Randy Watkins
@bluetortoise3.bsky.social
Lead Field Biologist on large water and power projects in the Eastern Mojave, from 1999-2010 for the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Link: https://www.snwa.com/infrastructure-improvements/intake3-pumping-station/index.html
Pinned
The Endangered Species Act has protected species and their habitats for over 50 years. A single word change could significantly alter the way the law is implemented. The only beneficiaries of this plan are extractive industries. 🌎 by @morgansjogren.bsky.social
This One Word Change Could Gut Our Strongest Conservation Law
The bipartisan Endangered Species Act is on the line as the federal government proposes a new change
www.sierraclub.org
The ESA protects wildlife and its habitat by preventing illegal “Take“, a legal word meaning “harass, harm, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect or attempt to engage in any such conduct“ except by federal permit. Removing HARM protection will increase their greatest threat: habitat loss.
Reposted by Randy Watkins
Happy Thanksgiving! We’re thankful for all of you, for the voices that rise up, the hearts that refuse to back down, and the courage that keeps the resistance moving forward. Tomorrow, there will be more of us. 💚✊
November 27, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Happy Thanksgiving! We’re thankful for all of you, for the voices that rise up, the hearts that refuse to back down, and the courage that keeps the resistance moving forward. Tomorrow, there will be more of us. 💚✊
Reposted by Randy Watkins
With the government now reopened, this season of gratitude and reflection feels like the right moment to recognize the extraordinary public servants who keep our country running.
1/4
1/4
November 27, 2025 at 6:00 PM
With the government now reopened, this season of gratitude and reflection feels like the right moment to recognize the extraordinary public servants who keep our country running.
1/4
1/4
Reposted by Randy Watkins
Nevada’s landscapes are full of stories—and now you can explore them from anywhere. #VirtualOutdoorExperiences blend science, culture, and interactive maps to make Nevada’s heritage accessible to all. Start exploring: www.dri.edu/voe
November 26, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Nevada’s landscapes are full of stories—and now you can explore them from anywhere. #VirtualOutdoorExperiences blend science, culture, and interactive maps to make Nevada’s heritage accessible to all. Start exploring: www.dri.edu/voe
Reposted by Randy Watkins
This week the Trump CDC attacked science — and our health, and our kids’ health — by twisting the truth on the CDC website.
There’s things to say about the playbook they used, and that’s helped by a little explanation about scientific truth in practice.
New vid explainer from me:
🧪 part 1/
There’s things to say about the playbook they used, and that’s helped by a little explanation about scientific truth in practice.
New vid explainer from me:
🧪 part 1/
November 22, 2025 at 12:04 AM
This week the Trump CDC attacked science — and our health, and our kids’ health — by twisting the truth on the CDC website.
There’s things to say about the playbook they used, and that’s helped by a little explanation about scientific truth in practice.
New vid explainer from me:
🧪 part 1/
There’s things to say about the playbook they used, and that’s helped by a little explanation about scientific truth in practice.
New vid explainer from me:
🧪 part 1/
Reposted by Randy Watkins
More attack on vaccine from RFK Jr.
CDC Quietly Turned Off Its Vaccine Search Tool. It’s Not Clear When It’s Coming Back.
“I have heard that they are planning to ‘update it’ and shudder to think what that will mean,” Demetre Daskalakis, a former member of CDC leadership, told NOTUS.
www.notus.org
November 26, 2025 at 2:18 AM
More attack on vaccine from RFK Jr.
Reposted by Randy Watkins
The fall issue of the NWRRI newsletter is now available on our website. Read now at bit.ly/nwrrinov25
Inside, you'll find articles on the research being conducted in Nevada as part of the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) program. Learn more: www.dri.edu/nwrri #NWRRI
Inside, you'll find articles on the research being conducted in Nevada as part of the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) program. Learn more: www.dri.edu/nwrri #NWRRI
November 25, 2025 at 4:50 PM
The fall issue of the NWRRI newsletter is now available on our website. Read now at bit.ly/nwrrinov25
Inside, you'll find articles on the research being conducted in Nevada as part of the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) program. Learn more: www.dri.edu/nwrri #NWRRI
Inside, you'll find articles on the research being conducted in Nevada as part of the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) program. Learn more: www.dri.edu/nwrri #NWRRI
Reposted by Randy Watkins
REMINDER! Applications for the 2026 David J. Morafka Memorial Research Award are due November 30.
