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Elizabeth Kolbert

@elizkolbert.bsky.social

28K followers 340 following 480 posts

I am a New Yorker staff writer and author of "H is for Hope," "Under a White Sky," and "The Sixth Extinction," and forthcoming “Life on a Little-Known Planet”, out in November. Learn more at elizabethkolbert.com.

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Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 10d

Trump administration wants to roll back regulations on HFCs (very potent greenhouse gases) OVER THE OBJECTIONS OF THE APPLIANCE INDUSTRY.

Here’s why one industry is worried about Trump’s latest climate rollback

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it would rewrite a Biden-era rule aimed at limiting hydrofluorocarbons, a potent greenhouse gas.

wapo.st

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 22d

"It was unclear whether the members all understood what they were voting for."

Kennedy’s Advisory Panel Votes to Limit M.M.R.V. Vaccine for Children Under 4

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Peter Thorne, Edgar Morgenroth

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Sep 9

"Last year, more than 90 percent of wind and solar projects commissioned worldwide produced power more cheaply than the cheapest available fossil-fuel alternative."

‘China Is the Engine’ Driving Nations Away From Fossil Fuels, Report Says

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Pamela Samuelson

Reposted by Aidan O’Sullivan

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Aug 28

If you were out to destroy the world, this is how you'd do it:

Trump, With Tariffs and Threats, Tries to Strong-Arm Nations to Retreat on Climate Goals

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by James Goodwin

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Aug 15

Guess which country is blocking an international treaty to reduce plastic pollution?

Landmark plastic talks collapse with the U.S. opposing key production limits

The multiyear attempt to curb global plastic pollution is at an impasse, with the U.S. set against the production limits that many nations see as the main solution.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Karen R. Lips

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Aug 14

First chestnuts and elms, now ash and beeches -- America's iconic trees are being killed off at a truly alarming rate.

A Race to Save a Signature American Tree From a Deadly Disease

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Jussi T. Eronen

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Aug 13

A country that gives up on mRNA vaccines is not a country you can trust with the future.

Opinion | Jay Bhattacharya: Why the NIH is pivoting away from mRNA vaccines

As a vaccine for broad public use, mRNA technology has failed to earn the public’s trust.

wapo.st

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

Dr. Robert D. Bullard @drrobertbullard.bsky.social · Aug 8

E.P.A. Moves to Cancel $7 Billion in Grants for Solar Energy - The New York Times www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/c...

E.P.A. Moves to Cancel $7 Billion in Grants for Solar Energy

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Daniel W. Drezner

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jul 29

How things are going:

These Companies Avoided Clean-Air Rules. It Took a Single Email.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Jonathan T. Overpeck, Ken Caldeira, Sabine Pahl

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jul 29

Isn't it ironic? On the day the Trump administration tries to pull the plug on the endangerment finding, millions of Americans are suffering under an extreme heat advisory.

Extreme Heat Persists in the Southeast

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Timon McPhearson, Gernot Wagner

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jul 23

Trump administration is going to go after the "endangerment finding" that's the basis of pretty much all federal climate regulation. A huge gift to the fossil fuel industry and a "screw you" to the world.

E.P.A. Is Said to Draft a Plan to End Its Ability to Fight Climate Change

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Mark Lubell

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jul 21

Climate change is bad for farmers and anyone who likes to eat:

Extreme Weather Is Driving Global Food-Price Spikes, Report Says

Staple foods—including potatoes, rice, onions, lettuce and fruit—are being hit by price shocks, according to a study led by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.

www.wsj.com

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Reposted by Flavio Lehner

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jul 13

I wrote about how Trump is dismantling the country's disaster forecasting infrastructure. But this isn't going to stop disasters from piling up -- quite the contrary.

Flash Floods and Climate Policy

As the death toll climbs in Texas, the Trump Administration is actively undermining the nation’s ability to predict—and to deal with—climate-related disasters.

www.newyorker.com

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Reposted by John Mecklin

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jul 2

The people who tried to tamper with an election are looking into bringing criminal charges against election officials who, in their opinion(!), fail to sufficiently safeguard against tampering with an election.

Justice Dept. Explores Using Criminal Charges Against Election Officials

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Sonia I. Seneviratne, Christopher Wright, Christoph Bertram , and 1 more Sonia I. Seneviratne, Christopher Wright, Christoph Bertram, Emily Grubert

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jul 2

French nuclear power plant has to close during intense heat wave, because temperatures in the river that provides cooling water are too high.

