Costa Samaras
@costasamaras.com
Climate, energy, emerging tech, resilience, & policy professor. Carnegie Mellon Univ. Institute for Energy Innovation Director. Former Biden-Harris White House OSTP Chief Advisor for the Clean Energy Transition. Personal account. He/Him. costasamaras.com
Pinned
Costa Samaras
@costasamaras.com
· Jan 21
If you’re new to Bluesky, welcome. A starter pack is an easy way to find folks to follow. Want to know what all these new energy regulations mean for your wallet, your lungs, and the climate? Here are my computer friends who work on climate: go.bsky.app/Aa1sErQ
Reposted by Costa Samaras
There are few areas of public health consensus as rock solid as the conclusion that breathing particulate matter shortens lives and raises the risk of chronic disease (stroke, heart disease, cognitive impacts).
There is no safe threshold for exposure to soot. None. Any amount is bad for you.
There is no safe threshold for exposure to soot. None. Any amount is bad for you.
People will get sicker. More people will have heart attacks and lung disease and other health challenges because of pollution. People’s lives will get worse, and shorter. People you know. Maybe me. Maybe you.
Breaking News: The EPA will stop considering lives saved when setting pollution limits and instead calculate only the cost to businesses.
January 12, 2026 at 8:03 PM
There are few areas of public health consensus as rock solid as the conclusion that breathing particulate matter shortens lives and raises the risk of chronic disease (stroke, heart disease, cognitive impacts).
There is no safe threshold for exposure to soot. None. Any amount is bad for you.
There is no safe threshold for exposure to soot. None. Any amount is bad for you.
Reposted by Costa Samaras
Credible reports given multiple videos that ICE (or CBP?) in Minneapolis is going door to door, breaching doors when residents will not open, and searching homes with no warrant or even statement of a particularized suspicion, and trying to prevent residents from recording. Flagrantly illegal
A video of ICE agents conducting door-to-door searches today in Minneapolis
The homeowner requests a warrant repeatedly, is told they don't require one, then is told they're getting it, then the agents storm in anyway
They also point a taser at her to try and disrupt filming
The homeowner requests a warrant repeatedly, is told they don't require one, then is told they're getting it, then the agents storm in anyway
They also point a taser at her to try and disrupt filming
January 12, 2026 at 3:23 PM
Credible reports given multiple videos that ICE (or CBP?) in Minneapolis is going door to door, breaching doors when residents will not open, and searching homes with no warrant or even statement of a particularized suspicion, and trying to prevent residents from recording. Flagrantly illegal
Major Herberts Doctrine
January 12, 2026 at 7:37 PM
Major Herberts Doctrine
Reposted by Costa Samaras
“Just Asking Questions” Doctrine
January 12, 2026 at 7:33 PM
“Just Asking Questions” Doctrine
The Major Questions Doctrine is not real, but it can hurt you.
January 12, 2026 at 7:30 PM
The Major Questions Doctrine is not real, but it can hurt you.
The reason these folks have forever wanted regulators to stop considering the dollar value of the human cost of air pollution is simple: air pollution is deadly and makes people sicker, and when you put a dollar value on people not getting sick and dying, it’s a high value, that many companies hate.
January 12, 2026 at 7:15 PM
The reason these folks have forever wanted regulators to stop considering the dollar value of the human cost of air pollution is simple: air pollution is deadly and makes people sicker, and when you put a dollar value on people not getting sick and dying, it’s a high value, that many companies hate.
People will get sicker. More people will have heart attacks and lung disease and other health challenges because of pollution. People’s lives will get worse, and shorter. People you know. Maybe me. Maybe you.
Breaking News: The EPA will stop considering lives saved when setting pollution limits and instead calculate only the cost to businesses.
E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved by Limiting Air Pollution
In a reversal, the agency plans to calculate only the cost to industry when setting pollution limits, and not the monetary value of saving human lives, documents show.
nyti.ms
January 12, 2026 at 7:10 PM
People will get sicker. More people will have heart attacks and lung disease and other health challenges because of pollution. People’s lives will get worse, and shorter. People you know. Maybe me. Maybe you.