The award was established, with the aid of several donors, to help support research that contributes to the understanding, management and conservation of tortoises of the genus Gopherus...
The award was established, with the aid of several donors, to help support research that contributes to the understanding, management and conservation of tortoises of the genus Gopherus...
November 18, 2025 at 5:36 PM
REMINDER! Applications for the 2026 David J. Morafka Memorial Research Award are due November 30.
The award was established, with the aid of several donors, to help support research that contributes to the understanding, management and conservation of tortoises of the genus Gopherus...
The award was established, with the aid of several donors, to help support research that contributes to the understanding, management and conservation of tortoises of the genus Gopherus...
Reposted by Randy Watkins
What was lost with recent federal defunding of 3 out of 9 regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs), written by leaders/staff from Northeast, South Central and Pacific Islands CASCs.
We haven't given up on getting their funding restored, along with other cuts to the rest of the network.
We haven't given up on getting their funding restored, along with other cuts to the rest of the network.
From invasive species tracking to water security – what’s lost with federal funding cuts at US Climate Adaptation Science Centers
The people who manage America’s aquifers, wetlands, shorelines and recreation areas rely on federal science as they face new and rising risks in a changing climate.
theconversation.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:03 AM
What was lost with recent federal defunding of 3 out of 9 regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs), written by leaders/staff from Northeast, South Central and Pacific Islands CASCs.
We haven't given up on getting their funding restored, along with other cuts to the rest of the network.
We haven't given up on getting their funding restored, along with other cuts to the rest of the network.
Reposted by Randy Watkins
NEW: When RFK Jr. first told Trump that Tylenol might cause autism, the president wanted to tweet out a warning. Kennedy told him not to do that. There was nuance, and the drug companies would push back. “I don’t give a shit about that,” Trump responded. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
The Most Powerful Man in Science
Why is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. so convinced he’s right?
www.theatlantic.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:18 AM
NEW: When RFK Jr. first told Trump that Tylenol might cause autism, the president wanted to tweet out a warning. Kennedy told him not to do that. There was nuance, and the drug companies would push back. “I don’t give a shit about that,” Trump responded. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Randy Watkins
I'm seeing claims that progress was made at #COP30, but it really wasn't. Each passing year with no fossil fuel phaseout comes at great opportunity cost as we further burn through the vanishing carbon budget that remains for averting dangerous warming. See my commentary: michaelmann.net/bad-cop/
November 23, 2025 at 8:55 PM
I'm seeing claims that progress was made at #COP30, but it really wasn't. Each passing year with no fossil fuel phaseout comes at great opportunity cost as we further burn through the vanishing carbon budget that remains for averting dangerous warming. See my commentary: michaelmann.net/bad-cop/
Reposted by Randy Watkins
“Once a species is extinct, it’s gone. Is that the legacy we want to leave behind?” - Stephanie Adams, NPCA’s Director of Wildlife
Proposed Assault on Endangered Species Act Would Push Park Wildlife Toward Extinction
“The proposed changes, coupled with the mass firing of dedicated staff at US Fish and Wildlife and the National Park Service, put the fate of species like Pacific salmon, the ghost orchid, and the red-cockaded woodpecker in a potentially dire position. ...
www.npca.org
November 19, 2025 at 9:26 PM
“Once a species is extinct, it’s gone. Is that the legacy we want to leave behind?” - Stephanie Adams, NPCA’s Director of Wildlife
Reposted by Randy Watkins
can't believe rfk jr wants to stop me from eating red M&Ms but he'll eat *** out of an ****
November 23, 2025 at 1:49 AM
can't believe rfk jr wants to stop me from eating red M&Ms but he'll eat *** out of an ****
Reposted by Randy Watkins
Watching RFK Jr destroy U.S. health policy — while patients (including his own family) fight for their lives in hospital beds, relying on the research he attacks — is the heartbreak of our era. This isn’t leadership. It’s a betrayal of science and the people it protects.
