Jay Turner
@jayturner.bsky.social
Environmental Studies Professor at Wellesley College. Author of Charged: A History of Batteries and Lessons for a Clean Energy Future (2022). Tracking and analyzing clean energy supply chains at https://www.the-big-green-machine.com
Since taking office, Trump’s policies have SLOWED - closed, delayed, etc. - 78 clean energy manufacturing projects worth $76 billion and 74,430 jobs. 127 projects have ADVANCED - moving toward construction or operation - worth $68B and 63,910 jobs. www.the-big-green-machine.com/post-trump-s...
Fascinating new research paper asks: why did Biden receive so little political credit for his enormous investments in manufacturing? Turns out people give all the credit to governors (ironically, in this case, mostly red-state governors who were hostile to the policy!).
Why Biden-era clean energy investment policies had limited political returns | PNAS
The Biden Administration enacted the largest federal policy framework to incentivize clean energy and decarbonization in U.S. history. We examine w...
pnas.org
Wondering when a next-generation battery chemistry will make long-duration electricity storage possible? It is getting closer. Form's iron air batteries could be that technology, providing days, not just hours, of back up. This project is still years away - 2028 - but it could be a game changer.
Canary Media Inc.@canarymedia.com · 5mo agoNEW: Google will pay Minnesota’s Xcel Energy to build tons of wind and solar generation — and the power produced will be stored in Form Energy batteries.
Today, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding: the ruling that served as the basis for limits on tailpipe emissions and power plant rules. Without it, we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change—all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money.
WATCH: Trump, EPA's Zeldin announce end of scientific basis for U.S. action on climate change
The Trump administration on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, the most aggressiv...
pbs.org
As a historian of science, I was raised to think rejecting science was a pathology of anti-democratic governments. Well, this might be the proof of that. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/c...
Trump Administration Erases the Government’s Power to Fight Climate Change
nytimes.com
It is so important to keep hammering in this point. People always ask me why I would have to go visit archives - why not just look at a scan? Because they haven’t been scanned! And they are never going to be! There are millions & millions of pieces of paper in every archive.
Faine Greenwood@faineg.bsky.social · 6mo agoRight, another key thing that historians do is working with important records that have not been digitized. And the vast majority of the world’s records *have not been digitized* and thus do not exist in any format that LLMs/AI can work with.
Compelling piece from Julie Michelle Klinger on what the US can do to shore up the domestic supply of rare earths - recycle what is already in circulation, reduce waste, and expand domestic processing. #energysky www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/o...
Opinion | America’s Rare-Earths Solution Is Hiding in Plain Sight
nytimes.com
The Trump administration's policies have cost the US yet another manufacturing opportunity: Lyten's plans for a $1 billion lithium-sulfur gigafactory employing 1000 people in Nevada have fallen through, as it shifts its manufacturing plans to Europe. #energysky mynews4.com/news/local/n...
No more gigafactory: Lyten's plan to build lithium-sulfur facility in Reno falls through
The plan to build the world's first lithium-sulfur gigafactory northeast of the Reno Stead Airport has fallen through, according to representatives with the Ren
mynews4.com
Jay Turner@jayturner.bsky.social · 7mo agoIn year one, Trump’s policies have SLOWED - closed, delayed, etc. - 70 clean energy manufacturing projects worth $74B and 68,958 jobs. 109 projects have still ADVANCED - moving toward construction or operation - worth $61B and 61,107 jobs. www.the-big-green-machine.com/post-trump-s... 🔌💡
Trump's foreign policy doesn't make any sense. But it might if you look at it through the right lens. My @wellesley.edu colleague Stacie Goddard co-wrote this piece explaining the shortcomings of Trump's "neoroyalist" approach to international politics. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/o...
