Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Lawrence Vulis

Kurtis Alexander @kurtisalexander.bsky.social · 17h

California is running out of safe spots to put homes.

A look at 2024 state housing data shows that in many counties, every new home is being built in a wildfire hazard area
www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...

California is building homes deeper into wildfire country. Here’s why.

A housing shortage crisis combined with an era of climate-fueled wildfires has made building homes a fraught undertaking across much of California.

www.sfchronicle.com

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Lawrence Vulis @lvulis.bsky.social · 18h

@peark.es

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Sam Thorpe @samthorpe.bsky.social · 19h

Incredibly useful new story by @jburnmurdoch.ft.com on the 'crisis' for young college grads. Most analyses compare mid-20s workers with/without a degree. But as John points out, the relevant comparison group is actually *new entrants* with/without a degree - most non-degree workers enter at 18-19.

What the graduate unemployment story gets wrong

People with a degree are faring better, not worse than their non-graduate counterparts

www.ft.com

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Lawrence Vulis @lvulis.bsky.social · 19h

I understood that they're not volunteers! There's a ton of interest from basically everyone to figure how to mitigate wildfire risk so it's definitely topical

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Lawrence Vulis @lvulis.bsky.social · 1d

Yep he is! Super knowledgeable. Was great having him

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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 1d

Picture how big the Hoover Dam is. An absolute unit. The Hoover Dam has a power capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW).

The solar farm that the Admin just cancelled could have produces 6.2 GW of power. That's more than 3 Hoover Dams.

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 1d

SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news

Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says

It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.

heatmap.news

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Lawrence Vulis @lvulis.bsky.social · 1d

The thanks should go to the Resource Conservation District of San Diego!

We all need something tho because the news is bleak. And dumb.

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Lawrence Vulis @lvulis.bsky.social · 1d

Ok good news - We had a climate week in San Diego and at a home wildfire mitigation workshop we got 2 audience members (incl 1 HOA treasure) connected on launching a neighborhood fire safe council. So something very concrete came out, not just networking

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jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 1d

#greensky #energysky #climatesky @costasamaras.com @katie.bzky.team @mollytaft.com @volts.wtf @clarajeffery.bsky.social @fieseler.bsky.social @ericmgarcia.bsky.social

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jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 1d

SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news

Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says

It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.

heatmap.news

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Lawrence Vulis @lvulis.bsky.social · 1d

Meanwhile - bsky.app/profile/jael...

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 1d

SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news

Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says

It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.

heatmap.news

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Lawrence Vulis @lvulis.bsky.social · 1d

Deleted OP because I had a glaring error - more renewable than coal electricity production, but neither are *half* of total electricity production

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Lawrence Vulis @lvulis.bsky.social · 1d

It's hard to overstate how rapidly global energy dynamics and geopolitics are changing. More of the world's electricity was generated by renewables than by coal in the first half of the year.

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Lawrence Vulis @lvulis.bsky.social · 1d

And yeah this is essentially permanent (or 20 year, whatever lifetime of the Pv/wind install is) export of electricity production. Just a huge difference compared to oil and gas exports.

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Lawrence Vulis @lvulis.bsky.social · 1d

It's in the recent ember report, also read the same. Googling and finding other mind boggling statistics.

"Solar PV exports in August 2025 alone totalled 46 GW, greater than Australia’s entire solar capacity, setting a new record in GW terms."

ember-energy.org/latest-updat...

China's clean technology exports hit record high in August, reaching $20bn | Ember

Analysis by energy think tank Ember shows that adopting a 45% renewable energy target rather than 40% would slash EU gas imports in half and save billions in gas costs in 2030.

ember-energy.org

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Momentum Magazine @momentummag.bsky.social · 1d

A new study reveals that cycling traffic in Paris has increased by 240% between 2018 and 2023, while car traffic has steadily declined.
momentummag.com/new-study-pa...

New Study Shows How Paris Pedaled Its Way to a Cycling Revolution

Cycling through central Paris meant weaving between buses and scooters—a bold choice reserved for the fearless few.

momentummag.com

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Kees van der Leun @sustainable2050.bsky.social · 1d

District heating is one of the solutions for low-emission heating in cities. It's not easy due to high upfront, non-socialized investments and the complicated agreements needed.
But in Delft, a project for 6,000 homes is under construction, with geothermal heat!
www.omroepdelft.nl/omroepdelft/...

Buis van 180 meter gaat meters diep de grond in voor Delfts warmtenet

8-10-2025 13:57 Door Joey Hut Een 180 meter lange warmteleiding verdwijnt aan de E. du Perronlaan onder de grond. Elf hijskranen tillen de buis op de juiste hoogte, zodat het 45 centimeter dikke gevaa...

www.omroepdelft.nl

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alex block @alexblock.bsky.social · 1d

“I live my life without a transit schedule, and I like it.”

That’s a great, succinct statement about the benefits of frequent service.

David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 1d

The #1 piece of advice that TransLink's CEO offers other North American transit agencies:

Provide frequent service

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George Pearkes @peark.es · 1d

Absolute banger of a blog post from Dallas Fed economist Anton Cheremukhin who estimates breakeven payrolls have fallen to *30k* thanks to rapid declines in population growth.
www.dallasfed.org/research/eco...

Chart showing estimates of US population growth at monthly frequencies from 2017-2025 from BLS, BEA/Census, CBO, and author's calculations

Estimated monthly contributions to monthly breakeven payroll growth across population, changes in institutionalization/civilian status, and labor force participation 2017 - 2025

Estimated monthly breakeven payrolls rate from 2022-2025

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 2d

Combustion is the past, electricity is the future, pass it on.

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Clean Energy Wire | CLEW @cleanenergywire.bsky.social · 2d

City of Berlin’s solar mandate drives surge in rooftop photovoltaics

Since 2023, the number of PV systems in Germany's capital has tripled

www.cleanenergywire.org/news/city-be...

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Lawrence Vulis @lvulis.bsky.social · 2d

These trucks are big and have zero rearview visibility tbh, camera isn't marginal

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Lawrence Vulis @lvulis.bsky.social · 2d

The city is doing almost exclusively infill and thinking abt this a lot right now, based on personal conversations with people there. How to get fire safe anyfamily built and mitigate risk in place.

Reposted by Lawrence Vulis

Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 3d

There is good news on renewable energy vs. fossil fuels, just not here

My latest, please subscribe:

The (Rest of the) World is Leaving Fossil Fuels Behind

Welcome to my relaunched newsletter, with independent writing and reporting on science, politics, and policy. Read more about it here, and please subscribe at the bottom of this post to support this w...

www.gravityisgone.com

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