EDF shuts down Golftech nuclear plant due to high river temperature

French utility EDF said it shut down the No. 1 reactor at the Golftech nuclear power plant in southwestern France late on Sunday, ahead of an anticipated rise in the temperature of the Garonne river that supplies the plant's cooling water.

www.reuters.com

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Reposted by Fredrik Albritton Jonsson

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jun 26

I once had a fight with my publisher's lawyer over what constitutes "fair use." He said reprinting 4 lines of a poem without the poet's explicit permission was too much. But AI gobbling up whole books now counts as "fair use." Something is definitely wrong with US copyright law.

Federal court says copyrighted books are fair use for AI training

Anthropic didn’t break the law when it trained its chatbot with copyrighted books, a judge said, but it must go to trial for allegedly using pirated books.

wapo.st

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Reposted by Neil Pederson, David Leclère, Carlos Carroll

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jun 23

There are way too many things to be upset about these days, but I believe the destruction of public lands should be near the top of the list: www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Trump to strip protections from millions of acres of national forests

The USDA announced it would begin the process of rolling back protections for nearly 59 million roadless acres of the National Forest system.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Christian Flachsland

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jun 18

Nearly $900 billion...

Global Banks Increase Fossil-Fuel Funding as Climate Pledges Crumble

New report shows that banks poured nearly $900 billion into financing coal, oil and gas projects in 2024.

www.wsj.com

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Reposted by Carlos Carroll

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · May 19

"At the most basic level, the Trump administration is dismantling the government’s ability to monitor a rapidly changing climate."

The U.S. Under Trump: Alone in Its Climate Denial

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by John H. Knox

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · May 2

The new Silent Spring:

75 percent of North America’s bird species are in decline, study says

Birds are rapidly vanishing from North America, with dramatic population losses in places that were once thought safe.

wapo.st

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Reposted by Carlos Carroll

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Apr 29

What you don't assess will still hurt you.

National Climate Assessment Authors Are Dismissed by Trump Administration (Gift Article)

The Trump administration told researchers it was “releasing” them from their roles. It puts the future of the assessment, which is required by Congress, in doubt.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Matthew Davis

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Apr 21

Let them eat cake, I mean toxic chemicals. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/c...

E.P.A. Set to Cancel Grants Aimed at Protecting Children From Toxic Chemicals

The cancellations, set to apply to pending and active grants, also affect research into “forever chemicals” contaminating the food supply.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Tatiana Filatova

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Mar 31

“We now expect a 3°C world,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote earlier this month. They predicted this would be good for air conditioning stocks. Something it would not be good for? Life on Earth. www.eenews.net/articles/big...

Big banks predict catastrophic warming, with profit potential

Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and an international banking group have quietly concluded that climate change will likely exceed the Paris Agreement's 2 degree

www.eenews.net

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Reposted by Eli D. Lazarus

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Mar 25

Lead story in the NYT today is about how more kids than ever are going to college. Much farther down, how they won't have any jobs: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/b...

Layoffs and Unemployment Grow Among College Graduates (Gift Article)

The unemployment rate for college graduates has risen faster than for other workers over the past few years. How worried should they be?

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Claudia Diehl

Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · Mar 12

The EPA announced today that it will "formally reconsider" the 2009 endangerment finding, the obvious conclusion that emissions of carbon dioxide harm people and the country that underpins much of subsequent climate policy. This sucks incredibly hard.

Trump EPA Kicks Off Formal Reconsideration of Endangerment Finding with Agency Partners | US EPA

EPA News Release: Trump EPA Kicks Off Formal Reconsideration of Endangerment Finding with Agency Partners

www.epa.gov

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Reposted by Michael Gerrard

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Feb 11

“They’re doing everything possible to increase both the demand for and the supply of fossil fuels. That’s the theme that runs throughout.”

www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

The Second Trump Administration Takes Aim at the Climate

More than thirty actions and executive orders either boost fossil-fuel production or cripple programs that might reduce fossil-fuel use.

www.newyorker.com

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Reposted by Finis Dunaway

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation @xercessociety.bsky.social · Dec 10

US Fish & Wildlife has just announced their proposal to list the monarch as Threatened! ESA protections can allow us to tackle the systemic issues monarchs are facing: pesticide overuse, diseases, & habitat loss, especially at their overwintering locations.
🦋 Learn more: xerces.org/press/monarc...

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Reposted by Kevin J. O’Brien

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Nov 24

Vanuatu's statement on the outcome of #COP29 sums it up nicely: “It’s not enough. It was never going to be enough.”

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Reposted by Glenn H. Shepard

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Oct 25

Beware of "placebo hope." www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Would abandoning false hope help us to tackle the climate crisis?

Leaders are eager to fill us with positivity, but research shows people in distress are more likely to take collective action

www.theguardian.com

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