Reposted by Costa Samaras
It’s simple: cheap and abundant electricity is good!
In our January Book, @janeaflegal.bsky.social discusses the growing need for energy, the policy challenges thwarting new supply, and how we move towards more cheap AND clean energy.
www.statesforum.org/january-book...
In our January Book, @janeaflegal.bsky.social discusses the growing need for energy, the policy challenges thwarting new supply, and how we move towards more cheap AND clean energy.
www.statesforum.org/january-book...
Cheap and Abundant Electricity Is Good - The States Forum
Download the full paper The idea Energy is the lifeblood of the modern economy. Electricity powers homes, factories, and our digital world, allowing us to enjoy comfortable lives in a competitive coun...
www.statesforum.org
January 7, 2026 at 5:53 PM
It’s simple: cheap and abundant electricity is good!
In our January Book, @janeaflegal.bsky.social discusses the growing need for energy, the policy challenges thwarting new supply, and how we move towards more cheap AND clean energy.
www.statesforum.org/january-book...
In our January Book, @janeaflegal.bsky.social discusses the growing need for energy, the policy challenges thwarting new supply, and how we move towards more cheap AND clean energy.
www.statesforum.org/january-book...
Reposted by Costa Samaras
There should be a much, MUCH larger discourse and reporting on how whoever is running DHS' social media is an overt white supremacist who is literally posting Nazi memes on a daily basis. Doesn't matter that it's almost certainly some edgelord 4chan intern; it's still happening and it's obscene.
“We’ll Have Our Home” again is a song that’s extremely popular with white nationalists. It’s all over Telegram. I think the first time I heard it was from a video of a secretive group called the Mannerbünd.
January 12, 2026 at 1:49 PM
There should be a much, MUCH larger discourse and reporting on how whoever is running DHS' social media is an overt white supremacist who is literally posting Nazi memes on a daily basis. Doesn't matter that it's almost certainly some edgelord 4chan intern; it's still happening and it's obscene.
Fed just got a third mandate (poasting)
January 12, 2026 at 3:49 AM
Fed just got a third mandate (poasting)
Reposted by Costa Samaras
AN ECONOMIST IS THE ONLY ONE CALLING THIS OUT. I hope every single college president, law firm, corporation etc that hasn’t done the same is doubly shamed. AN ECONOMIST.
Jerome Powell: "This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation."
January 12, 2026 at 1:53 AM
AN ECONOMIST IS THE ONLY ONE CALLING THIS OUT. I hope every single college president, law firm, corporation etc that hasn’t done the same is doubly shamed. AN ECONOMIST.
Do NOT anger JPow while he’s reminiscing about Weir www.cnbc.com/2023/06/21/l...
Listen to the music play: Fed Chair Jerome Powell admits to being a Deadhead
Powell was snapped June 3 at a Dead & Company show in Bristow, Virginia.
www.cnbc.com
January 12, 2026 at 2:58 AM
Do NOT anger JPow while he’s reminiscing about Weir www.cnbc.com/2023/06/21/l...
Reposted by Costa Samaras
“The murdering will continue until you stop calling us murderers.”
Homan: "We gotta stop the hateful rhetoric. Saying this officer is a murderer is dangerous. It's just ridiculous. It's gonna infuriate people more which means there's gonna be more incidents like this."
January 11, 2026 at 3:44 PM
“The murdering will continue until you stop calling us murderers.”
Reposted by Costa Samaras
This person analyzes american politics for a living
writing.yaschamounk.com/p/help-me-un...
writing.yaschamounk.com/p/help-me-un...
January 11, 2026 at 3:17 PM
This person analyzes american politics for a living
writing.yaschamounk.com/p/help-me-un...
writing.yaschamounk.com/p/help-me-un...
