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jfern.bsky.social
@jfern.bsky.social
110 followers 140 following 65 posts
Jerry Redfern
Journalist covering oil, gas, politics and the climate in New Mexico for Capital & Main
Any political opinions or views expressed are personal and not the editorial positions of Capital & Main.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted
capitalandmain.bsky.social
Dozens of homes that were remediated after surviving L.A.’s 2025 fires have tested positive for hazardous levels of lead and asbestos. Residents are getting sick, and are worried about the long term impacts to their health.

#LAfires #News
January 16, 2026 at 5:06 PM
jfern.bsky.social
When faced with floods of misinformation and insults from the heights of government, exiled Burmese journalists tell their US counterparts to do as they do: Don't quit, "Do your job."

Latest with @karenjcoates.bsky.social for @capitalandmain.bsky.social
capitalandmain.com/in-a-time-of...
In a Time of Extreme Peril, Burmese Journalists Tell Stories From the Shadows
American foreign policy complicates an already difficult situation for those reporting on the civil war in Myanmar.
capitalandmain.com
January 6, 2026 at 6:47 PM
jfern.bsky.social
#Journalism - adjacent job alert!

@capitalandmain.bsky.social is looking for an audience and engagement person. Should be easy b/c our stories rock.
capitalandmain.com/careers
Careers and Freelance Opportunities
Investigating Money, Power and Society.
capitalandmain.com
December 19, 2025 at 9:54 PM
jfern.bsky.social
New Mexico's 2019 Energy Transition Act requires utilities to sell 100% fossil-free electricity to customers by 2045.

A couple months ago, the Southwest Public Service Company dropped a massive application before the NM Public Regulation Commission...
1/5
capitalandmain.com/utility-asks...
Utility Asks New Mexico for ‘Zero Emission’ Status for Gas-Fired Power Plant
Plan puts costs of new solar farms on New Mexicans and extends lives of coal-fired plants. Critics call it “profound greenwashing.”
capitalandmain.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Reposted
geraldrflynn.bsky.social
Latest for @mongabay.com w. @andyball.bsky.social & @vantha.bsky.social uncovers a gold mine has poisoned the O'Ta Bouk River in Virachey National Park.

Water, soil & fish from the river are contaminated, sickening the Indigenous communities downstream who depend on the river for everything.
Toxic runoff from politically linked gold mine poisons Cambodian rivers, communities
*Sources have requested pseudonyms be used to protect their identity out of fear of retaliation from the government or mining companies BANGKOK, Thailand/RATANAKIRI, Cambodia — “When you touch the wat...
news.mongabay.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:47 AM
jfern.bsky.social
New story:

TL;DR - #cattle ranching family blindsided by a change in their relationship with the massive company that pulls #oil and #gas from their lands. Spills, bad roads and spoiled hunts ensue. Also a lesson in the split estate.

capitalandmain.com/the-david-vs...
@capitalandmain.bsky.social
The David vs. Goliath Story of a Ranching Family and an Oil Giant
They were cowboys amid the mesas in a corner of New Mexico. For years they coexisted with an oil company — until one day they couldn’t.
capitalandmain.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted
vivarioarriba.bsky.social
“I mean, hell, the country’s making [them] just very, very wealthy. Why would you not put a little bit back into what you tear up?”
~Richard Hodgson, rancher, Rio Arriba County

In this tough story, Redfern puts a very human face on NM landowners fighting Big Oil.

capitalandmain.com/the-david-vs...
The David vs. Goliath Story of a Ranching Family and an Oil Giant
They were cowboys amid the mesas in a corner of New Mexico. For years they coexisted with an oil company — until one day they couldn’t.
capitalandmain.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:28 PM
jfern.bsky.social
File under: reasons to not be a teetotaler: Source: CBS News
search.app/ip5xB
Cyclist falls down 130-foot ravine in France, survives 3 days by drinking wine he had in shopping bag
A helicopter airlifted him to hospital, with a rescue doctor calling his survival "a miracle."
search.app
November 5, 2025 at 3:28 AM
jfern.bsky.social
A natural gas producer is suing @capitalandmain.bsky.social over the story "Pennsylvania Gas Driller: Our Operations Pose No Health Risk. You Can’t Be Serious, Activists Say."

capitalandmain.com/pennsylvania...
Pennsylvania Gas Producer Sues Capital & Main Over Its Reporting on Health Risks
A lawsuit by CNX Resources Corporation accuses the news organization of defamation for quoting sources critical of an industry-written study. Capital & Main stands by its reporting and vows to fight t...
capitalandmain.com
November 4, 2025 at 6:00 PM
jfern.bsky.social
Worth reading:
katharinehayhoe.com Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · Nov 4
As I am one of the climate scientists he is referring to here - and I am a scientist who decided to dedicate her life to working on climate precisely because of how unjustly it disproportionately impacts the poor and vulnerable - let me clarify my rationale and thoughts below. 🧵
Bill Gates defends contentious climate shift
"I'm glad people are listening," he said, before adding that it was hard to convey "nuanced positions nowadays."
www.axios.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Reposted
theonion.com
Gray-Lipped RFK Jr. Touts Body’s Natural Ability To Transmute Lead Into Gold
Gray-Lipped RFK Jr. Touts Body’s Natural Ability To Transmute Lead Into Gold
WASHINGTON—Praising the process as yet another miracle of biology that modern medicine chooses to ignore, a gray-lipped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke at a press conference Wednesday during which he tout...
theonion.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted
capitalandmain.bsky.social
Juan González, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, lived in Pasadena for three decades before a wildfire, heart attack and ICE raids got him thinking about “self-deporting” back to Mexico.
October 29, 2025 at 5:07 PM
jfern.bsky.social
Um, where you gonna get that #hydrogen?

