Peter Lipman
peterlipman.bsky.social
Peter Lipman
@peterlipman.bsky.social
I've been a teacher, a co-operative worker, a lawyer and external affairs director at UK charity Sustrans, and am the former chair of Transition Network, the Centre for Sustainable Energy and Common Cause Foundation.
Reposted by Peter Lipman
One of the reasons why authoritarian regimes change voting systems to ensure victory rather than trying to intimidate voters on a retail level is that it takes far too much manpower. Parties are banned or candidates are systematically imprisoned and removed from the ballots.
One of my biggest fears about the midterms is that ICE could flood the polls with agents who perform Kavanaugh Stops on every non-white person before they get a chance to cast a ballot, then detain them until voting is over. Which is not far-fetched at this point. www.huffpost.com/entry/ice-po...
February 17, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
Do you remember when people said they didn't have any tech privacy concerns because 'they have nothing to hide'?
February 17, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
Last night #Colbert was censored by his own network. Kimmel was pulled off the air last year. The same thing happened to me in 2022… I just didn't have a late night show. I was a meteorologist who got recruited to cover climate science, then told to stop saying " #climagechange.”

#censorship
February 17, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
"The US secretary of state delivered what can only be described as a 22-minute ode to empire. A love letter to conquest and colonialism. A proud defense of the west’s territorial expansion."

My Guardian column on Marco Rubio's disturbing "MEGA" speech in Munich at the weekend.
Forget Maga. Welcome to Mega: Make Empire Great Again | Mehdi Hasan
Marco Rubio arrived at the Munich security conference with a disturbing message for European governments: empire is great
www.theguardian.com
February 17, 2026 at 8:29 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
How has your country's climate changed over the past century? Find out here:
New dashboard to visualise CRU-TS country averages (i.e. CRU-CY) for temperature, precipitation, humidity and drought area (using our scPDSI indicator).

(It takes a little while to first load, but is quite responsive after that)

climate.uea.co/CRU-Timeseri...
February 17, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
The metaphor we use - borrowing from @karenhao.bsky.social's original transport analogy - is we wouldn't accept a high-polluting company selling private jets or cruise ships as fine because they also sold two bicycles

Imagine climate groups refusing to oppose SUVs to avoid being 'anti-transport'
February 17, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
Frustrated oligarch? Want to make all of your data center dreams come true? Well, how about using old jet engine turbines to create your electricity? Right?! That is why people say you are a genius(at least to your face)

The WSJ says, "Jet engines are a natural fit" for this role.

Really?!!
How Jet Engines Are Powering Data Centers
Companies are converting aircraft engines to land-based natural gas turbines for power generation in the AI boom.
www.wsj.com
February 17, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
So many just stunning details in this piece by @jonathanblitzer.bsky.social. Read all the way to the end, which gets into the push now to denaturalize citizens. www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...
How Legal Immigration Became a Deportation Trap
Under Trump, the Homeland Security agency responsible for processing visas and green cards has become a site for easy arrests.
www.newyorker.com
February 17, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
I spent my childhood inside of American concentration camps. I know one when I see one. And that is what ICE is building.
February 17, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
February 17, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
They raided the jailed children to steal their letters.

The problem, in federal officials' minds, wasn't confining children in prison-camp conditions; it was that the children could tell the public about it.
“I don’t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.”

- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.

Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.

www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
February 17, 2026 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
"We have assessed that gas product (including LNG) is not vulnerable on the basis they will have a significant role in meeting Asia and Australia’s decarbonisation targets."

wild.
Santos thinks it'll still be selling gas and oil over the long term.

