Kate Mackenzie
@katemac.bsky.social
understander of things climate-related, and some other things
@thepolycrisis.bsky.social
@thepolycrisis.bsky.social
Reposted by Kate Mackenzie
“The deranged idea—as Amitav Ghosh describes it—that we are safe, that things are under control, that bad things only happen to people who are far away, persists. Anticipating future ruin, we fail to act in the here and now.” -
@katemac.bsky.social & I:
phenomenalworld.org/analysis/global-boiling/
@katemac.bsky.social & I:
phenomenalworld.org/analysis/global-boiling/
Global Boiling | The Polycrisis
Stocks and flows, action and inaction in the planetary impasse
phenomenalworld.org
November 25, 2025 at 11:12 PM
“The deranged idea—as Amitav Ghosh describes it—that we are safe, that things are under control, that bad things only happen to people who are far away, persists. Anticipating future ruin, we fail to act in the here and now.” -
@katemac.bsky.social & I:
phenomenalworld.org/analysis/global-boiling/
@katemac.bsky.social & I:
phenomenalworld.org/analysis/global-boiling/
Reposted by Kate Mackenzie
The Torment-Nexus-Industrial Complex just keeps attracting more money, warns @lararhiannon.bsky.social
Maybe we should think twice before letting tech bros blot out the sun? Just spitballing here
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Maybe we should think twice before letting tech bros blot out the sun? Just spitballing here
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Dimming the Sun Is a Terrifying New Industry
Solar geoengineering, a bunch of techniques that aim to mask some effects of climate change by blocking sunlight, isn’t on the agenda for this month’s COP30. It ought to be. A record-breaking funding ...
www.bloomberg.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:58 PM
The Torment-Nexus-Industrial Complex just keeps attracting more money, warns @lararhiannon.bsky.social
Maybe we should think twice before letting tech bros blot out the sun? Just spitballing here
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Maybe we should think twice before letting tech bros blot out the sun? Just spitballing here
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
absolutely excellent story about the *real* big energy of the decade/millennium unfolding before us
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
Accessible, cheap clean energy could spark a new world order
Unshackled from legacy fossil fuel interests, the world’s clean energy future is being forged in the bustling cities of the global south.
www.abc.net.au
November 23, 2025 at 11:00 PM
absolutely excellent story about the *real* big energy of the decade/millennium unfolding before us
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
Reposted by Kate Mackenzie
You ever just sit down and realize that the rise of 21st century fascism is capital's answer to climate change?
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 AM
You ever just sit down and realize that the rise of 21st century fascism is capital's answer to climate change?
Reposted by Kate Mackenzie
This is misinformation spread by Big Tricycle.
We don't really know how bicycles work.
November 21, 2025 at 3:57 AM
This is misinformation spread by Big Tricycle.
I am *not* sold on this take that interviews for lower-skilled jobs are a "low stakes" matter (and thus, AI is fine!). Like, lower stakes for who? www.ft.com/content/9998...
November 20, 2025 at 9:10 PM
I am *not* sold on this take that interviews for lower-skilled jobs are a "low stakes" matter (and thus, AI is fine!). Like, lower stakes for who? www.ft.com/content/9998...
Pretty much everything interesting going on in the world is captured in the story of Simandou, the soon-to-be-operational gigantic iron ore mine in Guinea, West Africa.
www.ft.com/content/9fe8...
www.ft.com/content/9fe8...
How the world’s biggest mining project is a win for China
The $23bn Simandou mine in Guinea has taken almost three decades to begin operating but could tilt the balance of power in the global iron ore market
www.ft.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Pretty much everything interesting going on in the world is captured in the story of Simandou, the soon-to-be-operational gigantic iron ore mine in Guinea, West Africa.
www.ft.com/content/9fe8...
www.ft.com/content/9fe8...
relevant to the increasingly bizarre coverage of oil & gas that we’re seeing lately in some of the business news media.
this leads to softball stories written about the rich and powerful. this is not even a good way to do journalism. it can be done well but it’s largely very boring and leads to myopia and being out of touch with normal people.
November 18, 2025 at 11:18 PM
relevant to the increasingly bizarre coverage of oil & gas that we’re seeing lately in some of the business news media.
