Pretty sure these rules would disqualify the entirety of the Musk-Trump cabinet from training at Virgin Active South Africa.

Insurers should ditch fossil fuels Instead of California's homeowners.

New post on The Condor exploring why insurers like State Farm should ditch fossil fuels instead of forsaking #California homeowners. cacondor.substack.com/p/insurers-s...

In Wake of Catastrophic Wildfires, Westerman and Peters Re-Introduce Fix Our Forests Act

In a new low, Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) is justifying his support for the timber industry's "Fix Our Forests" Act (the "fix" is cutting the forests down) by citing the deadly Los Angeles wildfires. This bill does nothing to reduce the risk of wildfires.

Absolutely disgusting.
#LAFires #greensky

Buried, amid the more immediate casualties and clearly visible damage of modern wildfire disasters, are the far more numerous victims of the secondary harms and "chronic emergencies" that subsequently unfold for months and years thereafter.

Trumps inauguration is less than one week away and the climate crisis is not slowing down. @climateaf.bsky.social is charting the path forward and mobilizing to ensure we keep up momentum. Read our new report here: cdn.sanity.io/files/6quqio...

The misleadingly named ‘Fix Our Forests Act’ would do anything but The bill’s most significant feature is its sweeping rejection of applying the National Environmental Policy Act on forestry management

As Georgetown prof David Super points out, promulgation of the Fix Our Forests Act "will invite the needless destruction of ever more of our forests — while simultaneously making the fire threat even worse." (thehill.com/opinion/ener...)

Oh dear. The reintroduction of the misleadingly named "Fix Our Forests" Act (which would exempt environmental review from vast swathes of forest) suggests that Republicans in Congress are using the #LAFires as an opportunity to make clearcutting easier.

Moss Landing, the largest battery in the US caught fire yesterday.

A journalist just asked me, "Are batteries safe?"

I told him the fossil fuel plants batteries replace kill 1,000s of people in the US / year.

Batteries aren't perfect. But they're way better than coal/gas.

Mayor Karen Bass: Los Angeles Needs to Adapt to Our Climate-Altered Future How Los Angeles wants to rebuild must account for what living in the city will be like in our climate-altered, extreme weather  future.

Two of my colleagues @nrdc.org are calling it like it is, responding to Mayor Bass's rather short-sighted executive order for rebuilding Los Angeles exactly like it was before...or as the Mayor says, "rebuilding 'like for like'".

www.nrdc.org/bio/sarah-el...

Agreed! In addition to hardened homes and defensible space, rebuilding according to the Passive House Standard would boost resilience (and energy efficiency and improved indoor AQIs!) too

How L.A.'s Housing Development Plays a Role in Wildfire Risk Fierce winds and months of drought set the conditions for the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles, but the growth of housing in fire-prone areas also played a major role.

Appreciate the opportunity to chat w/ @nytimes.com about how we can build smarter (and to code!!) after these wildfires. Suspending wildfire building codes only kicks the can down the road and invites another disaster. Hardened homes and defensible space for the win. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Rethinking California fire policy Contextualizing the LA fires—and some ideas on the way forward.

Today on The Condor, we published @paulmason916.bsky.social's reflections on the #LAFires. In addition to helpful context, he offers important recs on ways to promote landscape resilience and community protection going forward: cacondor.substack.com/p/rethinking...

Big oil pushed to kill bill that would have made them pay for wildfire disasters Legislation has new life in wake of Los Angeles catastrophe but US fossil-fuel industry is already mobilizing against it

Fossil fuel lobbying killed California's climate superfund bill before it could get to a floor vote last year. In 2025, I hope that the state senators who refused to support it will now prioritize the people of California over the profits of their polluter pals. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

A Public Model for Home Insurance - Dissent Magazine We must reimagine our disaster risk finance system so it reduces exposure and provides protection fairly.

It's the best & worst time for the publication of this essay I co-wrote for @dissentmag.bsky.social about disaster insurance.

Best and worst because the devastation of the LA fires make even more clear how urgently we need to rethink disaster insurance.
www.dissentmagazine.org/article/a-pu...

Hey, Bluesky 👋🏼

A friendly reminder that you can avoid #LAFires disinformation with one simple trick:

Follow the local news organizations + reporters on the ground in affected areas and in direct contact with residents, officials and agencies.