Opinion | This Theory Explains Trump’s Baffling Foreign Policy
nytimes.com
In 1995, Congressional Republicans eliminated the Office of Technology Assessment - Congress' source of non-partisan scientific & technical advice. Now Republicans have fired or pushed _10,000_ PhD scientists out of the executive branch (over 100Kyrs of experience). www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office
A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies
science.org
In year one, Trump’s policies have SLOWED - closed, delayed, etc. - 70 clean energy manufacturing projects worth $74B and 68,958 jobs. 109 projects have still ADVANCED - moving toward construction or operation - worth $61B and 61,107 jobs. www.the-big-green-machine.com/post-trump-s... 🔌💡
Trump + 11 months: Investments in US clean energy manufacturing were hit hard last month. We are now tracking 69 projects, $70.5B in investment, and 66,758 jobs that have been delayed, shrunk, paused, or cancelled since Trump took office. www.the-big-green-machine.com/post-trump-s... 🔌💡
The suspension is the latest step by the administration to hobble offshore wind in its push against renewable energy sources. It comes 2 weeks after a federal judge struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking wind energy projects, calling it unlawful. 🔌💡 apnews.com/article/trum...
Trump administration suspends 5 wind projects off the East Coast, cites national security concerns
The Trump administration is suspending leases for five large-scale offshore wind projects under construction on the East Coast due to what it said were national security risks identified by the Pentag...
apnews.com
The immediate impact of Ford's retooling is the loss of a lot of jobs. Ford says it plans to hire 2100 people for the new LFP lines - and current BlueOval employees can apply - but that isn't slated to go into production until 2027. #energysky
Kentucky Public Radio@kentuckypublicradio.org · 8mo agoThe entire workforce at the BlueOval SK electric vehicle battery park in Kentucky is being laid off, as Ford announces it is repurposing the Glendale plant to manufacture battery storage for energy customers. From WKU:
In 2021, SK and Ford joined forces to build 3 BlueOval battery factories. Now they are breaking up. @electrek.co reports SK is looking for more flexibility to sell to other automakers and for storage applications. Ford keeps KY plants; SK keeps TN plant. #energysky electrek.co/2025/12/11/f...
Ford and SK On kill massive $11.4B US battery joint venture, split factories between them
In a massive shakeup for the US electric vehicle supply chain, Ford and South Korean battery giant SK On announced...
electrek.co
ASEH Launching New Research Grants for Early Career Scholars ASEH will award up to six $500 grants in 2026 to support early career scholars doing research in environmental history. Apply today by following this link: forms.gle/AQXjPeMw5DBa...
HUGE: In a letter to Congress, more than 140 solar companies detail how the Trump permitting freeze on renewables is worse than imagined and hitting copious projects on private lands They’re asking Congress to intervene and say “bipartisan permitting reform” won’t help without forcing Trump’s hand
Solar Industry Group Describes Trump’s ‘Complete Moratorium on Permitting’
A letter from the Solar Energy Industries Association asks for Congress’ help to reverse the administration’s effective permitting ban.
heatmap.news
An article I cowrote with Andy Schultz and David McCune providing some highlights from a research project that analyzed various voting systems. theconversation.com/ranked-choic...
Ranked choice voting outperforms the winner-take-all system used to elect nearly every US politician
Ranked choice voting largely avoids the pitfalls of plurality voting, giving voters the power to express their true candidate preferences rather than being strategic.
theconversation.com
I’m proud of the work we have done and continue to do. I’m Trying not to hate the name change, but most of us came here for the mission. Most labs are named after places because they could not or didn’t want to announce their mission. We always got to be proud of ours. I hope we still can be. 🔌💡
Justin Gerdes@justingerdes.bsky.social · 8mo agoThe Trump administration says it has renamed the National Renewable Energy Laboratory the "National Laboratory of the Rockies." "The renaming is effective immediately and will be reflected in all public communications and official correspondence." www.nrel.gov/news/detail/... 🔌💡
1) The editor of Cell Reports Sustainable, a new open-access journal from Cell Press, graciously invited me to do a short Q&A about our new paper, "Distribution grids may be a barrier to residential electrification." Pasting the Q&A in a short 🧵 if anyone's interested. www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Distribution grids may be a barrier to residential electrification
Replacing fossil-fueled machines with electric alternatives can reduce emissions, but Priyadarshan et al. find that reinforcing United States distribution grids to accommodate complete home and vehicl...
cell.com
Beyond depraved: "Hours after her detainment, court documents obtained by ABC News show that a federal judge ordered the government not to remove the 19-year-old from the U.S. and not to transfer her outside of Massachusetts. But Lopez Belloza was deported to Honduras the next day."
