Dan Charles
@dancharles.bsky.social
Telling stories about climate, food, land. Former NPR. Urbanist and ruralist and bicyclist. Science Magazine contributor.
As Brian Anderson says in this piece, applying BEPS only to larger buildings is essentially a penalty on denser, more efficient living. Most of these projects will eventually pay for themselves but we need to have policies that align with a holistic sustainability approach.
Greater Greater Washington@ggwash.org · yesterdayExisting buildings are responsible for nearly 70% of DC’s greenhouse emissions. Cutting their energy use often isn't easy.
This is a thought-provoking read. When designing home retrofit initiatives, there are so many factors to consider: Should you target multifamily buildings (higher energy savings per project) or SFHs (higher overall potential energy savings)? And should we lean on carrots or sticks?
Greater Greater Washington@ggwash.org · yesterdayExisting buildings are responsible for nearly 70% of DC’s greenhouse emissions. Cutting their energy use often isn't easy.
Interesting push in DC for energy upgrades in existing buildings. Important but complicated stuff that’s easy for condos and coops to ignore or put off. ggwash.org/view/104280/...
For energy-hogging DC buildings, it’s upgrade or pay
Existing buildings are responsible for nearly 70% of DC’s greenhouse emissions. Cutting their energy use often isn’t easy.
ggwash.org
somebody seems to be trying real hard to get Gurt’s attention
Incredible story: With the help of AI, U.S. officials created a map that mislabeled every country in Africa. www.reuters.com/world/africa...
US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference
A U.S. government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a State Department presentation at a global conference taking place in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attendees who took screen...
reuters.com
“Trump has rejected disaster aid for Democratic-run states at the highest rate in the 47-year history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” Right now people in blue states are basically paying federal taxes as if they’re colonized territories of red states. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...
Heads up: if you are in the Manor Park/Brightwood area of DC, and you had a bag recently stolen that had your car keys attached to it, DM me.
A few things: First and foremost, you cannot claim to support DC Home Rule and simultaneously publicly advocate for a bill that cripples the District’s ability to compete for economic development. Second, Comer’s ANS wouldn’t even cover the delivery fee because it’s 20 cents.
Martin Austermuhle@maustermuhle.bsky.social · 2w agoIn a statement, DoorDash tells me that the council passed the "arbitrary" new fee without holding any hearings. "We have always supported home rule for D.C.," says the company. "But will continue to defend D.C.'s small businesses, local economy, and underserved residents."
I got the DoorDash letter attacking DC home rule over a 20¢ fee. The letter, which dangerously misrepresents HR 9720 as only applying to tax and fee increases, was written by @lgbtqvictoryfund.bsky.social director John Horton. #freedc
DoorDash Declares War on DC Home Rule Over A 20-Cent Fee
John Horton, DoorDash head of North American policy The delivery giant DoorDash is trying to cripple District of Columbia’s fiscal self-governance, in response ...
hillheat.com
Amazing story, amazing research
Science Magazine@science.org · 2w agoA new analysis of Africans' remains, first uncovered in St. Helena in 2007, reveals where they came from, providing historians and descendant communities with a fine-grained look at regional impacts of the slave trade. https://scim.ag/3TM9nrv
Reminds me of this Onion article… Seriously though, power and system change is what of course matters the most but 1) if you’re an individual in North America or Europe you have an outsized impact and 2) human systems, themselves, are made up of individuals that other individuals can influence.
New Report Finds Climate Change Caused By 7 Billion Key Individuals
WASHINGTON—In a landmark report experts say fundamentally reshapes our understanding of the global warming crisis, new data published this week by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has fou...
theonion.com
play by post@playbypost.bsky.social · 3w agoI can't begin to tell you how annoying it was when the 100 corporations thing dropped and I made the mistake of pointing out "Okay but people use the things from those corporations, if you got rid of them you'd have to get rid of 'Da Stuff' too and you seem to be avoiding that" lol
NEW: Chair Jim Jordan won’t take up legislation expanding the H-2A visa program, bucking Republicans who sought a quick path to help the agriculture industry. W/ Tyler Spence www.notus.org/congress/hou...
House Judiciary Panel Won’t Include Farmworker Visa Changes in Immigration Package
“I expect there will be major heartburn from producers across the country,” Rep. Glenn Thompson said.
notus.org
In recent years, only one US electricity market has consistently added new generation while keeping costs low. It’s also added more new power plants (and solar!) than anyone else. A new bill from @heinrich.senate.gov would require other grids to adopt its approach: heatmap.news/daily/heinri...
