Glad to see LSE speaking out on this. Recent government actions are more than just benign neglect. To name a few: taxing a key export sector, whittling away direct funding (was 40% in 2010 now 10%), fees capped in nominal terms, restrictive immigration rules, and an unjust loan system for students.

Ben Ansell@benansell.bsky.social · 4d ago

Glad someone senior from the sector is pushing back. Labour MPs need to understand the serious real anger from graduates and the people who produce them. And the dangerous financial situation they have allowed to fester, or indeed worsened, in one of Britain’s leading sectors.

Another gobsmacking picture. I think those who (often fairly) criticise the media's picture choices at times should *also* point out that press photographers have in recent weeks given us some of the most incisive views of the climate crisis that we've ever had.

Thomas I-G@thomasig.bsky.social · 6d ago

I guess YouGov saw the volume of hot takes on this question the first time round and wanted more...

YouGov@yougov.co.uk · last wk.

We've now also asked Americans whether they would take a guaranteed $50,000 versus a 50-50 chance to win $1m, finding similar results to the UK 🇺🇸 $50,000: 65% / 50-50 chance of $1m: 25% 🇬🇧 £50,000: 73% / 50-50 chance of £1m: 21%

Lots of talk about data centers pushing up prices, raising emissions etc. But an issue I've been wondering more about is resilience. Grids are designed to be robust to things like a large power plant or transmission line failing. Curious how this evolves in the era of big (multi-GW) data centers...

Erik Nordman@eriknordman.bsky.social · 2w ago

"A massive amount of data center power abruptly disconnected from the largest U.S. electric grid on Wednesday, causing a voltage disturbance that could be felt from Washington, D.C., to Chicago, according to experts and data from grid operator PJM." #EnergySky 🔌💡 www.aol.com/articles/mas...

As summer 2026 sees temperature records tumble across Europe, at least we have 2027 to look forward to...

Zeke Hausfather@zekehausfather.com · 2w ago

2026 is on track to be the warmest (~35% chance) or second warmest (~63%) year on record, while 2027 is very likely (92% chance) to be the warmest on record on the back of a growing super El Niño event. For more, check out my new Carbon Brief State of the Climate Q2 update: www.carbonbrief.org/...

EU ETS reform proposal is out, with the usual reactions of how @ec.europa.eu now, too, is backtracking from its climate commitments. Headline: free allowances through 2037, not 2034. Except allowances now come with strings attached: spend on decarbonization. The market's verdict? EUAs are up.

Is there still a chance for "chaos with Ed Miliband"...

Persistent, terrible air quality from wildfire smoke is such a miserable, worrying new reality. I remember how bleak the California Bay Area was in 2020 - the red sky with street lights on at midday. I remember NYC in 2023. And now this morning I've woken up to find it has descended on DC.

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

As Europe bakes in another heatwave, the AC discourse rumbles on. To add some data to the debate, here's a map of residential AC uptake around the world from some forthcoming research. Given the temperatures now regularly being experienced, people in Europe really just don't have a lot of AC.

Discouraging an activity with a benefit-to-cost ratio of nearly 10:1. A triumph of policymaking.

Fall in international student numbers ‘cost UK £2.9 billion’

Latest cost-benefit analysis finds overseas enrolments generate nearly 10 times more money for UK than they take away

timeshighereducation.com

A striking electricity fact I only clocked today. 💡🔌 The PJM grid in the eastern US serves the same population as the UK with both ~70 million people. Yet PJM electricity demand is 3 times the UK! - PJM annual demand is ~850TWh vs ~300TWh in the UK - PJM peak demand is ~160GW vs ~50GW in the UK

Stephen Jarvis@stephenjarvis.bsky.social · last mo.

Heatwave on the US east coast testing the grid these last few days. Not clear if PJM will hit a record peak but should get up above 160GW again today.

Heatwave on the US east coast testing the grid these last few days. Not clear if PJM will hit a record peak but should get up above 160GW again today.

Grid operator PJM orders emergency steps to avoid large-scale US power outages

PJM, the largest U.S. power grid operator, said it ordered generators to run at maximum output and bring idle power plants online immediately on Thursday evening, as it faced escalating stress ​from a...

reuters.com

Hear hear! This entire set of reforms needs to be junked. The changes to settlement rules are morally indefensible and economically illiterate. Recent noises about a few minor concessions are mere window dressing and should not distract from the imperative to put an end to this whole sorry saga.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · last mo.

Remove home secretary Mahmood and rip up her asylum plans, says Alf Dubs

If I were in government I'd be scoping an announcement to have solar, batteries and air conditioning (heating and cooling) in every school and hospital by 2030

This feels… portentous?