Reposted by Kate Mackenzie
There is no downside
AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.
Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.
arstechnica.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:45 AM
There is no downside
Reposted by Kate Mackenzie
"The future is triage on an uninsurable earth" -
Read @katemac.bsky.social & I @thepolycrisis.bsky.social :
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/ins...
Read @katemac.bsky.social & I @thepolycrisis.bsky.social :
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/ins...
“Flooded homes lose value. Overheated cities become uninhabitable. Entire asset classes are degrading in real time, which translates to loss of value, business interruption, & market devaluation on a systemic level"- Günther Thallinger
@kmac & I dig insurance: www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/ins...
@kmac & I dig insurance: www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/ins...
November 16, 2025 at 6:54 PM
"The future is triage on an uninsurable earth" -
Read @katemac.bsky.social & I @thepolycrisis.bsky.social :
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/ins...
Read @katemac.bsky.social & I @thepolycrisis.bsky.social :
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/ins...
For energy nerds it’s the annual “explain how IEA scenarios work” day..
1/ those are not *forecasts* about energy use
2/ comparing scenarios with different names is pointless
3/ Faith’s words should be parsed very carefully; be wary of short quotes
1/ those are not *forecasts* about energy use
2/ comparing scenarios with different names is pointless
3/ Faith’s words should be parsed very carefully; be wary of short quotes
November 12, 2025 at 7:14 AM
For energy nerds it’s the annual “explain how IEA scenarios work” day..
1/ those are not *forecasts* about energy use
2/ comparing scenarios with different names is pointless
3/ Faith’s words should be parsed very carefully; be wary of short quotes
1/ those are not *forecasts* about energy use
2/ comparing scenarios with different names is pointless
3/ Faith’s words should be parsed very carefully; be wary of short quotes
Reposted by Kate Mackenzie
"Sir, a second Joyce Carol Oates post has hit—"
November 11, 2025 at 5:19 AM
"Sir, a second Joyce Carol Oates post has hit—"
Ethiopia last year banned the import of new gasoline-powered cars. Nepal reduced import duties on EVs so much that they are now cheaper than cars with internal combustion engines. Brazil raised tariffs on car imports to compel Chinese automakers to set up plants inside Brazil. Etc
A Flood of Green Tech From China Is Upending Global Climate Politics
www.nytimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Ethiopia last year banned the import of new gasoline-powered cars. Nepal reduced import duties on EVs so much that they are now cheaper than cars with internal combustion engines. Brazil raised tariffs on car imports to compel Chinese automakers to set up plants inside Brazil. Etc
Unfortunately a lot of serious* news media behaving as though this is exactly the case
ridiculous. Bill Gates getting cold feet is not a shift in the scientific concensus.
November 10, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Unfortunately a lot of serious* news media behaving as though this is exactly the case
From the latest big Foreign Affairs energy piece, by Jason Bordoff & Megan O'Sullivan.
They're comparing one scenario published in 2024 with a completely different type of scenario (to be) published in 2025 - to say oil demand will rise and therefore problems of supply crunch/concentration loom.
They're comparing one scenario published in 2024 with a completely different type of scenario (to be) published in 2025 - to say oil demand will rise and therefore problems of supply crunch/concentration loom.
November 7, 2025 at 3:51 AM
From the latest big Foreign Affairs energy piece, by Jason Bordoff & Megan O'Sullivan.
They're comparing one scenario published in 2024 with a completely different type of scenario (to be) published in 2025 - to say oil demand will rise and therefore problems of supply crunch/concentration loom.
They're comparing one scenario published in 2024 with a completely different type of scenario (to be) published in 2025 - to say oil demand will rise and therefore problems of supply crunch/concentration loom.
One architect warned of "the difficulty of suspending a 30-storey building upside down from a bridge hundreds of metres in the air. “You do realise the earth is spinning? And that tall towers sway?”"
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled
Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance
ig.ft.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:53 AM
One architect warned of "the difficulty of suspending a 30-storey building upside down from a bridge hundreds of metres in the air. “You do realise the earth is spinning? And that tall towers sway?”"