"Over the longer term, while global demand may shift in response to decarbonisation trends, we expect regional demand for gas to remain strong, underpinned by its role in energy security and the transition to lower carbon energy."
February 17, 2026 at 11:08 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
I went to Big Bend this weekend to enjoy some nature but then the ole wall reared its head and I reported a story. Please read if you care about our remaining wild places! @insideclimatenews.org insideclimatenews.org/news/1702202...
Border Wall Closes in on Big Bend - Inside Climate News
Residents and elected officials are speaking out against a proposed border barrier through Texas’ biggest state park and one of the jewels of the national park system.
insideclimatenews.org
February 18, 2026 at 12:58 AM
How the British military props up the oil industry ... And how the oil industry influences the Ministry of Defence abolishwestminster.substack.com/p/how-the-br...
How the British military props up the oil industry
And how the oil industry influences the Ministry of Defence (long read)
abolishwestminster.substack.com
February 17, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
When Angela Merkel tried to address this demographic decline with migration, the backlash was wild.

But we know Germans are willing to commit long term economic suicide for short term ideological reasons.

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
German population set to shrink 5% by 2050
Europe’s largest economy faces steeper demographic decline than previously estimated, says Ifo
giftarticle.ft.com
February 17, 2026 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
I really hope everyone understands that this antiscientific nonsense that totally ignores tipping points, first of all the AMOC. Shameful stuff tbh.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Daunting but doable’: Europe urged to prepare for 3C of global heating
Advisory board member says adapting is ‘not rocket science’ but Europe already paying price for lack of preparation
www.theguardian.com
February 17, 2026 at 1:20 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
One thing that may dramatically shake up our political life on this planet is the advent of a strong new El Niño. (Also our, you know, life life)

billmckibben.substack.com/p/an-el-nino...
An El Niño is brewing
And with it the next, pivotal, chapter of the climate fight.
billmckibben.substack.com
February 17, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
Wow.
February 17, 2026 at 3:59 AM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
Excited to watch this!

As @jason-watkins.bsky.social rightly says "I absolutely agree fundamentally that privatisation of the water industry has been a disaster"

Dirty Business begins on (publicly owned!) Channel 4 on 23 Feb, 9pm 📺

www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-r...
Dirty Business — could this TV drama be the next Mr Bates vs the Post Office?
David Thewlis and Jason Watkins star in a powerful new Channel 4 series about the scandal of river pollution and its tragic consequences
www.thetimes.com
February 17, 2026 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
Trump admin has withdrawn all federalized National Guard troops from U.S. cities. “The administration finally realized the amount of resistance that was coming up was more than anyone anticipated.” The deployments have cost more than $496 million. - reports The Washington Post
February 17, 2026 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
A federal judge, evoking the dystopian world of George Orwell’s novel “1984,” ordered the Trump administration on Monday to return a long-standing exhibit on slavery it removed from a popular historical museum in Philadelphia www.cnn.com/2026/02/16/p...
Citing Orwell’s ‘1984,’ judge orders Trump administration to return slavery exhibits removed from Philadelphia museum | CNN Politics
A federal judge, evoking the dystopian world of George Orwell’s novel “1984,” ordered the Trump administration on Monday to return a long-standing exhibit on slavery it removed from a popular historic...
www.cnn.com
February 17, 2026 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
Similar playbook to leaded gasoline — GM and Standard Oil literally created Ethyl Corporation in the 1920s to suppress cleaner alternatives. Pattern's ancient.
February 17, 2026 at 10:17 AM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
Disgraceful - the government should remove South West Water's licence

Last year it was rated red ("significantly below target") for environmental performance for the *14th year in a row*

PUBLIC OWNERSHIP NOW
🚨 🤢 HALF TERM... and raw sewage is being dumped straight onto the beach at Widemouth Bay. 🤮

I’ve seen footage this weekend of young children playing just metres away from the sewage...

This is completely unacceptable.
February 17, 2026 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by Peter Lipman
“A govt. that arrests journalists for speech is a govt. declaring war on the First Amendment...”

@kimwehle.bsky.social breaks down Don Lemon’s prosecution while explaining the Face Act under Trump’s war on free speech. Lemon is set to appear in federal court today.

Read: zeteo.com/p/will-trump...
February 13, 2026 at 4:08 PM