Grantham Research Institute at LSE@granthamlse.bsky.social · last mo.

We regret that our event on Extreme Heat: Improving governance and strengthening action around the world has been cancelled due to the red extreme heat warning issued by the UK Met Office. Our apologies to everyone who was planning to attend the event.

California (CAISO) since January 2024.

This chart is bonkers. I think there's two possible explanations for why the UK runs so far ahead of other European countries – neither of them good. And the annual April price jump speaks to a wider issue. For more detail, see my column in this weekend's Observer. observer.co.uk/news/busines...

Fuel duty moves, Russian sanction tweaking and talk of voluntary supermarket price caps are just a total mess of a response to an energy price surge.

Had been somewhat encouraged by UK gov response to Iran energy shock up until now. This plus the weakening of sanctions on refined products from Russian oil is a real one two punch of bad policy backsliding.

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 3mo ago

Keir Starmer postpones fuel duty increase ft.trib.al/uGm03GB

- Subsidising consumption in the face of a supply shock - reducing incentives to drive less/switch to EVs - using up limited fiscal space to help better-off drivers rather than the most vulnerable. Hard to think of a worse policy right now.

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 3mo ago

Keir Starmer postpones fuel duty increase ft.trib.al/uGm03GB

This is a situation the UK (and other countries) really should try and fix.

Jan Rosenow@janrosenow.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The electricity-to-gas price ratio is the biggest barrier to electrifying European homes. Heat pumps deliver ~3 units of heat per unit of electricity. The maths works in Sweden but not everywhere. Much of gap is policy. More analysis in my forthcoming Substack newsletter janrosenow.substack.com

My paper on utility regulation with Karl Dunkle Werner is now published in @jpube.bsky.social. We examine whether energy utility companies have been allowed to earn excess profits and what the implications are for both utility investment incentives and consumer costs. (1/6) 🧵 🔌💡

Rate of return regulation revisited

Utility companies recover their capital costs through regulator-approved rates of return. Using a comprehensive database of utility rate cases, we fin…

sciencedirect.com

Some train stations in the US really are wonderful buildings. Wish there was a nationwide, high speed rail network connecting many more stations like these ones.

Reciprocating internal combustion diesel engines are probably the dirtiest, most expensive way of generating electricity. They’re used in moments of absolute peak electricity demand and usually require special environmental waivers because they produce so much local pollution. For 1 of them.

PM2.5 Kills ~9 Million People Each Year Worldwide@tkovach.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"This first phase of the Monarch Compute Campus will be a 2.16-gigawatt natural gas-fired off-grid facility. It will rely on 864 reciprocating internal combustion engines and associated equipment. Another 120 engines six burning natural gas and the others using diesel fuel for other uses."

Everyone—including robotaxi companies—should pay a fine if they violate a traffic law

The Mercury News@mercurynews.com · 3mo ago

Waymos have blocked roadways and intersections, obstructed fire and police vehicles, driven through emergency-response scenes, and passed stopped school buses.

Nice 🧵 on the new climate scenarios on the way in AR7

Zeke Hausfather@zekehausfather.com · 3mo ago

The arc of the scenario universe is long, but it bends inevitably toward more realistic emissions. A new paper outlining the emissions scenarios we will be using in the upcoming IPCC AR7 report notes that "the CMIP6 high emission levels (quantified by SSP5-8.5) have become implausible".

I'm in @theobserveruk.bsky.social today looking at why so many unis are in financial trouble and what the government needs to do to save HE. observer.co.uk/news/columni...

Why saving universities is far more than academic

Modern Britain needs young people with degrees – here’s how to make sure they still have somewhere to study them

observer.co.uk

Nice piece in the @financialtimes.com from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com. While new AI tools may seem novel/unprecedented right now, there's a lot we can probably still learn about their likely effects by looking at past technological innovations.

Giles Wilkes@gilesyb.bsky.social · 3mo ago

If you're interested in the question of what happens to *demand*, which I list here as a key reason not to fear the Jobpocalypse, then also read @jburnmurdoch.ft.com here diving into it deeper www.ft.com/content/f55c... And @aleximas.bsky.social is worth a follow on Substack

Great news! This is a really excellent opportunity for doctoral students in environmental economics.

Max(imilian) Auffhammer@auffhammer.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Guess what? The Summer School in Environmental and Energy Economics was funded again! Thanks to the Sloan Foundation! Berkeley. In person. August 17-21, 2026. Applications are due May 15th! Lineup includes J. Shapiro, T. Deryugina, R. Walker, J. Boomhower and more! www.auffhammer.com/summer-school