37% had never been charged with a crime. enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/artic
Streamline -this- @markcarneyforpm.bsky.social @liberalca.bsky.social #canpoli
Once more, for the record: #Russia
"As much as I love [gas], I’m never going back to it." Head chef Jeremy Chan discusses why Ikoyi, a London restaurant with two Michelin stars, uses induction cooking instead of gas burners.
(Total is the national #oilandgas co. of France)
Will Canada repeat past mistakes or truly learn and do better? Bill C-5 could lock us in for even more climate change, pollution, conflict, and more. 😱 Send a letter to Prime Minister Carney urging criteria to define a “project of national interest”. www.wcel.org/blog/nationa...
The European Commission is expected to present a range of options in two months, supported by a legal assessment. One of the options involves placing assets through a “special purpose vehicle” (SPV) managed from Brussels, a new fund that will be supported by several EU and non-EU countries.
🎁 link h/t @clancyny.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
In July, #ICE arrested 2,782 people in California. 67% had no criminal convictions and 54% had never been charged with a crime. Nationwide, 22,611 people were arrested in July. 65% had no criminal convictions and 37% had never been charged with a crime. enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/art...
“Wellness has come to represent a wonderland free from constraints of scientific scrutiny. The industry flows with pseudoscience & to say it’s lucrative would be an understatement…The term has morphed into dollar signs, drawing us into a never-ending cycle of treating problems we didn’t know we had”
Oilsands jobs are dropping even as production skyrockets. As oil companies stress automation, is the oilpatch still a driver of jobs?
Super thoughtful research on the impact of mitigation strategies for reducing wildfire risk from @gollnerfire.bsky.social team. Good news: building level mitigation can do a lot. Bad news: #1 factor is structure density (SSD below) - hard to change and may get worse. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
SCOOP: Revolution Wind employed 80 fishermen over the past 2 years, paying out $9.5 million to captains, deckhands, and fishing boat owners. Trump's pause means he just put Trump-voting fishermen out of work. When Trump paused Empire Wind, the fishermen stayed quiet. This time, they spoke to me.👇
@djclimenhaga.bsky.social is in very good form: albertapolitics.ca/2025/08/no-m...
#salmon
China is prioritizing electrification not so much because of climate change, but to enhance its sovereignty. Now more of the Global South is following in its footsteps. It was great to chat with @katemac.bsky.social and @70sbachchan.bsky.social to get their insights on these important developments!
A local columnist seriously misunderstands why climate legislation fails in the California legislature — it's not that we have weak evidence or bad arguments — it's that the oil companies are major campaign funders decade after decade, which buys them real power. www.mercurynews.com/2025/08/29/e...
Nova Scotia #wildfires
Pay attention, Canada. If Alberta is successful in this book banning, this will spread. Look around you, b/c this is how it starts. We're on the same ledge the US was on. And we either start fighting this right-wing rise now, or we follow the Americans over the edge. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
The current administration is, institution by institution, Jenga block by Jenga block, engineering social and national collapse: #CDC #GOP
The White House fired the Center for Disease Control Director because she refused to go along with RFK Jr.’s unscientific directives. More top CDC officials have now stepped down amid the chaos. Vaccines and science save lives. This Admin must stop politicizing public health.
Massively disappointing. Open carry on wheels.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 😬
Are you or your loved ones worried about solar farms? Have you heard scary things about solar panels turning the countryside into an industrial hellscape? Fear not! We at Carbon Brief have just published the definitive article debunking solar myths ⬇️ interactive.carbonbrief.org/factcheck/so...
Are you seeing this, @markcarneyforpm.bsky.social @liberalca.bsky.social
Re-upping: if you work at EPA, NOAA, FEMA, NIH, CDC, USDA or other agencies that involve really any sort of science in their work, and you have something you want the public to know, I would always love to hear from you. Signal is davelevitan.26 and you can remain anonymous.
Four of my books in five languages . . . @aaknopf.bsky.social
There are tons of graphic novels, academic papers, film and TV scripts, & prose novels/nonfiction on the LibGen list Anthropic used. As settlement approaches, make it easy for the class action lawyers to contact you! Here’s how Part 1: is your work in Libgen? www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
If your business can’t succeed without stealing then it should obviously fail.
The US Capitol is being occupied by a hostile government:
When one chart says everything that’s wrong with a country #Reaganism
It’s official. September 6th. From all across this nation. We march in D.C. Join us.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
The US Capitol is being occupied by a hostile government:
www.wired.com/story/anthro...
As part of my research, I put together this gif to illustrate how hot the oceans off the Australian coast were in the lead up to the bloom. The tragedy of it all what this means for the Great Southern Reef, an understudied marine ecosystem that stretches from Perth to Sydney.
Something I kept thinking about working on this was how critically important it is to speak out at full volume as long as you can, and how much Americans need the press to do that now more than ever...and how few are rising to the task. What good is your "platform" if you only use it to bend a knee?
