Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

LightNews

Lauren Rosenthal

@laurenthal.bsky.social

6.5K followers 2.1K following 100 posts

Weather Reporter for Bloomberg News. Previously at APM Reports, ProPublica/Electionland, North Country Public Radio, KUCB in Unalaska, AK (pictured above). Views my own. Email: [email protected] Signal: lgrosen.03

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · Jun 6

FEMA has lost staff + cut back on grants. Its current top boss lacks emergency management experience. As hurricane season opens, "it is a disaster waiting to happen," one expert told @bloomberg.com. Story w/ the excellent @zhirji.bsky.social (free link): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

What Trump’s FEMA Cuts Mean for Hurricane Season

The nation’s top agency for response and recovery work has endured significant upheaval since Trump’s return to the White House, and now Atlantic hurricane season is underway.

www.bloomberg.com

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 14h

Until the National Flood Insurance Program kicks back on, up to 1,400 home sales a day could stall or fall through by some estimates. Story for @bloomberg.com (gift link): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Shutdown Cuts Off Flood Insurance Program During Storm Season

A lapse in the National Flood Insurance Program because of the US government shutdown threatens to snarl home sales in the nation’s riskiest floodplains and leave some homeowners without coverage in t...

www.bloomberg.com

Reposted by Lauren Rosenthal

Jeff Stone @jeffstone.bsky.social · 19h

DHS is moving hundreds of people focused stopping mass shooters, curbing Russian hacks + counter-terrorism work into immigration roles.

Some are forcibly moved across the country. And anyone who declines risks losing their job.

exclusive with @patrickhowelloneill.com

gift link:

Homeland Security Cyber Personnel Reassigned to Jobs in Trump’s Deportation Push

The US Department of Homeland Security has shifted hundreds of national security specialists, including cyber personnel, into jobs that support President Donald Trump’s deportations and said it would ...

www.bloomberg.com

Reposted by Lauren Rosenthal

Jeff Stone @jeffstone.bsky.social · 19h

News:

FEMA is interrogating staffers -- denying union or legal representation -- about a whistleblower letter warning that Trump administration cuts are undercutting disaster response.

via @margimurphy.bsky.social @laurenthal.bsky.social @zhirji.bsky.social

FEMA Tells Staff to Name Whistleblowers or Risk Losing Jobs

Investigators are looking for staffers who anonymously endorsed an open letter criticizing the Trump administration’s cuts to disaster funding.

www.bloomberg.com

Reposted by Lauren Rosenthal

Zahra Hirji @zhirji.bsky.social · 19h

Exclusive: FEMA Tells Staff to Name Whistleblowers or Risk Losing Jobs

Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

FEMA Tells Staff to Name Whistleblowers or Risk Losing Jobs

Investigators are looking for staffers who anonymously endorsed an open letter criticizing the Trump administration’s cuts to disaster funding.

www.bloomberg.com

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 1d

The answer seems to be this: Jacobs wants to make NOAA a world leader in weather prediction. He's promised to fully staff the National Weather Service, which is rehiring after a big wave of departures. But where he'll get the resources isn't clear.

Gift link to full story @bloomberg.com /end

US Weather Boss During ‘Sharpiegate’ Nears Return to a Shrinking Agency

Trump’s appointee to run the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has vowed to support the president's massive cuts.

www.bloomberg.com

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 1d

An independent investigation found Jacobs ran afoul of NOAA's scientific integrity policy. Some people inside the agency have been wondering why he'd want to come back now, given Trump's deep cuts to science agencies. /7

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 1d

NOAA's then-acting chief scientist filed a complaint against Jacobs for backing Trump over accurate forecasts. “If you can’t trust the most senior person in NOAA to stand up for our science,” he said, “who can you trust?" /6

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 1d

Alabama was fine, but "Sharpiegate" blew up. Late night talk show hosts skewered Trump, accusing him of doctoring the map himself.

Jacobs helped NOAA put out a statement defending the president. It was 3 sentences...and sparked 3 different investigations /5

www.noaa.gov/news/stateme...

