Patrick Bigger
@pmbigger.bsky.social
Research Director @cplusc.bsky.social // co-director @transitionsec.bsky.social Political economy in the climate+ecological crisis. Terrible taste in music. climateandcommunity.org // transitionsecurity.org // https://bit.ly/pb_pubs
The war in Iran is gonna be one of those things that students learning about it in the future will be like "wait... why?" and their teacher or prof will just shrug and remind them it was eventually named Trump's Folly or The War for Nothing or whatever
We're seeking a Senior Associate, Finance and Operations who blends operational savvy, financial management, and commitment to supportive and transparent culture. Learn more and apply: climateandcommunity.org/careers/
The Green New Deal for Public Schools Act would invest $1.6 trillion over 10 years to provide healthy, green upgrades to every K-12 public school in the nation while tackling educational, environmental, and racial inequity. 🧵
Senator Ed Markey@markey.senate.gov · 6d agoAcross the country, kids are trying to learn in buildings with broken heat, leaky roofs, and hazardous ventilation systems. I’m proud to introduce the Green New Deal for Public Schools Act with @jayapal.house.gov to reinvest in our students, our planet, and our future.
@cplusc.bsky.social is hiring again! We're looking for someone to join our operations team. This role will be critical to implementing some big changes we're aiming to make that will allow us to be even more effective winning transformative climate+economic policy. climateandcommunity.org/careers/
Work With Us - Climate and Community Institute
Job opportunities at the Climate and Community Institute
climateandcommunity.org
Agree with @jamellebouie.net that it's pretty clear Elon Musk wanted to eviscerate USAID *for the purpose of killing as many African people as possible.* Mass death wasn't an accidental byproduct of his "deep state" paranoia; it was a key mission of DOGE. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/o...
The world is a little dimmer today. Writing this for my friend and colleague Sarah Knuth was agonizing and we miss her so much, but we also celebrate Sarah's memory and push forward on the struggles that she cared about so deeply. climateandcommunity.org/bio/sarah-kn...
Sarah Knuth (In Memoriam) - Climate and Community Institute
climateandcommunity.org
Still reeling from this. Sarah was kind of an academic aunt to me through grad school and after. She was brilliant, but she used her brilliance to collaborate and to make everyone around her feel smarter, funnier, and more hopeful. Unreal to inhabit this dumber, drearier world without her.
Patrick Bigger@pmbigger.bsky.social · last wk.The world is a little dimmer today. Writing this for my friend and colleague Sarah Knuth was agonizing and we miss her so much, but we also celebrate Sarah's memory and push forward on the struggles that she cared about so deeply. climateandcommunity.org/bio/sarah-kn...
The world is a little dimmer today. Writing this for my friend and colleague Sarah Knuth was agonizing and we miss her so much, but we also celebrate Sarah's memory and push forward on the struggles that she cared about so deeply. climateandcommunity.org/bio/sarah-kn...
Sarah Knuth (In Memoriam) - Climate and Community Institute
climateandcommunity.org
Trump's whole-of-government assault on clean energy isn't just a disaster for the planet, it's a catastrophe for the whole economy, with effects that will grow exponentially Gift link to my column for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Quashed Cleantech Opportunities Are Costing Us Billions
Ever wonder about the financial implications of your life choices? Taking one job over another, spending Christmas with your nephew instead of working through it at your financial firm, that time Bitc...
bloomberg.com
“We’re not asking for permission to be here. We’re playing.” In February, USA Rugby banned transgender women from competing in women's matches. It was, on paper, a massive blow to the Baltimore Ferals, one of hundreds of teams affiliated with International Gay Rugby. Instead, they kept playing.
New report by the Oakland Institute reveals that the rush for critical minerals is not about a green transition. More than 70% of mineral demand comes from industries outside the energy transition, like aerospace, military, Big Tech, and AI sectors. reddmonitor.substack.com/p/rush-globa...
RUSH: Global Scramble for Minerals Wages War on People and Planet
New report from the Oakland Institute highlights how the military, AI, and corporate interests are driving the global rush for critical minerals.
reddmonitor.substack.com
It's the time of year when this NASA page about wildfires and climate change becomes sadly relevant. But the good news is that the page is still up! It walks through the ways we know that our warming climate is causing larger and more destructive wildfires - the evidence is clear.
Karin Kirk@karinkirk.bsky.social · last yr.I wrote this NASA page about wildfires and climate change, and I'm so excited it's finally live. It's a tireless effort to get big pages published at NASA - as it should be! How long will it remain up? Who knows. Check it out while you still can. 🧪 #climatesky science.nasa.gov/wildfires-an...
Terrible air quality in the nation's capital today, brought to you by Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell, the American Petroleum Institute, et al.
Capital Weather@capitalweather.com · 3w agoImportant: Thick plume of smoke expected to reach DC area by Friday, with probable CODE RED, unhealthy air quality. Folks vulnerable to particle pollution should limit time outside, wear N95 mask. Best bet stay inside w/ windows closed, AC running. Details: www.capitalweather.com/wildfire-smo...