Now this is good news. Context, for any who don't know it:
A gutting read from Australia by a fearless chronicler, @roycerk2.bsky.social: drilled.media/news/algal-b... #oceans #fish #algae
Wow.
Equally wrong, @policescotland.bsky.social
B.C. hit with record-breaking heat wave #ClimateCrisis #yvr #bcpoli www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
We’re drowning in plastics, and Big Oil is to blame. CCI’s Richard Wiles sat down with @cnbc.com to explain how the plastics industry “sold” us the myth of plastic recycling to address growing calls for regulation — and ultimately, protect their social license to make even more plastic. 😭
Half a million people in Vietnam ordered to evacuate, China's Sanya shuts as Typhoon Kajiki intensifies www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
BREAKING: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore just announced he refuses to authorize National Guard deployment in Maryland. 🧵
Texas Republicans rammed their gerrymander through. Now some are realizing they may have handed themselves a few seats in the House, but put others at risk. Rigging maps doesn’t always go as planned. Now it’s on us to fight alongside Texas Dems and take those seats back.
I have all the military and intelligence documents related to climate and security (or know where the archived files are). But also, here's a summary. Part 1 of 3. www.gleick.com/blog/climate...
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has arrived in Kyiv for an official visit. He was welcomed by Presidential Office Head Yermak.
They gaslit you all throughout the election.
With every word, he shits in our ears . . . and it's contagious
@liberalca.bsky.social @markcarneyforpm.bsky.social
South America’s Electric Vehicle Surge: From Lagging To Accelerating In 2024, Brazil hit 6.5% of new car sales with 125,000 EVs, Uruguay reached 13%, and Colombia passed 7%. Those figures mark the classic 5% tipping point that signals rapid adoption. cleantechnica.com/2025/08/19/s...
According to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data, Northern Border Crossings are down 39.27% from July 2024 to 2025 and down 36.13% in Northern New York (including Champlain Rouses Point Crossing and Trout River Crossing). #Boycott #ViveLeCanada #Canada 💪🏻🍁 www.ctvnews.ca/world/articl...
Just A Friendly Reminder…
Nowhere near enough is being made of Google taking a clear, intentional and planned step into the techno-fascist position on energy and climate It literally came with its own PDF white paper. This is clear and intentional and thought-through. www.desmog.com/2025/08/19/g...
Toplines from our 31st @ips-dc.org Executive Excess report on the 100 largest low-wage corps: CEO-worker pay gap: 632-1 Median pay: $35,570 Stock buybacks (2019-24): $644B CEO pay: $17.2M (⬆️ at 2x the rate of median pay since '19) Data on all Low-Wage 100 firms 👇 ips-dc.org/report-execu...
"Solar panels in China are cheaper than a same-size piece of window glass. You can use panels as siding and fencing as if it’s a building material that just happens to produce some electricity The future is panels everywhere"-@dfeldman.org Thread: Solar Hockey Stick of Hope bsky.app/profile/70sb...
@liberalca.bsky.social @markcarneyforpm.bsky.social
Meanwhile, Canada's pushing . . . bitumen . . . #canpoli #EnergyTransition
Eunice Foote conducted an experiment showing that atmospheric CO2 traps heat. OTD in 1856, she listened to a man (John Henry of the Smithsonian) present her results to the American Acad. for the Advancement of Science. Henry downplayed the significance of Foote’s finding. #HistSTM #WomeninSTEM 🧪🌎
www.cbc.ca/news/health/...
🚨 The Bolton raid underscores what scholars call America’s descent into authoritarianism as state power and surveillance tools are turned against dissent, where risk is constant and silence increasingly feels like survival. theintellectualistofficial.substack.com/p/trumps-bol...
Really, @nature.com ? www.404media.co/a-black-hole...
The Nature essay is part of a broad pattern & strategy by AI boosters to deflect critiques by individualization (eg did you turn on a light, eat beef today, eat an avocado, take a long shower today?)
Pillow cat
US border wall surprisingly easy to steal
#Alberta throwing away its 'Alberta Advantage'
Solar Alberta's Executive Director Heather Mackenzie on Aug 21 regarding stalling investment in Alberta's renewables industry: 'It is a direct result of government interference in the market that we’re seeing solar, wind and storage projects drop off,' MacKenzie said" buff.ly/0Ph0fXT
Louisiana has to build three new natural gas power plants to accommodate the "AI" data center that Meta just crammed through because said center will use *Three Times* as much electricity (and, thus, attendant resources) as the *Entire City Of New Orleans*, every year. Y'all this isn't sustainable.
China is building the mega vessels for installing offshore wind at a scale that means they're likely to be among if not the only supplier for all global installation capacity
One of the most remarkable and impactful transformations of all human technology and civilization in history is happening right now!