RFK Jr has to go!
RFK Jr has to go!
A Battle with My Blood
When I was diagnosed with leukemia, my first thought was that this couldn’t be happening to me, to my family.
www.newyorker.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Watching RFK Jr destroy U.S. health policy — while patients (including his own family) fight for their lives in hospital beds, relying on the research he attacks — is the heartbreak of our era. This isn’t leadership. It’s a betrayal of science and the people it protects.
RFK Jr has to go!
RFK Jr has to go!
No, my dad was opposed to the Vietnam war and successfully fought attempts to be deployed overseas. He was a journalism major at Fresno State and had the Air Force pay for it. He was a lifelong Democrat, supported Johnson’s Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act. He married a folk musician; my mom.
Was your Dad also an advocate for perpetual kinetic warfare?
November 23, 2025 at 12:35 AM
No, my dad was opposed to the Vietnam war and successfully fought attempts to be deployed overseas. He was a journalism major at Fresno State and had the Air Force pay for it. He was a lifelong Democrat, supported Johnson’s Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act. He married a folk musician; my mom.
Reposted by Randy Watkins
It did not go as planned, but it DID go as expected ...
insideclimatenews.org/news/2211202...
insideclimatenews.org/news/2211202...
COP30 Backpedals on Climate Action - Inside Climate News
BELÉM, Brazil—After negotiators at COP30 retreated from meaningful climate action by failing to specifically mention the need to stop using fossil fuels in the final conference documents published Sat...
insideclimatenews.org
November 22, 2025 at 11:07 PM
It did not go as planned, but it DID go as expected ...
insideclimatenews.org/news/2211202...
insideclimatenews.org/news/2211202...
Reposted by Randy Watkins
Trump diktat to Ukraine shameful. Russia will use pause to rearm and prepare next phase of seizing all Ukraine.
November 22, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Trump diktat to Ukraine shameful. Russia will use pause to rearm and prepare next phase of seizing all Ukraine.
Reposted by Randy Watkins
Do me a favor and forward this post.This needs to get out to everyone. We need to be unified.
Congress, pay attention. We the People decide where our money goes — not the President. And we are demanding full support for Ukraine, with everything they need to win. Trump does not hold the power of the purse. The American people do. Act accordingly.
November 22, 2025 at 3:29 AM
Do me a favor and forward this post.This needs to get out to everyone. We need to be unified.
My dad was a career Air Force officer, a B-52 navigator and Electronic Warfare Systems officer during Vietnam and the Cold War. He would be horrified that the Trump administration’s “Peace Plan” is basically written in the Kremlin, and Ukraine is being threatened to accept it or no more US support.
This is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Trump Has a Recipe for War and Corruption, Not Peace
Who would benefit from the White House’s 28-point proposal for Ukraine?
www.theatlantic.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:11 PM
My dad was a career Air Force officer, a B-52 navigator and Electronic Warfare Systems officer during Vietnam and the Cold War. He would be horrified that the Trump administration’s “Peace Plan” is basically written in the Kremlin, and Ukraine is being threatened to accept it or no more US support.
Reposted by Randy Watkins
The horse-trade framing here is *unconscionable*, @karlmathiesen.bsky.social.
As the world starts to boil over 1.5C, the COP30 silence on fossil fuels does not mean a "disappointment for European countries and small island nations."
IT MEANS THE COPs ARE FAILING TO HALT GLOBAL HEATING, FFS.
As the world starts to boil over 1.5C, the COP30 silence on fossil fuels does not mean a "disappointment for European countries and small island nations."