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
Reposted by Kate Mackenzie
Vital piece of investigative reporting from Sky. They've uncovered the X algorithm which feeds users extremist right wing material from the moment they join the site. It is a far-right radicalisation engine, by design.
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
news.sky.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Vital piece of investigative reporting from Sky. They've uncovered the X algorithm which feeds users extremist right wing material from the moment they join the site. It is a far-right radicalisation engine, by design.
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
I think he specifies it was all the *car* billboards but still very notable!
Here in Sydney I reckon we’d have 50% non-EV billboards, and there are plenty of EVs around including Chinese ones
Here in Sydney I reckon we’d have 50% non-EV billboards, and there are plenty of EVs around including Chinese ones
@nathanielbullard.com counted billboards on a recent trip to Thailand, from the airport into the city, for an hour:
100% (!) were for Chinese cars,
most were for EVs
of course a huge battery EREV was one of the ads
let this sink in, what's happening Around The World
#alwaysbecharging
100% (!) were for Chinese cars,
most were for EVs
of course a huge battery EREV was one of the ads
let this sink in, what's happening Around The World
#alwaysbecharging
November 5, 2025 at 11:01 PM
I think he specifies it was all the *car* billboards but still very notable!
Here in Sydney I reckon we’d have 50% non-EV billboards, and there are plenty of EVs around including Chinese ones
Here in Sydney I reckon we’d have 50% non-EV billboards, and there are plenty of EVs around including Chinese ones
Reposted by Kate Mackenzie
remember all those 'project 2025 isn't actually real, you fools, you naifs' media pieces.
Amazing how much 2025 was a hyper correction for the fact that in 2024 voters clearly didn't know what they were voting for because the media didn't report on Trump's actual policies/voters refused to believe what they were voting for.
Between 2020 and 2024, no New Jersey county moved further right than Passaic County (11pts). At 43% it's also the most the most-Latino county in the state, and is among the least-white overall.
Last night, it moved 18pts to the left, surpassed only by Hudson County (the second-most Latino county)
Last night, it moved 18pts to the left, surpassed only by Hudson County (the second-most Latino county)
November 5, 2025 at 4:25 PM
remember all those 'project 2025 isn't actually real, you fools, you naifs' media pieces.
A lot of people guessing this is about oil, but idk how they’re thinking that would work..
Following on from my post yesterday, in case there was any doubt, Trump is threatening war with Nigeria.
Nigeria has a population of nearly 233 million.
Nigeria has a population of nearly 233 million.
November 2, 2025 at 12:46 AM
A lot of people guessing this is about oil, but idk how they’re thinking that would work..
Ooh I missed this excellent thread, thanks Jigar
His worst offense was reorienting the entire Paris agreement away from affordability toward innovation through his Mission Innovation side show in 2015. China went the route of deployment, we decided that we needed to focus on innovation instead.
www.wsj.com/articles/oba...
www.wsj.com/articles/oba...
Obama and Bill Gates to Launch Clean Energy Initiative
President Barack Obama and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will launch a multi-billion-dollar initiative Monday to accelerate clean-energy research and development as part of a global effort to fight ...
www.wsj.com
November 1, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Ooh I missed this excellent thread, thanks Jigar
This is a good sign to tap
Just remember: bill gates is far far far from an expert in any relevant field (health, policy, climate). He is just a very rich guy with time on his hands and no one around to say no to him)
November 1, 2025 at 10:52 PM
This is a good sign to tap
But the line is going down so …
October 31, 2025 at 8:17 PM
But the line is going down so …
[India] "This is something the western world is now beginning to realise. That we are not pushing coal, but using it only to meet the demand that renewables are currently unable to."
www.ft.com/content/4d4f...
www.ft.com/content/4d4f...
Sumant Sinha: Renewables can’t keep up with India’s surging power needs
ReNew Energy founder and co-chair of the Alliance of CEO climate leaders on the clean energy opportunity in India
www.ft.com
October 31, 2025 at 4:37 AM
[India] "This is something the western world is now beginning to realise. That we are not pushing coal, but using it only to meet the demand that renewables are currently unable to."
www.ft.com/content/4d4f...
www.ft.com/content/4d4f...