Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Sep 10

Robinson is a great exemplar of why so many people distrust the media in this country. Good job!

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Sep 9

Donald Trump is doing the Abundance Agenda legal-planet.org/2025/09/06/d...

The title of this blog post comes from this article, where the author originally humorously tagged Donald Trump as a degrowth activist because of his opposition to renewables, his tariffs to constrain...

legal-planet.org

Reposted by Andrew Ahern

Sabrina Fernandes @sabrinafernandes.bsky.social · Sep 3

The latest issue of the NACLA Report was co-edited by Breno Bringel and myself. NACLA is deeply committed to socio-environmental justice in the Americas, so we wanted this issue to provide insights into the state of ecological imperialism in the region, including its green capitalist facades.

Cover art by Thais Trindade. The title "NACLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS" is listed on top. The illustration is like a board game, where communities stand in the way of capitalist and extractivist powers going through the board with tractors and other machinery, commodifying forests, removing people, even as they place wind turbines and other symbols of "sustainable development". The arrow points to the endgame: Green capitalism in the americas.

1 16 70

Reposted by Andrew Ahern

bkeithb @bkeithb.bsky.social · Aug 22

@jasonhickel.bsky.social & @andrewonearth.bsky.social via @officialznet.bsky.social

znetwork.org/znetarticle/...

"Degrowth Is A Gateway Into Socialist Thought For The 21st Century"

This conversation between JASON HICKEL, professor at the Institute for Environmental Science & Technology (ICTA-UAB) at the Autonomous University of

znetwork.org

3 5

Reposted by Andrew Ahern

Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · Aug 11

I joined @andrewonearth.bsky.social for this interview reflecting on degrowth, socialism, & political power.

"Our governments are not dealing with the ecological crisis because they are capitalist. So, it is capitalism that must be overcome."

breakdownjournal.substack.com/p/interview-...

INTERVIEW with Jason Hickel: "Degrowth is a gateway into socialist thought for the 21st century"

Jason Hickel on the last five years of debating degrowth.

breakdownjournal.substack.com

5 35 83

Reposted by Andrew Ahern

The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · Aug 6

ICYMI: To mark the 5-year anniversary of his book, Less is More, @jasonhickel.bsky.social spoke to @andrewonearth.bsky.social for the *first* edition of the BREAK–DOWN newsletter.

Read now.

INTERVIEW with Jason Hickel: "Degrowth is a gateway into socialist thought for the 21st century"

Jason Hickel on the last five years of debating degrowth.

open.substack.com

3 9

Reposted by Andrew Ahern

The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · Aug 3

In need of something to read this Sunday morning?

To mark the 5-year anniversary of his book, Less is More, @jasonhickel.bsky.social spoke to @andrewonearth.bsky.social
for the *first* edition of the BREAK–DOWN newsletter:

INTERVIEW with Jason Hickel: "Degrowth is a gateway into socialist thought for the 21st century"

The limits of liberal climate politics, Jason Hickel on the last five years of debating degrowth, and a glimpse into a the dawn of a 'new Arctic'

breakdownjournal.substack.com

11 15

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Aug 1

“Degrowth should be understood as an element within a socialist transformation, as a corrective to productivist strains of socialist thought that are inadequate for our moment. The problem with productivism is that it ignores imperialism & ecology.”
breakdownjournal.substack.com/p/interview-...

INTERVIEW with Jason Hickel: "Degrowth is a gateway into socialist thought for the 21st century"

The limits of liberal climate politics, Jason Hickel on the last five years of debating degrowth, and a glimpse into a the dawn of a 'new Arctic'

breakdownjournal.substack.com

1 3 9

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Jul 31

I am honored to share my interview with @jasonhickel.bsky.social for the 5-year anniversary of his groundbreaking book, Less is More.

Also very grateful to be the first feature for the @the-breakdown.bsky.social’s new newsletter. Go read & subscribe!
breakdownjournal.substack.com/p/interview-...

INTERVIEW with Jason Hickel: "Degrowth is a gateway into socialist thought for the 21st century"

The limits of liberal climate politics, Jason Hickel on the last five years of debating degrowth, and a glimpse into a the dawn of a 'new Arctic'

breakdownjournal.substack.com

6 17

Reposted by Andrew Ahern

The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · Jul 31

“Degrowth is a gateway into socialist thought for the 21st century”

To mark the 5-year anniversary of his book, Less is More, @jasonhickel.bsky.social spoke to @andrewonearth.bsky.social for the first edition of the BREAK–DOWN newsletter

INTERVIEW with Jason Hickel: "Degrowth is a gateway into socialist thought for the 21st century"

The limits of liberal climate politics, Jason Hickel on the last five years of debating degrowth, and a glimpse into a the dawn of a 'new Arctic'

open.substack.com

10 14

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Jul 25

“At the outset, we estimated that Long-term Carbon Dioxide Removal could cost $950 billion a year to capture an amount of carbon equivalent to 25% of the world’s 2024 emissions (9.5 gigatons), assuming $100 per captured ton of carbon”
www.nature.com/articles/s44...