Statement from NOAA

From Wednesday, August 28, through Monday, September 2, the information provided by NOAA and the National Hurricane Center to President Trump and the wider public demonstrated that tropical-storm-forc...

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 1d

When Hurricane Dorian took aim at the US in 2019, Jacobs provided the White House with a forecast map.

It later popped up at a White House briefing - seemingly doodled on in black marker to match Trump's tweets about a threat to Alabama. /4

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump Won't Let the Dorian-Alabama Thing Go

Even as Hurricane Dorian’s core brushes the coast of North Carolina, President Donald Trump’s attention remains about 500 miles west in Alabama.

www.bloomberg.com

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 1d

Jacobs already faced some serious challenges during his last stint at NOAA.

He was a successful private-sector scientist before joining during Trump's 1st term. Within about a year, Jacobs was running the entire agency. /3

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 1d

Former officials say NOAA's under the gun: The White House wants ~30% budget cuts. Climate research is at risk.

“I’m hopeful that he’s learned how to fight within the political system," a former NOAA chief said of Jacobs, "because he is going to have to fight." /2

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

How Trump’s NOAA Fight Is So Much Bigger Than the Weather

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, has emerged as a target of President Donald Trump’s program of downsizing the federal workforce and imposing new restrictions on execut...

www.bloomberg.com

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 1d

The Senate has confirmed Trump's pick to run NOAA. Neil Jacobs will lead an agency that's lost ~2,000 staff in a year and could lose most of its research division.

I did a deep dive on why Jacobs wanted this job for @bloomberg.com. Here's what I learned (thread)

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

US Weather Boss During ‘Sharpiegate’ Nears Return to a Shrinking Agency

Trump’s appointee to run the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has vowed to support the president's massive cuts.

www.bloomberg.com

Reposted by Lauren Rosenthal

ProPublica @propublica.org · 6d

NEW: ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detail the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the Trump administration’s cuts to an aid program.

Trump Canceled 94 Million Pounds of Food Aid. Here’s What Never Arrived.

ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detail the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the administration’s cut...

projects.propublica.org

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 8d

Send your EPA tips to the great @zhirji.bsky.social, who's covering the agency + rulemaking @bloomberg.com. Signal: zhirji.51 | Email: [email protected]

Zahra Hirji @zhirji.bsky.social · 8d

Some personal news: I'm now @bloomberg.com's lead EPA reporter, tracking everything climate -- and so much more. So if you're following a particular rule or proposal, program office or anything else EPA related (biofuels, PFAS, coal ash, etc), I want to know.

bsky.app/profile/did:...

Zahra Hirji @zhirji.bsky.social · 8d

Trump's EPA is looking to extend deadlines to comply with rules to switch to cleaner refrigerants. The proposal applies to everything from residential air conditioning to retail food refrigeration and semiconductor manufacturing.

Story @bloomberg.com (gift link): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Reposted by Lauren Rosenthal

Philippe Papin @pppapin.bsky.social · 9d

And with the 15z advisories -- #Hurricane #Imdelda & #Humberto are just 479 miles apart.

This might be the closest two simultaneous hurricanes have ever been in the Atlantic basin in the satellite era (since ~1975).

Close enough for their outer sfc circulations to interact as well.

Great Circle Distance tool calculator available here -- https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gccalc.shtml

Weathernerds image of the 06 UTC GFS forecast valid 15 UTC today showing 10 m winds (shaded), direction (barbs), and sea-level pressure (black contours).

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 10d

Electricity now costs 267% more (!!) for 1 month vs. what it cost 5 years ago near data center hotspots. Awesome reporting from Josh Saul @dinabass.bsky.social Leonardo Nicoletti @naurtorious.bsky.social Demetrios Pogkas (gift link) www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

AI Data Centers Are Sending Power Bills Soaring

Wholesale electricity costs as much as 267% more than it did five years ago in areas near data centers. That’s being passed on to customers.

www.bloomberg.com

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 10d

Hurricane season's ramping up - so is fire risk in Southern California. Private companies like @brightharbor.bsky.social are eager to fill gaps in the disaster recovery system (gift link): www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

America’s Private Disaster-Recovery Industry Faces Weather Stress Test

Uncertainty around FEMA – layered on top of a surge in extreme events – has led to something of a vacuum that entrepreneurs are eager to fill.

www.bloomberg.com

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 16d

Utilities + traders are "craving" more detailed forecasts as power demand gets harder and harder to predict. Using AI, a tech firm is pushing to predict swings in weather - down to the hour - months in advance.