LA says it will shift its largest gas power plant to hydrogen - LA Times share.google/wx8XNsBnDCST...
In controversial move, LADWP says it will shift its largest gas power plant to hydrogen
The DWP board approved an $800-million plan to convert two units at the Scattergood Generating Station in Playa Del Rey to run on green hydrogen.
share.google
October 29, 2025 at 5:48 PM
jfern.bsky.social
Bat bombs to the rescue in #NewMexico
bistline.bsky.social John Bistline @bistline.bsky.social · Oct 29
The Wikipedia article on bat bombs is full of crazy details. My favorite is the section euphemistically labeled “Setbacks” with a photo of a towering inferno caused by an errant bat carrying an incendiary bomb that escaped, parked itself under a fuel tank, and blew everything up.
October 29, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted
drkatemarvel.bsky.social
I think we should aim for something better than "not extinct"
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/c...
Bill Gates Says Climate Change ‘Will Not Lead to Humanity’s Demise’
www.nytimes.com
October 28, 2025 at 6:10 PM
jfern.bsky.social
From #NewMexico:
charlotteclymer.bsky.social Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · Oct 28
"Not only is Donald Trump not here, not negotiating, Mike Johnson has now shut down the House for 39 consecutive days. There's no one to negotiate with. Across town, Trump is building a $300 million ballroom while he is set to let Americans starve."

-- @repstansbury.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Reposted
michaelemann.bsky.social
Bill Gates sure picked an interesting day to downplay the threat of climate change
https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/hurricane-melissa-jamaica-impacts-landfall-cuba-haiti-bahamas
October 28, 2025 at 5:19 PM
jfern.bsky.social
IRL catches up with Kim Stanley Robinson...
heatmap.news/climate-tech...
Exclusive: Stardust Solutions Raises $60 Million to Build a Solar Geoengineering System by 2030
A U.S. firm led by former Israeli government physicists, Stardust seeks to patent its proprietary sunlight-scattering particle — but it won’t deploy its technology until global governments authorize s...
heatmap.news
October 24, 2025 at 4:08 PM
jfern.bsky.social
You can't not like this:
washingtonpost.com The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · Oct 21
Crowds cheered as elephants smashed pumpkins at the Oregon Zoo on Oct. 16 for the annual Squishing of the Squash event.

According to the zoo, the yearly tradition dates back to 1999.
October 21, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Reposted
capitalandmain.bsky.social
Colorado oil and gas companies used toxic chemicals prohibited under state law in operations involving dozens of wells on either side of the Rocky Mountains over at least the last 18 months, a Capital & Main investigation found.

capitalandmain.com/oil-and-gas-...
Oil and Gas Companies Used Banned Toxic Chemicals Near the Rocky Mountains
One of the prohibited substances can cause cancer; new state law forced operators to identify chemicals.
capitalandmain.com
October 17, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Reposted
tonizhoniani.bsky.social
May this be a reminder to NTEC that coal is a dying industry. Why invest in something that will cost the #NavajoNation millions when we could invest in sustainable and renewable solutions like wind and solar?
apnews.com/article/trum...
US rejects bid to buy 167 million tons of coal on public lands for less than a penny per ton
Federal officials have rejected a company’s bid to acquire 167 million tons of coal on public lands in Montana for less than a penny per ton.
apnews.com
October 16, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Reposted
charlesornstein.bsky.social
Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. They’ve had their necks kneeled on. They’ve been held outside in the rain while in their underwear. At least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them.
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...
www.propublica.org
October 16, 2025 at 4:51 PM
jfern.bsky.social
Water drugs?
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Oct 7
Trump: "We call them the water drugs. The drugs that come in through water. They're not coming. There are no boats anymore. Frankly, there are no fishing boats. There are no boats out there period, if you want to know the truth. Does anybody go fishing anymore?"
October 7, 2025 at 9:50 PM
jfern.bsky.social
Here's a real corker: the #wine industry employs more people than does the #coal industry
dinfontay.com Dave Infante @dinfontay.com · Sep 29
US wineries *alone* (i.e., not including retail, distro, F&B, etc.) employed ~64k people in 2022, per BLS statistics. Probably down a bit more since. The coal-mining industry *overall* employs ~40k and falling, per FRED.

www.bls.gov/spotlight/20...
fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES10...
September 29, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Reposted
capitalandmain.bsky.social
Long-term improvement in statewide school nutrition could be especially important in poorer school districts and lower-income neighborhoods, where ultraprocessed foods are everywhere — and fresh, healthy food is harder to find or more expensive.

capitalandmain.com/california-m...
California Moves to Curb Ultraprocessed Foods in School Cafeterias
The bill before the governor could help address nutrition gaps in neighborhoods with limited access to fresh food — and be a model for the nation.
capitalandmain.com
September 24, 2025 at 2:39 PM