David Fickling
@davidfickling.bsky.social
Climate columnist at @opinion.bloomberg.com. Migrant from London to Warrane/Sydney. These are my views. If you don't like them, well, I have others.
It’s always useful when events cause people to pay attention to the serious and compounding effects of climate change, but … the last time the UK was self-sufficient in food, its big geopolitical worry was a Napoleonic invasion. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Britain could face food shortages as drought continues, farmers warn
Farmers battle to salvage what they can of their crops as heatwave set to continue
theguardian.com
Guyana finds itself rich in oil resources in a world that wants a share of the bounty
Guyana Is Feeling the Crushing Weight of Its Oil Boom
The government risks overpromising and underdelivering to its people while global interests eye its bounty of resources.
bloom.bg
Meanwhile China has 90% of downstream vibranium refining capacity
Asperas Bompar@asperasbompar.bsky.social · 6d agoWakanda tariffs going to get doubled now
“That’s one of those irregular verbs, isn’t it? *I* restore orderly functioning in FX markets, *you* are manipulating your currency, *China* is using predatory mercantilism to deindustrialize the planet”
Reuters@reuters.com · 5d agoEXCLUSIVE: Bessent's 'to do' list: buy $5-10 billion worth of Japanese yen, Reuters photo shows reut.rs/4w1pLC6
Food $200 Data $150 Rent $800 Japanese Yen (JPY) $5bn-$10bn Utility $150 someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. my family is dying
Most NESW places I’ve been: N: St Petersburg, Russia E: Nuku’alofa, Tonga S: Hobart, Australia W: Alofi, Niue
@tuna-mouth.bsky.social · 5d agoMost NESW place I’ve been to: North: Aarhus 🇩🇰 East: Kremenets 🇺🇦 South: Garmisch-Partenkirchen 🇩🇪 West: Brighton 🇬🇧
Loving this could-never-happen-here NYT story about a strange foreign country where people ignore the rise of authoritarianism to chase bling and Insta likes www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/w...
This Country Is Ravaged by War, but Its Rich Feel ‘Positive Vibes Only’
The lifestyles of the wealthy in Myanmar — nightclubs, caviar and trips abroad — have been largely untouched by years of deadly conflict.
nytimes.com
The hilarious meta aspect of this story about used EV prices in the US rising is how long they take to reach the obvious (but repugnant to The Discourse) conclusion, that people really like the EVs that US carmakers don’t want to sell them www.cnbc.com/2026/07/31/u...
EV prices aren't following the 'law of used cars,' analyst says — what it means for buyers and sellers
The prices for used electric vehicles have risen this year, which is unusual, experts said. Affordability and high gas prices help explain why, they said.
cnbc.com
"The images of holiday homes’ swimming-pool water being drained to use on the encroaching flames should dispel the notion that developed countries are immune" Gift link to @lararhiannon.bsky.social 's column for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
France and Spain Wildfires Are the New Reality
The normally idyllic landscapes of rural France and Spain now look closer to hell. Multiple aggressive wildfires have been sweeping through regions of both countries for weeks, filling the skies with ...
bloomberg.com
Your regular reminder that GM’s best-selling model line globally is not the Silverado 1500 but the Wuling Hongguan Mini EV, a Chinese electric car that costs less than $10,000
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last wk.Trump: "Chevy Ss-- well, I hear it's good -- Silverado. Really hot, right? It's gonna be hotter after today."
Most clothes are made from oil, leaving cheap fast fashion exposed to the Iran war. @davidfickling.bsky.social explains why recycled fibers could offer protection 🎥
It’s so perfect that the company is named after a terrifying parasite that an amoral company wants to unleash on the world for military-industrial complex reasons. openai.com/index/huggin...
OpenAI and Hugging Face partner to address security incident during model evaluation
OpenAI and Hugging Face share early findings from a security incident during AI model evaluation, highlighting advanced cyber capabilities and lessons for defenders.
openai.com
TIL that the word “loanword” is a loanword, from German “lehnwoht”
Need some instant @dieworkwear.bsky.social commentary on Infantino’s footwear choices
ENGvFRA now only the second-best news of the night out of Miami apnews.com/article/tate...