Scoop: A Key Democrat Wants to Break America’s Worst Energy Bottleneck
Senator Martin Heinrich’s bill, which makes it easier to connect new power plants to the grid, is an encouraging sign for bipartisan permitting reform.
heatmap.news
This is a real issue. And why haven't super-high incentives (SREC prices) in DC set off enough of a solar boom to bring those prices down and dampen the cost to consumers? Lots of inertia/friction/obstacles in the system. Which seem inescapable, unfortunately.
Martin Austermuhle@maustermuhle.bsky.social · 3w agoGetting solar panels is an easy way to bring down your electric bill in D.C. But what if it’s making everyone else’s bills higher? A dive into why addressing political demands for action on high electric bills is complicated, in @notus.com: www.notus.org/metro/solar-...
With all the July model runs now in, it is very likely that 2026 will see the largest El Niño event since records began in the late 1800s – and potentially by a truly mind-blowing margin. The median estimate is now 3.6C, roughly 0.8C hotter than the prior record (2.75C). www.theclimatebrink....
For the @nytimes.com Magazine, I wrote about the increasingly fervent native plant movement; its esteemed guru, the entomologist and bestselling author Douglas Tallamy; and the complexities of ecologically responsible gardening in our modern era. Gift link 🎁 : www.nytimes.com/2026/07/07/m...
I Wanted an Ecologically Responsible Garden. It Was Harder Than I Thought.
nytimes.com
Journalism is in crisis—including science and environmental journalism. The industry is in really rough shape, and this blow makes matters worse.
Dan Vergano@danvergano.bsky.social · last mo.Scientific American is being sold to LabX Media, publisher of Discover: group.springernature.com/gp/group/med... They've fired me and other union staff, ahead of June 26 vote ratification. My rates are suddenly more reasonable, if you need editing or reporting - Argonaut2026@gmail.com
Jeanine Pirro vows to track down the vandals who are wrecking the reflecting pool. This really should be easy....
Big batteries are absolutely crushing the role for peaking gas in Australia's National Electricity Market. Less gas means lower bills and lower emissions for all of us.
Organic vs. conventional farming, which builds soil better? A new study of 2,900+ real farms found NO difference in soil organic matter. Why? Because the label doesn't matter — plant biomass inputs, nitrogen, rotation & tillage do. Focus on dominant drivers. csanr.wsu.edu/what-actuall...
Dominant Factors: What Actually Builds Soil Organic Matter
Organic and conventional systems can build soil when their practices support the dominant drivers of organic matter.
csanr.wsu.edu
I have resigned from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol's Independent Standards Board. The Protocol is openly violating its own rules and has effectively delegated forest carbon accounting standards to a secret, industry-led working group. ghgpolicy.org/s/2026-06-08...
As it looks like Steyer isn't going to make it, @nithyaforthecity.bsky.social's race is the most important race in California by far. Most of California's housing crisis is driven by LA being awful and it'd be a massive victory if suddenly they weren't.
Nick Andert@nickandert.bsky.social · 2mo agoIt’s over, we did it!
“The group is organizing a memorial bike ride for O’Neil at 7 p.m. Monday, stretching from Palmisano Park in Bridgeport to where O’Neil was killed on Halsted Street.”
Cyclist killed in Bridgeport crash was a champion for Chicago biking, worked on city’s safe streets program
Riley O’Neil, 35, was riding his bike Friday afternoon when he was hit with a car door and sent into traffic where an oncoming semitruck hit him. He is at least the third cyclist killed by a driver th...
chicago.suntimes.com
For all the talk about "ultra-processed foods," I doubt most people know its history and definition. It's not actually based on processing as such, but on the presence of substances that serve as markers of a food's corporate origins. www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. health agencies join fight against ‘ultraprocessed foods’—whatever they are
ome scientists criticize label as ambiguous and confusing; others call it a valuable lens on diet
science.org
COME ON! The reflecting pool is 167 feet wide. The Empire State Building (on it's narrow side!) is 187 feet wide. Willis Tower is 225 feet wide! What even is this??!! Accuse these guys of being fascists all you want, but I assure you they have no idea what an axis is.