IT MEANS THE COPs ARE FAILING TO HALT GLOBAL HEATING, FFS.
November 22, 2025 at 3:44 PM
The horse-trade framing here is *unconscionable*, @karlmathiesen.bsky.social.
As the world starts to boil over 1.5C, the COP30 silence on fossil fuels does not mean a "disappointment for European countries and small island nations."
IT MEANS THE COPs ARE FAILING TO HALT GLOBAL HEATING, FFS.
As the world starts to boil over 1.5C, the COP30 silence on fossil fuels does not mean a "disappointment for European countries and small island nations."
IT MEANS THE COPs ARE FAILING TO HALT GLOBAL HEATING, FFS.
Reposted by Randy Watkins
Federal "permitting reform" (e.g., The SPEED Act, HR 4776) is the Billionaire's version of climate action.
People, land and water, wildlife are little but: (1) Commodities for extraction; or (2) Barriers to wealth and power accumulation.
It's a giant grift.
People, land and water, wildlife are little but: (1) Commodities for extraction; or (2) Barriers to wealth and power accumulation.
It's a giant grift.
ICYMI: The GOP is trying to pass Permitting Reform legislation that would gut protections for Tribes and communities to oppose strip mining and oil and gas drilling.
These lands have been protected by Tribal treaty rights since the 19th Century. How is this America First?
These lands have been protected by Tribal treaty rights since the 19th Century. How is this America First?
Rep. Stansbury: The GOP is trying to strip Tribal communities of their rights
YouTube video by Rep. Melanie Stansbury
youtu.be
November 22, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Federal "permitting reform" (e.g., The SPEED Act, HR 4776) is the Billionaire's version of climate action.
People, land and water, wildlife are little but: (1) Commodities for extraction; or (2) Barriers to wealth and power accumulation.
It's a giant grift.
People, land and water, wildlife are little but: (1) Commodities for extraction; or (2) Barriers to wealth and power accumulation.
It's a giant grift.
Reposted by Randy Watkins
Today, the House Natural Resources Committee passed the SPEED Act, a “permitting reform” bill that hobbles the National Environmental Policy Act & will make it far easier for DOI to justify these lease sales & kneecap Californians’ ability to seek redress in federal court.
Today the Department of the Interior announced they will hold the six offshore lease sales across off of California. I wrote about Reagan’s Interior Secretary James Watt opening up 80 million acres of offshore waters to oil and gas about a year ago. The last offshore lease in California was 1984.
November 21, 2025 at 5:20 AM
Today, the House Natural Resources Committee passed the SPEED Act, a “permitting reform” bill that hobbles the National Environmental Policy Act & will make it far easier for DOI to justify these lease sales & kneecap Californians’ ability to seek redress in federal court.
Reposted by Randy Watkins
“A key House panel this afternoon advanced a bipartisan permitting deal that would include language appearing to bar Donald Trump or any other president from rescinding permits for energy projects.” heatmap.news/energy/speed...
House Permitting Bill Would Block Trump From Pulling Permits
It was approved by the House Natural Resources Committee on Thursday by a vote of 25 to 18.
heatmap.news
November 20, 2025 at 9:22 PM
“A key House panel this afternoon advanced a bipartisan permitting deal that would include language appearing to bar Donald Trump or any other president from rescinding permits for energy projects.” heatmap.news/energy/speed...
Reposted by Randy Watkins
November 20, 2025 at 9:01 PM
The CDC can no longer be trusted to issue accurate information about vaccines.
November 20, 2025 at 9:20 PM
The CDC can no longer be trusted to issue accurate information about vaccines.
Reposted by Randy Watkins
We are not going to be able to trust the federal government to release accurate information about anything anymore, but especially regarding Covid-19.
I shit you not, COVIDTests.gov, I site where we used to get a free Covid tests, now redirects to this complete bullshit from the white house.
August 27, 2025 at 4:40 AM
We are not going to be able to trust the federal government to release accurate information about anything anymore, but especially regarding Covid-19.