Social media influencers Andrew and Tristian Tate arrested in Miami, US Marshals Service tells AP
Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate have been arrested by federal authorities Saturday in Miami, according to U.S. Marshals Service.
apnews.com
Right now, Elon Musk’s dominance of orbital spaceflight is unquestioned. But he should watch out for China catching up, @davidfickling.bsky.social says 🎥
Would really love to know how they arrived at this figure of $1tr a year to create a non-China critical minerals supply chain, which seems off by several orders of magnitude. The entire global fossil fuels sector takes in less than $1tr/yr of investments! www.ft.com/content/c6c1...
Cutting China reliance would cost the west $23tn, research suggests
Study highlights challenge facing US and EU as they try to reduce Beijing’s dominance over strategic supply chains
ft.com
I have mostly had a congenial time on Bluesky, but worried now that it’s all going to go to hell around strongly held opinions on that red card 😀
It is incredibly confounding. We are seeing signs of climate change that are palpably, searingly obvious to everyone, but everyone in power seems intent on downplaying the link, or making out it is about “woke air conditioner attitudes” or some such nonsense.
Wolfgang Blau@wblau.bsky.social · 4w agoThe silence of most European governments about these heatwaves is confusing. As if this was only ‘weather’ that just so happens. Denial comes in so many flavours.
NEW: Eight facts about air conditioning amid an overheated global debate KEY FACT: Many European cities, on the world's fastest-warming continent, never needed AC in the past For some strange reason – I can't imagine why – many commentators prefer to ignore this
In today's story about the ongoing Iran war, oil and gas analysts write: "If China's car industry were handing out a salesman of the year award for 2026 President Trump would be a leading contender." They're talking about Chinese EVs, folks. IEA projects oil demand to fall this year🛢️ More here ⬇️
The Iran war has pushed some countries away from oil and toward clean energy
The new round of bombing in the Middle East has underscored the precarity of relying on fossil fuels. The war is speeding up the global transition to EVs, solar and batteries, experts say.
npr.org
Show this chart to anybody who tries to tell you clean energy needs government subsidies. Nobody mops up your tax dollars quite like that poor, suffering fossil fuel industry ($1.3 trillion in profits since 2021) Gift link to @davidfickling.bsky.social's column: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Who’s Really Keeping Fossil Fuels Alive? Taxpayers
To judge by the way many people discuss the energy transition, we’re engaged in a fight between green idealogues in government and academia on the one hand, and a more realistic private sector that re...
bloomberg.com
Rob Carlson@robcarlson.bsky.social · 4w agoBy @davidfickling.bsky.social "If you combine the value of public investment and public subsidies, about 59% of all money spent on the fossil fuel system came from taxpayers in 2015. By 2025, that had climbed to 68% and spiked as high as 78% in 2022." Good chart. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
On the race to mine tungsten — and the specter of global warfare: youtube.com/shorts/gxLMj...
This metal can help predict wars
YouTube video by Bloomberg Opinion
youtube.com
The Trumps are trying to mix federal $ and a company they invest in to give a boost to a tungsten mine in Kazakhstan. Because everybody is scrambling for tungsten and the opening of this mine may explain why: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
This Mine Predicts Major Wars. It’s Opening Again
The fortunes of a remote tungsten pit have risen and fallen through more than a century of conflicts. The critical mineral could now be a deterrent.
bloomberg.com
Correct your priors: Private money is going after clean energy, governments are using public money to prop up fossil fuels "About 59% of all money spent on the fossil fuel system came from taxpayers in 2015. By 2025, that climbed to 68% and spiked at 78% in 2022." www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Who’s Really Keeping Fossil Fuels Alive? Taxpayers
To judge by the way many people discuss the energy transition, we’re engaged in a fight between green idealogues in government and academia on the one hand, and a more realistic private sector that re...
bloomberg.com
So do we call it a bonk run? Bonking crisis? So many exciting possibilities
Noseybonk Thumbs Up
Alt: GIF of Noseybonk, an unintentionally nightmarish costumed character from 1970s British kids’ TV
static.klipy.com
FinTwitter@fintwitter.bsky.social · 4w agoKraken has temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals of Bonk due to an ongoing incident affecting the token, according to its website.