Story with @naurtorious.bsky.social (gift link): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

AI-Powered Model Gives Energy Traders Hourly Forecasts Seven Months Out

The tool from tech firm Amperon provides a more granular look at the weather and its impact on power markets.

www.bloomberg.com

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 16d

The good news is that (some!) rain is on the way. Up to 2" will fall across the Northeast between now and Friday. That may tame fire risk in the short-term, but it won't make up for months of below-average rains and hot summer temperatures. Read more: www.bloomberg.com/news/article... /end

Drought Gripping the US Northeast, NYC Raises Fears of Autumn Wildfires

Waterways and wells are running dry in parts of New England and trees in New York City are already shedding their leaves as a late-summer drought engulfs the US Northeast, raising the risk of wildfire...

www.bloomberg.com

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 16d

Heading into this autumn, conditions are already risky. Consumers in New York State are being urged to conserve water (again). Fire risk is elevated across northern New England + NH is under a statewide burn ban. www.nhdfl.dncr.nh.gov/forest-prote... /3

www.nhdfl.dncr.nh.gov

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 16d

This time last year, just 11% of the region was abnormally dry or in drought. But NYC ended up experiencing one of its driest autumns on record, with substantial brush fires in Brooklyn's Prospect Park and Inwood Hill Park. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

New York Is Facing Its Worst Wildfire Season in More Than a Decade

New York and the Northeast are in the midst of their worst fire season in more than a decade, with little relief in sight for weeks as drought and high winds threaten to raise the threat again by Frid...

www.bloomberg.com

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 16d

It's officially fall! And more than 80% of the Northeast is in drought or teetering on the edge of it. Why that's cause for concern: (gift link) www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Drought Gripping the US Northeast, NYC Raises Fears of Autumn Wildfires

Waterways and wells are running dry in parts of New England and trees in New York City are already shedding their leaves as a late-summer drought engulfs the US Northeast, raising the risk of wildfire...

www.bloomberg.com

Reposted by Lauren Rosenthal

Jason Leopold @jasonleopold.bsky.social · 21d

NEW: More than 500 pages of #FOIA docs @zhirji.bsky.social @davey.bsky.social & I obtained from FEMA detail previously unreported threats against personnel in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene & Milton, including the swatting of then-FEMA Director Deanne Criswell
🎁 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

This document details extraordinary steps taken to protect Deanne Criswell, the head of FEMA during hurricanes Helene and Milton. Criswell was a subject of a swatting incident

The document says: Secretary Mayorkas determined that there was a clear and present danger to Deanne Criswell, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and that home-to-work transportation was essential for the performance of the duties of the FEMA Administrator. Because of recent serious threats to Administrator Criswell, he authorized her use of a government vehicle for home-to-work transportation ineluding use of an appropriate security detail provided FEMA and the Transportation Security Administration at FEMA's request."

Reposted by Lauren Rosenthal

Davey Alba @davey.bsky.social · 21d

NEW: Bloomberg obtained 100s of pages of agency emails & other docs via FOIA, shedding new light on how disaster-related misinfo affects the govt's emergency response, sucks up resources & puts staff at risk.

with @zhirji.bsky.social @jasonleopold.bsky.social

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Headline: Chaos Inside FEMA as Death Threats Distract from Hurricane Response

Lauren Rosenthal @laurenthal.bsky.social · 22d

“They don’t want to know about it, and they don’t want anyone else to know about it." Amazing story about the fallout from the Texas oil boom - including 100-ft wastewater geysers! Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

Texas Oil Boom Leaves a Toxic Legacy of Its Own Making

Toxic wastewater is spreading across America’s biggest oil field, posing a pressing threat to a basin that has grown into a cornerstone of global markets

www.bloomberg.com