As fire season heats up and wildfire smoke begins to choke cities up and down the East Coast, a reminder that this administration has gutted the Forest Service, making fire prevention and responses even harder. Read more from @cplusc.bsky.social fellow Sara Nelson on our substack
Setting Fire to the Forest Service
The Trump administration’s USFS reorganization plan is bad news for people and the planet
climatecommunityinstitute.substack.com
Moratoria are one of few levers of democratic intervention able to pause Al data center developments. We hope they are a step toward more deliberate governance and the beginning of a conversation around reorienting public investments toward critical social infrastructure rather than private profit.
More Perfect Union@moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 3w agoNY Governor Kathy Hochul has just made New York the first state with a hyperscale data center moratorium. Hochul signed an executive order instituting a one-year ban on data centers over 50 megawatts rather than signing legislation passed by the legislature that also included a one-year ban.
As fire season heats up and wildfire smoke begins to choke cities up and down the East Coast, a reminder that this administration has gutted the Forest Service, making fire prevention and responses even harder. Read more from @cplusc.bsky.social fellow Sara Nelson on our substack
Setting Fire to the Forest Service
The Trump administration’s USFS reorganization plan is bad news for people and the planet
climatecommunityinstitute.substack.com
And of course next year Memphis will have a GOP congressman, bc Rs used Callais to split the city up into safe red districts.
NWArkProgressive@arkprogressive.bsky.social · 4w agono one is paying any attention to what djt is doing to majority black cities like Memphis www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/u...
Check out this new report we worked on with @cplusc.bsky.social. "The AI and data center buildout is not the spontaneous outcome of an imagined 'free market.'...We are witnessing a corporate takeover of state capacity."
AI First: How the Federal Government is Prioritizing AI Over People and Planet
The data center boom shows that world-altering infrastructure can rapidly expand when the interests of state and capital are aligned.
stopgreedbuildgreen.climateandcommunity.org
Climate and Community Institute@cplusc.bsky.social · last mo.NEW: The AI boom didn’t happen spontaneously. It’s the result of a corporate takeover of state capacity, setting the stage for Big Tech to make a killing while inflicting deep, lasting pain on the working class. @zeteo.com covers our latest research 🧵
"Climate Shift Index (CSI) levels of 5 — the highest possible — are forecast across the eastern U.S., meaning human-caused climate change made this extreme heat at least 5x more likely. This signals an exceptional climate-influenced event." 🔥 ➡️ Learn more: www.climatecentral.org/climate-shif...
3 Tech Giants Driving the AI Data Center Boom Avoided $50 Billion in Taxes Last Year A new report from @cplusc.bsky.social reveals how the Trump administration is actively facilitating the data center contagion sweeping the nation. @premthakker.bsky.social breaks it down: zeteo.com/p/50-billion...
The climate crisis is here with a vengeance: A brutal heat dome is settling over the Midwest and East Coast, with 150 million people facing extreme temperatures.🧵
Jeff Berardelli @weatherprof.bsky.social · last mo.150 Million people will endure extreme heat this week - that’s almost 1/2 of the US population! Can’t say I remember extreme heat this large! Feels like temps up to 115 in the purple with heat + humidity in one of the most expansive heatwaves to hit the Eastern half of US in many years. #heatwave
NEW: The AI boom didn’t happen spontaneously. It’s the result of a corporate takeover of state capacity, setting the stage for Big Tech to make a killing while inflicting deep, lasting pain on the working class. @zeteo.com covers our latest research 🧵
Zeteo@zeteo.com · last mo.3 Tech Giants Driving the AI Data Center Boom Avoided $50 Billion in Taxes Last Year A new report from @cplusc.bsky.social reveals how the Trump administration is actively facilitating the data center contagion sweeping the nation. @premthakker.bsky.social breaks it down: zeteo.com/p/50-billion...
What happens with the AI boom ends, for the economy and for markets? Our piece on an interesting report from the Bank for International Settlements 👇 AI ‘exuberance’ risks ending in lengthy investment bust, BIS warns www.ft.com/content/e81c...
If you'll be in London during Climate Week, join us for this agenda-setting panel on the war/warming interface!
Transition Security Project@transitionsec.bsky.social · 2mo agoPANEL EVENT: Securing The Future? War and Peace in a Warming World Join us at London Climate Week with @samar42.bsky.social, @adriennebuller.bsky.social, Adam Hanieh, Guillaume Long and Lorah Steichen. 🗓️ Fri 26 June ⏰ 6.30-8.30PM 📍 Science Gallery, London, SE1 9GU 🎟️ luma.com/ohafnco9
I think this is right, though my guess is most capitalists opposed decarb bc it threatens more public power & regulation, not bc decarb as such is a problem. Ofc some sectors are structurally antagonistic to decarb. But most capitalists can be mobilized to insane ends to resist being told what to do
JW Mason@jwmason.bsky.social · 2mo agoAn idea I've been playing with for a while is that one of the core elements of the political economy of Trumpism is that a critical mass of the US capitalist class decided that decarbonization was not worth the costs to them.