The silver lining folks should take away from the last few years of the establishment platforming the absolutely middest writers and thought leaders is: throw out your imposter syndrome. You are at least as good as these folks, probably better. Write that article, pitch that book, post your drafts.
This person analyzes american politics for a living
writing.yaschamounk.com/p/help-me-un...
writing.yaschamounk.com/p/help-me-un...
January 11, 2026 at 4:33 PM
The silver lining folks should take away from the last few years of the establishment platforming the absolutely middest writers and thought leaders is: throw out your imposter syndrome. You are at least as good as these folks, probably better. Write that article, pitch that book, post your drafts.
Reposted by Costa Samaras
A fire heavily damaged Mississippi’s largest synagogue — the same one the Ku Klux Klan bombed in 1967 because the rabbi supported civil rights
A suspect has been arrested, authorities say
A suspect has been arrested, authorities say
Predawn fire reduces parts of Mississippi's largest synagogue to charred ruins - Mississippi Today
A fire heavily damaged Jackson’s only synagogue before dawn Saturday – the same house of worship that was firebombed by the Ku Klux Klan in 1967 because the rabbi had been an advocate for civil rights...
mississippitoday.org
January 11, 2026 at 3:17 PM
A fire heavily damaged Mississippi’s largest synagogue — the same one the Ku Klux Klan bombed in 1967 because the rabbi supported civil rights
A suspect has been arrested, authorities say
A suspect has been arrested, authorities say
Has there been a WaPo very serious natsec Op-Ed that the U.S. hasn’t has a full-time White House National Security Advisor (head of the NSC) since May 2025, and the guy currently doing that job in an acting capacity has two other very demanding and important jobs?
January 11, 2026 at 5:13 AM
Has there been a WaPo very serious natsec Op-Ed that the U.S. hasn’t has a full-time White House National Security Advisor (head of the NSC) since May 2025, and the guy currently doing that job in an acting capacity has two other very demanding and important jobs?
I love that the Pope is probably cheering
January 11, 2026 at 4:24 AM
I love that the Pope is probably cheering
Time to start articulating some policy ideas to make things better: federal tax on podcasts
January 11, 2026 at 3:36 AM
Time to start articulating some policy ideas to make things better: federal tax on podcasts
The End of History 2: 2 Fast 2 Furious
January 11, 2026 at 3:32 AM
The End of History 2: 2 Fast 2 Furious
Reposted by Costa Samaras
When you open your alumni magazine fresh from your mailbox and there is @costasamaras.com inside
January 11, 2026 at 3:19 AM
When you open your alumni magazine fresh from your mailbox and there is @costasamaras.com inside
The U.S. military already has a base on Greenland! It’s been there since 1953! It’s called Pituffik Space Base and used to be called Thule Air Force Base. It’s the U.S.’ northernmost military base. www.petersonschriever.spaceforce.mil/pituffik-sb-...
www.petersonschriever.spaceforce.mil
January 11, 2026 at 2:18 AM
The U.S. military already has a base on Greenland! It’s been there since 1953! It’s called Pituffik Space Base and used to be called Thule Air Force Base. It’s the U.S.’ northernmost military base. www.petersonschriever.spaceforce.mil/pituffik-sb-...
If you have a favorite song Bob Weir sang, what is it?
Promised Land
Promised Land
January 11, 2026 at 2:02 AM
If you have a favorite song Bob Weir sang, what is it?
Promised Land
Promised Land
Reposted by Costa Samaras
Gutted. I had the privilege of knowing Bobby as I was his neighbor for some years. He was a sweetheart of a guy, very self-effacing, good company, with a billion stories from his amazing life. The world is palpably diminished by his departure. May the four winds blow you safely home, brother. 💔
January 11, 2026 at 12:48 AM
Gutted. I had the privilege of knowing Bobby as I was his neighbor for some years. He was a sweetheart of a guy, very self-effacing, good company, with a billion stories from his amazing life. The world is palpably diminished by his departure. May the four winds blow you safely home, brother. 💔