Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Paasha Mahdavi @paashamahdavi.com · 20d

Last week’s bills are important steps in California’s contribution to fighting climate change. But the inclusion of oil-industry handouts in bills like SB 237 was a raw deal we didn’t need to make.

My thoughts for @lauraklivans.bsky.social @kqednews.kqed.org

www.kqed.org/science/1998...

Newsom Signs Climate, Energy Bills Charting State Course Through Perilous ‘Mid-Transition’ | KQED

California has been at the forefront of bold climate policy. Now, the state is one of the first to face a messy transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.

www.kqed.org

2 9

The 2035 Initiative at UCSB @the2035initiative.bsky.social · 29d

On a new episode of A Matter of Degrees, the legendary @billmckibben.bsky.social joins the show to talk about the potential of solar power and to get inspired for @sundayofaction.bsky.social - a day of action to celebrate the power of clean energy!

Tune in here: www.degreespod.com/episodes/the...

4 4

Mat Paterson @matpaterson.bsky.social · Aug 19

Paul Tobin, @stacydvandeveer.bsky.social and I are delighted to announce our new, open access, edited book ‘Stability and politicization in climate governance’. bit.ly/45Gb6RM. It is packed full of fantastic chapters about different aspects of climate politics. Here’s a short thread. 1/

5 38 90

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · May 30

I love it!

3

Ed Maibach @maibached.bsky.social · May 28

An outbreak of sanity in TX.

thehill.com/policy/energ...

thehill.com

1 7 31

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Apr 29

CBC has projected a "liberal government" in Canada in which means it's time for my pedantic every four year gripe with Canadian media that you cannot project a government based on seat count until they cross the majority threshold.

2 1 8

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Apr 26

Ugh. This is horrible. So sorry!

3

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Apr 25

Really horrible news. I'm so sorry

9

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Mar 11

Thinking about my mentor and friend Stephen Clarkson, who would be flabbergasted by "North American" politics now. But he'd feel vindicated by our 2011 book Dependent America?, which previewed how much US economic power and security depends on Canada and Mexico. utppublishing.com/doi/book/10....

Dependent America? - University of Toronto Press

utppublishing.com

1 1 10

Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · Mar 11

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy on Mahmoud Khalil.

180 2.8K 5.9K

The 2035 Initiative at UCSB @the2035initiative.bsky.social · Mar 6

We're hiring! We are a "think and do tank" aimed at confronting the climate crisis. We are seeking a Postdoctoral Scholar in the politics of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation to support research on public responses to climate impacts and policies across the world: recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02926

13 30

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Feb 19

How 1776-ish of you

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Feb 19

I think this means you are required to tell us all what to do as the overlapping set :)

3

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Feb 12

Congratulations!!!!

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · Feb 12

www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state... This is by far the best, clearest and most realistic analysis of what we're in for that I've seen.

The Path to American Authoritarianism

What comes after democratic breakdown.

www.foreignaffairs.com

49 490 870

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · Feb 2

All of this from @pastpunditry.bsky.social. The crisis is not *legible*. Even politically attentive people have no idea - the media are not conveying the scope and magnitude of what's happening. It has to be made legible through political and institutional resistance, not passivity and resignations.

43 720 2.7K

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Jan 9

Initially once a year (via tax returns!) which was quite silly from a visibility perspective. Later, they switched to quarterly direct deposits. Cheques would have been better (as arguably the Trump stimulus cheques worked well!)

1 5

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Jan 9

Also a paper in US/Switzerland showing that mild political cues erode hypothetical preferences for progressive rebate structures: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

The role of rebates in public support for carbon taxes - IOPscienceSearch

The role of rebates in public support for carbon taxes, Anders Fremstad, Matto Mildenberger, Mark Paul, Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen

iopscience.iop.org

3

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Jan 9

Yeah. We published this piece a few years ago which you probably saw: www.nature.com/articles/s41.... We have a more recent paper I can share a draft of which shows that, no matter how you cut it, ideology trumps material factors in shaping people's preferences for carbon rebates.

Limited impacts of carbon tax rebate programmes on public support for carbon pricing - Nature Climate Change

Carbon tax rebate programmes have received increasing interest with the potential to raise public support for carbon pricing. However, results of online surveys based on existing real-world policies d...

www.nature.com

1 2 16

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Dec 22

Truly utterly insane. A memory care facility!!

Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein.bsky.social · Dec 22

Dallas Express reports that sitting 81-year-old congresswoman Kay Granger is secretly residing in a memory care and assisted living facility.

Granger hasn't cast any votes since July, isn't answering phone calls and vacated her physical office sometime before Thanksgiving.

EXCLUSIVE: Where is Congresswoman Kay Granger?

Amid the ongoing drama in D.C. with Congress debating on an interim spending bill a key question has arisen, "Where is Congresswoman Kay Granger?"

dallasexpress.com

2 2 5

Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein.bsky.social · Dec 22

Dallas Express reports that sitting 81-year-old congresswoman Kay Granger is secretly residing in a memory care and assisted living facility.

Granger hasn't cast any votes since July, isn't answering phone calls and vacated her physical office sometime before Thanksgiving.

EXCLUSIVE: Where is Congresswoman Kay Granger?

Amid the ongoing drama in D.C. with Congress debating on an interim spending bill a key question has arisen, "Where is Congresswoman Kay Granger?"

dallasexpress.com

86 280 1.4K

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Dec 4

I'm sorry - they are really thinking about nominating another House Republican for an admin position (Graves to FAA???). I'm sure Johnson can pass a massive reconciliation bill in the first 100 days with a 216-215 house majority, easiest lift for a house speaker ever.

2 11

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · Dec 3

ICYMI (I first learned about this from @prof-b-t.bsky.social's feed): turns out a governor can't unilaterally undo the will of the legislature, in this case for Virginia to be part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI):
www.eenews.net/articles/cou...

Court rejects Virginia’s exit from RGGI

The decision is a blow to Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who initiated efforts to withdraw from the carbon trading program.

www.eenews.net

3 7 31

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Dec 3

Can't wait for my native New Brunswick (pop: 775k) to become the new Wyoming and get the same number of Dem Senators as California. Lol. 10 new Canadian states would be a terrific way to break the filibuster!

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · Dec 3

"Trump suggested to Trudeau that Canada become the 51st state, which caused the prime minister and others to laugh nervously, sources told Fox News. But he continued, telling Trudeau that prime minister is a better title, though he could still be governor” www.foxnews.com/politics/tru...

Trump suggests Canada become 51st state after Trudeau said tariff would kill economy: sources

President-elect Trump told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau his country should become the 51st state if it can't fix trade and immigration issues without ripping off the U.S.

www.foxnews.com

2 16

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · Dec 3

"Trump suggested to Trudeau that Canada become the 51st state, which caused the prime minister and others to laugh nervously, sources told Fox News. But he continued, telling Trudeau that prime minister is a better title, though he could still be governor” www.foxnews.com/politics/tru...

Trump suggests Canada become 51st state after Trudeau said tariff would kill economy: sources

President-elect Trump told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau his country should become the 51st state if it can't fix trade and immigration issues without ripping off the U.S.

www.foxnews.com

500 480 1.5K

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Dec 1

I never saw this. Amazing!!!

1

Jeff Colgan @jeffcolgan.bsky.social · Dec 1

Post an Onion headline that lives in your head rent-free

theonion.com/perky-canada...

7 25 150

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Nov 29

Great thread on the insanity of the current moment

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · Nov 29

a lot of fanfare being made about elon musk threatening on X dot com to axe this position in the federal government…

but i wonder if anyone has connected the dots enough to tell him this person today helps tesla.

Via CNN: One of the posts reads: “I don’t think the US taxpayers should pay for the employment of a ’Director of Climate Diversification (she/her)’ at the US International Development Finance Corporation,” with a partial screengrab of an employee and her location.

Musk, who called himself “super pro climate” in an X post last year, reposted and commented: “So many fake jobs.” The post has received more than 33 million views and a storm of negative comments. Some called the role a “fraud job” and others demanded Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency cut jobs like it. One user commented: “Gravy train is over.”

1

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · Nov 29

a lot of fanfare being made about elon musk threatening on X dot com to axe this position in the federal government…

but i wonder if anyone has connected the dots enough to tell him this person today helps tesla.

5 32 140

Matto Mildenberger @mattomildenberger.bsky.social · Nov 25

Agreed. Savvy threat that creates credible shareholder pressure on Tesla/Musk.

3