The social costs of solar radiation management - npj Climate Action

npj Climate Action - The social costs of solar radiation management

www.nature.com

1

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Jul 24

“Our findings show a causal association between sanctions & mortality, with the strongest effects for US sanctions. We estimate that sanctions were associated with an annual toll of 564,258 deaths, similar to the mortality associated with armed conflict.”
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Effects of international sanctions on age-specific mortality: a cross-national panel data analysis

Sanctions have substantial adverse effects on public health, with a death toll similar to that of wars. Our findings underscore the need to rethink sanctions as a foreign-policy tool, highlighting the...

www.thelancet.com

1

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Jul 24

“At the All-India level the proportion of rural/urban persons unable to reach initial official nutrition norms of 2200/2100 daily calorie intake, rose from 56.4/49.2% during 1973-4 to 58.5/56% by 1993-4 and thereafter rose faster by 2011-12 to 67/62%.”
thewire.in/economy/usin...

Using False Statistics to Claim 'Zero Poverty' Helps Nobody

The information on increase in hunger is far more direct and based on readily verifiable statistics, than are the official calculations of poverty.

thewire.in

1 1

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Jul 16

“A new report by the OECD and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that the growth of farming and livestock production worldwide will increase the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions by 6% by 2034.”
www.fao.org/newsroom/det...

OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2025-2034: Emerging economies will drive growth in animal-source food consumption and production

New edition examines market trends over the coming decade, with focus on mitigating emissions and boosting food security for the world’s poorest.

www.fao.org

3

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Jun 25

Was the Inflation Reduction Act a negative for climate emissions?

Brett Christophers suggests it may have been in his essay in
@the-breakdown.bsky.social

“Between 2021 & 2023 investment in fossil fuels in
as a whole increased more than investment in renewable energy(18%)”
x.com/AndrewsonEar...

1 4

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · May 12

Minor, but the “meat and potatoes” and “steakhouse” metaphor here is a poor one and reflects just how entrenched carbon-intensive language is a part of the everyday. Actually broccoli should be the main course! @jeremywallace.bsky.social

6

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · May 12

“The initiatives in the Climate Realism launch are the initiatives of giving up. Investing in adaptation is needed in any scenario, but tying this to notions of protecting our borders reeks of discredited lifeboat ethics, which only leaves others to suffer for our sins.”
heatmap.news/ideas/climat...

The Real Problem With ‘Climate Realism’

What the Council on Foreign Relations’ new climate program gets drastically wrong.

heatmap.news

2 6 11

Reposted by Andrew Ahern

Adrienne Buller @adriennebuller.bsky.social · May 12

"It's easy to forget that “crisis” is not simply a synonym for 'bad thing'. A crisis is a turning point... in which a decision is demanded that has not yet arrived."

@geoffmann.bsky.social & I wrote on climate politics in a strange time for the BREAK—DOWN Issue I

www.break-down.org/post/the-hea...

The Heat of the Moment

In place of paralysis or bland positivity, this is the moment for an honest reckoning with where we stand, what we are up against, and where, already, resistance is underway.

www.break-down.org

1 27 72

Reposted by Andrew Ahern

The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · Apr 23

LAUNCHING…. The first issue of our new journal – now available to pre-order on The BREAK—DOWN website 👇

linktr.ee/breakdownradio

1 31 40

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Apr 8

Maybe if the Heat Map folks were actually funny it would be different. Instead they’re just ignoring alternatives and an overwhelming amount of evidence that contradicts their milquetoast position

2

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Apr 7

This is not climate realism. It is climate delusion.

The new “centrist consensus” on climate is emerging and its highly nationalistic, flirting with more military involvement, and expecting at least 3 degrees of warming, thereby justifying geoengineering.
www.axios.com/2025/04/07/c...

"Climate realism" stresses security, mitigation and resilience

CFR's Varun Sivaram has written a provocative new essay on the approach.

www.axios.com

2 12 52

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Apr 7

Mahmoud Khalili’s Letter to Columbia from jail:

“The student movement will continue to carry the mantle of a free Palestine. History will redeem us, while those who were content to wait on the sidelines will be forever remembered for their silence.” mondoweiss.net/2025/04/mahm...

Mahmoud Khalil’s ‘Letter to Columbia’ from jail

In a scathing letter, Mahmoud Khalil writes from an ICE detention center in Louisiana, blasting Columbia University’s role in his abduction and the targeting of other student activists by the Trump ad...

mondoweiss.net

3 2

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Apr 1

"One thing was immediately clear: a warm year across the planet causes lower global growth.

We found if the Earth warms by more than 3°C by the end of the century, the estimated harm to the global economy jumped from an average of 11% to 40%."
theconversation.com/global-warmi...

Global warming of more than 3°C this century may wipe 40% off the world’s economy, new analysis reveals

To date, projections of how climate change will affect global GDP have been massively underestimated.

theconversation.com

1 2

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Mar 31

“researchers found that the amount of freshwater available for lithium extraction is about 10x lower than previous estimates. Lithium demand, which is expected to grow 40x by 2040, could outpace the limited supplies of freshwater to the Lithium Triangle.”
www.yahoo.com/news/water-s...

Water shortage threatens the world’s most abundant lithium reserves

Freshwater essential to lithium mining is running low in the world’s “Lithium Triangle,” a mineral-rich region in the Andean Plateau that stretches across parts of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile and con...

www.yahoo.com

1 3

Reposted by Andrew Ahern

Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · Dec 16

New research finds that trade is impacting biodiversity much more than previously thought. This is why consumption matters.

“international trade has caused more than 90% of loss that occurred between 1995 & 2022 due to conversion of natural areas into agricultural land”
phys.org/news/2024-12...

Land use in tropical regions: Biodiversity loss due to agricultural trade three times higher than thought

Exporting agricultural products from tropical regions to China, the U.S., the Middle East, and Europe is three times more harmful to biodiversity than previously assumed.

phys.org

5 180 300