I made this starter list: bsky.app/profile/did:...

Column: Los Angeles is a climate disaster. The fires will change nothing If you think America’s finally going to deal with global warming because L.A. is burning, think again.

Excellent @sammyroth.bsky.social column about the real backdrop to LA's fires, written by someone right in the thick of it.

If fingers are to be pointed, make sure they're aimed in the right direction—the one backed by decades of science.

www.latimes.com/environment/...

Fibbing while LA burns An inconvenient truth vs. the rightwing's smokescreen of lies.

On The Condor today, quotes from @tzeporah.bsky.social and Francine Prose's powerful pieces in @theguardian.com. Also - we share ideas from @antoniascatton.bsky.social on how to respond to rightwing misinformation. Grateful for these smart, principled voices. cacondor.substack.com/p/fibbing-wh...

Hydroclimate volatility on a warming Earth - Nature Reviews Earth & Environment Rapid transitions between extreme wet and extreme dry conditions — ‘hydroclimate whiplash’ — have marked environmental and societal impacts. This Review outlines observed and projected changes in hydr...

Excellent new review from @weatherwest.bsky.social @climate-guy.bsky.social @manuelaibrunner.bsky.social @climatechirper.bsky.social on one of the most useful organizing concepts I've run across for understanding climate impacts on extreme events - the "expanding atmospheric sponge" 1/🧵

New study LA fires: “Conditions are up to 5°C warmer, 15% drier & 20% windier now compared to past. We ascribe the strengthened winds, higher temps & drier conditions to human-driven climate change. Natural climate variability likely played a minor role.” www.climameter.org/20250107-08-...

How many more fossil-fueled climate disasters does the US have to go through before so-called moderate/"centrist" Dems abandon the "we can do both"/all the above approach to energy and instead double-down on the fossil fuel phaseout we need (according to science!) to secure a liveable future?

will this be the event that finally wakes everyone up?

@climatehuman.bsky.social's point in his NYT essay that "nothing will change until our anger gets powerful enough" reminded me of @fisherdanar.bsky.social conclusions (in her book "Saving Ourselves") that only mass mobilization catalysed by climate shock/s can bring about the systemic shifts needed

"Nothing will change until our anger gets powerful enough" A climate scientist speaks out.

On The Condor today we shared a little excerpt from @climatehuman.bsky.social's extremely moving (and galvanizing!) NYT essay: cacondor.substack.com/p/nothing-wi...

Fossil-fueled fury How human-caused climate change is fueling SoCal's ongoing conflagrations

As @doctorvive.bsky.social has noted, Trump's deluge of lies about hurricanes Helene and Milton was met with "climate silence" by Kamala et al. Here's hoping Dems won't make the same mistake in response to his false claims about LA's fossil-fueled wildfires. cacondor.substack.com/p/fossil-fue...

Fact check: Why is Trump blaming the LA fires on Newsom's water policies? Fires in Los Angeles County ignited because of fierce winds and extremely dry conditions. President-elect Donald Trump blamed California water policies for the blazes.

Unsurprisingly, the LA wildfires are already being used (deceitfully) by Donald Trump to score political points. In this fact-check, CalMatters spells out why the president-elect’s assertions are BS: calmatters.org/environment/...

Fossil-fueled fury How human-caused climate change is fueling SoCal's ongoing conflagrations

Today on The Condor we take a look at how manmade climate change is exacerbating the current conflagrations in SoCal. Shout-out to @weatherwest.bsky.social for his cogent explanations (published on KQED and elsewhere): cacondor.substack.com/p/fossil-fue...

How Slaughterhouses Work: The Harsh Reality of Meat Production A brief primer on the harsh conditions animals and workers endure.

Absolutely! Similarly, slaughterhouses are also sites of horrifying cruelty. sentientmedia.org/slaughterhou...

To feed the planet? More plants, less waste (Because increasing industrialized agriculture is not the answer.)

Our latest post on The Condor looks at why changing diets and curbing food waste offers a much better alternative for ensuring food security than scaling up factory farming (as one NYT Opinion contributor has recently recommended).

“the times are urgent; let us slow down” Taking care of ghosts, hugging monsters, sharing silence, embracing the weird.

Our latest Condor post spotlights some wise words on slowing down from Bayo Akomolafe and Paul Cilliers: cacondor.substack.com/p/the-times-...