One of the key characteristics of real petrostates, dependent on FF revenue, is they are usually clear on their vulnerability and work hard to diversify. Political petrostates (guess who?) do the opposite, exacerbating their limited vulnerability by overstating the value of FF prod vs other sectors

Kate Mackenzie@katemac.bsky.social · 13h ago

the thing is how it's just mentioned in passing that these rich petrostates are going hard to guarantee their post-oil economic security; like it's hardly worth elaborating upon and yet it's very significant in the context of more, er, 'frontier' petrostates, or indeed oil demand

Time Traveler Causes of Death xkcd.com/2976/

It would be really funny if in a year or two Costco starts selling Lego-like plug and play solar panels and batteries, and little tiny little grids start sprouting up across North America.

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · yesterday

Not sure if everyone appreciates the difference. Rooftop solar hardwires into your main panel via a dedicated breaker, so it requires a permit, an installer, an electrician, and a utility agreement. Balcony solar just plugs into a wall outlet, sharing an existing circuit with no permits or rewiring.

I sometimes wonder if the only real chance we had to avoid significant climate damage was a global clean energy program starting in the 1970s/'80s, where every country had access to basic nuclear technology/financing/construction, then wind, solar, batteries etc.

Thanks to the @rooseveltinstitute.org for publishing my essay with @hboushey.bsky.social that describes why the federal government has failed to usefully incorporate climate change and the energy transition into economic modeling, based on our experiences at the White House 🧵

oh my god

Brett Fujioka@brettfujioka.bsky.social · 5d ago

I think that I once opined that there isn't anything analogous in U.S. history to the inter service rivalries in Japan. But I've also said that the current administration is more comparable to Imperial Japan than other Quasi-Totalitarian States. cc: @sharonk.bsky.social @aelkus.bsky.social

Bordeaux, France, has now recorded more days above 40°C in 2026 alone than during the entire 105-year period from 1920 (when observations began) to 2025. This is deeply shocking.

Romania has shut down both its nuclear reactors for the first time ever due to low water levels on the Danube - www.reuters.com/business/ene...

Low Danube river levels force Romania to shut down both of its nuclear power reactors

Romania will shut down its ‌second nuclear reactor on the Danube river, the energy ministry said on Wednesday, three days after decades-low river levels forced it to shut down the first.

reuters.com

Say what you want about Elon Musk, but Teslas are incredibly effective at protecting their occupants in a crash. A friend just took a serious, high energy rear end hit from an intoxicated driver, and he and his daughter were just fine. The car is a write off, but who cares?

“Today, trucks will roll, cars will cross, and governments will begin collecting tolls. But the bridge will remain a monument to a broken bond that may take decades to fix—and may never be fully repaired.” Well worth reading @davidmoscrop.com’s excellent piece.

David Moscrop@davidmoscrop.com · last wk.

If there was ever any doubt, the Gordie Howe Bridge fiasco proves it: You can't trust Trump's America, or any deal within this administration's orbit. thewalrus.ca/the-gordie-h...

A different take on the Palisades reactor restart. It’s often considered an ideal example of the “old, cheap and reliable” US reactor, but even restarting it is a complicated task. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/b...

Why Restarting a Nuclear Power Plant Can Be Much Harder Than Expected (Gift Article)

The first U.S. attempt at reopening a shuttered reactor has been held back by run-down equipment and a lack of planning.

nytimes.com

“The Eye of God”, as seen from a tiny vessel (my paddleboard) rolling around in the Atlantic Ocean. 🙃

Life is a long and complicated process, if you're lucky, and sometimes you are pulling people off the floor who have been walloped, and sometimes it's you being pulled up off the floor, when gravity just feels too hard after you've been walloped.

The US auto industry’s act of ritual suicide cannot be completely blamed on Trump. They had CARB & Tesla in their backyard. Their response to the CAFE stds was to emphasize exempt SUVs & trucks, & they consistently did everything they could to avoid making a low cost EV, lobbying against ZEV stds

mtsw@mtsw.bsky.social · 2w ago

People will say the big 3 didn't see it coming but US auto executives knew this was happening 15 years ago and largely acted accordingly, making huge investments in EV tech and lobbying the US govt for subsidies to those investments. Then Trump got reelected and it all got thrown out the window

Happy Gimli Glider Day to all who celebrate. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_G...