19-year-old college student deported despite judge's order blocking her removal: Lawyer
A 19-year-old college student who was on her way to surprise her family for Thanksgiving break was detained at a Boston airport and later deported.
abcnews.go.com
Gravel Influencer@gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 8mo agoI feel much safer today knowing that we deported a Babson College student back to a country where she hasn't lived since childhood. She wasn't even flying internationally. She was flying to Texas.
In the US, the lead-acid battery industry, led by @batterycouncil.bsky.social (founded in 1924) has been championing the industry as the model for recycling and re-use lead-acid batteries since the 1990s. Here is what you'll see on their website: batterycouncil.org/battery-fact...
Industry rightly claims that 99% of US lead-acid batteries are recycled. When done cheaply, that recycled lead comes at a grave cost to workers and communities around the world. #energysky
Timmons Roberts@timmonsroberts.bsky.social · 8mo agoSecond part of this great, devastating, reporting. "As the auto industry struggled through the subsequent financial crisis, other car companies and battery retailers also declined to sign on. Green Lead collapsed" Explore this gift article. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/w...
US clean energy manufacturing investments slowed again last month. We are now tracking 64 projects, $66.8B in investment, and 66,488 jobs at The Big Green Machine that have been delayed, shrunk, paused, or cancelled since Trump took office. www.the-big-green-machine.com/post-trump-s... 🔌💡
Wow. Just to add to the data points below. US coal exports in 2024 were ~$9.4B. So far this year, China has exported approximately $60 billion in batteries for battery energy storage systems and components.
Jesse D. Jenkins@jessedjenkins.com · 9mo agoBattery export boom: China has exported approximately $60 billion in battery energy storage systems and components in the first three quarters of 2025, up 24% from last year www.reuters.com/markets/comm... US export comparisons in 2024: Soy, $25b. LNG, $28.9b. Auto exports, $59.2b. 🔌💡
"There is no playbook for reducing exposure when people’s homes are being sprinkled with lead dust from the sky." A sobering piece from the NYTimes on the dire consequences of the international trade in recycled lead for front-line communities in Africa. #energysky www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The Auto Industry’s Lead Recycling Program is Poisoning People (Gift Article)
We documented the toxic fallout of a green technology.
nytimes.com
Do you teach #envhist? If so, @aseh.bsky.social's Early Career Caucus has put together a fantastic panel to discuss ideas for planning environmental history courses! Details below…
ASEH Early Career Caucus@asehearlycareer.bsky.social · 9mo agoJoin the ASEH ECC's first event of this semester! "A Discussion on Environmental History Course Planning" on Monday, November 17th at 12pm EST via Zoom. See you all there! stonybrook.zoom.us/j/9422405381...
Hey @volts.wtf - remember your "one weird trick" essay about Democratic trifectas for strong renewable energy policy? House Democrats in the MA Legislature are apparently trying to prove you wrong. commonwealthbeacon.org/energy/sweep...
Sweeping energy bill to weaken 2030 climate goals clears key House committee - CommonWealth Beacon
The measure is ushering in an unexpected — and messy — debate over the state’s overall policy push to meet its 2030 climate commitments as Gov. Maura Healey’s energy affordability package filed earlie...
commonwealthbeacon.org
There are dark clouds on the horizon for Massachusetts climate policy. A new House bill proposes major changes to Massachusetts's policy. See thread below.
Alex Barron@alexrbarron.bsky.social · 9mo agoMA and New England climate folks - Has anyone seen the text of this House bill? Cutting the 2030 climate goal, reducing Mass Save efficiency spending, sounds bad. 🔌💡 commonwealthbeacon.org/energy/house...