Gimli Glider - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Iranian bear trap. Easy to avoid, hard to get out of.

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 2w ago

Oil hits $100 for first time since May ft.trib.al/zlFdkV9

Sometime in the next ~5 years I’m facing the privilege of a hefty bill to retrofit my house with heat pump cooling & heating, which was designed & built for super high efficiency gas. Where I live never needed AC until ~ 5 years ago. To which which fossil company/petrostate do I send the bill😉

Pretty cool and dramatic NASA animation showing the long-range transport of 2026 Canadian wildfire smoke.

Iran is the bear trap that ate Carter, and now Trump has stuck his hand in it.

Elizabeth N. Saunders@profsaunders.bsky.social · 2w ago

Can't get numb to this: The United States is stuck in a war it started, cannot end, and may further escalate to no avail, having dismantled its diplomatic apparatus, depleted its military stockpile, and destroyed its credibility. A historic strategic mistake harming millions in many different ways.

Anybody familiar with BC will understand how crazy this is

If Mark Carney wants Canada to walk the same energy and climate path as Norway, he has to do a better job of equipping us for the journey. First and foremost: give clean energy the same financial and political support as fossil fuels are getting. #cdnpoli www.nationalobserver.com/2026/07/21/o...

Mark Carney wants to make Canada more like Norway. He has some work to do

The now-annual bouts of wildfire smoke are yet another reminder of the importance of reducing our use of fossil fuels and replacing them wherever possible with electrification. It's time for the prime...

nationalobserver.com

The terrifying thing about this ongoing Iran war is the US & Israel have struck twice assuming it would eliminate the Iranian leadership. Instead, they're still standing, furious, w/ ~440+kg of HEU. The longer this goes on, the more likely it becomes Israel tries a nuclear strike.

Wow www.theglobeandmail.com/world/us-pol...

Carney offered to double oil exports to U.S. as part of potential deal, Hoekstra says

Two cabinet officials were eager about the pitch, but Trump held them back, according to the U.S. ambassador

theglobeandmail.com

RIP Detroit.

Jennifer Robson 🇨🇦@jrobson.bsky.social · 2w ago

50% tariffs JFC "regardless of USMCA" www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/...

Fifty-seven years ago today. Happy International Moon Day!

In which I yell at my favorite journal and its thoughtful, talented collection of researchers that we really need to take fossil phase-out seriously as a line of inquiry, and that we would not stand for the level of talking around it as a solution in other settings with very obvious problems:

The state of energy transition research and the need for fossil phase-out: evidence from Environmental Research Letters

The state of energy transition research and the need for fossil phase-out: evidence from Environmental Research Letters, Grubert, Emily

iopscience.iop.org

Brilliant read, and your regular reminder of a famous analysis that those who call for boosting Canada's productivity growth regularly gloss over /2 www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

Opinion: America is booming. Canada lags. So why aren’t Americans happier?

Analysis of over 20 years of economic data show U.S.’s higher productivity has not produced better earnings for most

theglobeandmail.com

A key thing for US policymakers to grasp is they aren't going to "out-tech" China in most products anymore. They have to build, iterate, build, & iterate, building economies of size and innovation like China does. And they have lot of long term allies who want them to succeed (SK/EU/JPN/CDN/MEX+).

John Hanger@jrfhanger.bsky.social · 2w ago

Hyundai’s latest US battery plant, is now online. Hyundai and SK-On’s EV battery plant ($5 billion facility) is now operating in Georgia! The 35 GWh plant will supply batteries for Hyundai Motor Group electric vehicles, including Kia and Genesis. Wonderful! electrek.co/2026/07/15/h... #energysky

We have an on & off hot war that no one seems to know how to exit rendering demand destruction on fossil fuels, & yet the answer from western leaders is more FF projects that will deliver in the early 2030s?? For gas, maybe, but crude, that’s insane. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Burnham to say UK must be honest about its challenges as he prepares to become PM

Labour leader will visit king to accept role on Monday and will start making cabinet appointments that afternoon

theguardian.com

Doing some investigation of the history of the Chinese steel industry, and it's fascinating. Every time they crack down on overcapacity what emerges from the bloodbath is a global leader in efficiency, productivity, etc. Arguably the same thing is happening to EVs.