Ronald Steenblik
@ronsteenblik.bsky.social
Retired OECD staff member. I post on trade, environment, energy (especially fossil fuel subsidies). Supporting QUNO's work on identifying & reducing subsidies to #plastics. Commenting in my personal capacity.
Once told by Mel Brooks: "You have no taste!"
Once told by Mel Brooks: "You have no taste!"
Pinned
Fossil Fuel Subsidies
Subsidies are intended to protect consumers by keeping prices low, but they come at a high cost. Subsidies have sizable fiscal costs (leading to higher taxes/borrowing or lower spending), promote inef...
www.imf.org
1⃣ Since 2013, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has published biennially global estimates of what they call "explicit" and "implicit" #FossilFuelSubsidies.
Those estimates are widely cited, but also widely misinterpreted & misrepresented. And some things they include shouldn't be.
A long 🧵.
Those estimates are widely cited, but also widely misinterpreted & misrepresented. And some things they include shouldn't be.
A long 🧵.
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
Third unvaccinated Kentucky baby dies of whooping cough.
Pertussis, best prevented with a vaccine, has killed three Kentucky babies in the last 12 months.
kentuckylantern.com/2025/11/25/t...
Pertussis, best prevented with a vaccine, has killed three Kentucky babies in the last 12 months.
kentuckylantern.com/2025/11/25/t...
Third unvaccinated Kentucky baby dies of whooping cough • Kentucky Lantern
A third unvaccinated infant in Kentucky has died of pertussis as public health officials urge Kentuckians to get vaccinated against the disease.
kentuckylantern.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Third unvaccinated Kentucky baby dies of whooping cough.
Pertussis, best prevented with a vaccine, has killed three Kentucky babies in the last 12 months.
kentuckylantern.com/2025/11/25/t...
Pertussis, best prevented with a vaccine, has killed three Kentucky babies in the last 12 months.
kentuckylantern.com/2025/11/25/t...
Again on theme. It’s what all Trump’s law-breaking sycophants will need to do once they’re out of office.
Wordle 1,620 3/6
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Wordle 1,620 3/6
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November 25, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Again on theme. It’s what all Trump’s law-breaking sycophants will need to do once they’re out of office.
Wordle 1,620 3/6
⬜🟩🟨⬜🟨
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Wordle 1,620 3/6
⬜🟩🟨⬜🟨
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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Excellent analysis of the price effects of the EU's and other trading blocs' sanctions on goods that Russia imports (from China and Türkiye and several other countries). Short answer: the prices for those goods increased significantly and continue to increase.
Cc: @claireberlinski.bsky.social
Cc: @claireberlinski.bsky.social
Heli Simola and I wrote about the effect of sanctions on unit prices of Russia’s imports. I.e., how much does Russia have to pay more for goods EU & co have sanctioned, when it imports them from China, Türkiye and other countries?
@bofit.suomenpankki.fi DP 8/2025
🇷🇺🇨🇳🇹🇷
1/
www.bofit.fi/en/
@bofit.suomenpankki.fi DP 8/2025
🇷🇺🇨🇳🇹🇷
1/
www.bofit.fi/en/
November 24, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Excellent analysis of the price effects of the EU's and other trading blocs' sanctions on goods that Russia imports (from China and Türkiye and several other countries). Short answer: the prices for those goods increased significantly and continue to increase.
Cc: @claireberlinski.bsky.social
Cc: @claireberlinski.bsky.social
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
Before the midterms of 1866, President Andrew Johnson called his congressional opponents traitors and said they should be hanged.
Voters were so profoundly moved by his words... that they gave his opponents a supermajority in Congress, and the nation got the Fourteenth Amendment.
Voters were so profoundly moved by his words... that they gave his opponents a supermajority in Congress, and the nation got the Fourteenth Amendment.
November 20, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Before the midterms of 1866, President Andrew Johnson called his congressional opponents traitors and said they should be hanged.
Voters were so profoundly moved by his words... that they gave his opponents a supermajority in Congress, and the nation got the Fourteenth Amendment.
Voters were so profoundly moved by his words... that they gave his opponents a supermajority in Congress, and the nation got the Fourteenth Amendment.
To clarify, China, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, and the USA participated in peer reviews of their efforts to phase out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies during the period 2016–18 (which the OECD chaired). Argentina & Canada agreed to follow, and then France & India. But those never happened.
While the G20 hasn't delivered much progress on subsidy reform, the commitment encouraged members to take some steps in the right direction.
➡️Canada delivered a framework to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies
➡️US, China, Germany, Italy, Mexico, & Indonesia undertook subsidy peer reviews
2/5
➡️Canada delivered a framework to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies
➡️US, China, Germany, Italy, Mexico, & Indonesia undertook subsidy peer reviews
2/5
November 23, 2025 at 2:49 PM
To clarify, China, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, and the USA participated in peer reviews of their efforts to phase out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies during the period 2016–18 (which the OECD chaired). Argentina & Canada agreed to follow, and then France & India. But those never happened.
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
🚨 Only a pussy maces a man who is handcuffed. True story. Also, nobody who has EVER spent time at ANY shooting range holds a firearm like this fool. 1/2
November 23, 2025 at 2:39 AM
🚨 Only a pussy maces a man who is handcuffed. True story. Also, nobody who has EVER spent time at ANY shooting range holds a firearm like this fool. 1/2
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
COP30 TEXT ANALYSIS: One way to read dense COP text is to focus on the verbs. These are helpfully italicised – and for good reason.
MOSTLY INACTIVE: Carbon Brief analysis of the “global mutirão” text finds 69 inactive verbs, requiring no action, against 32 active verbs.
1/4
MOSTLY INACTIVE: Carbon Brief analysis of the “global mutirão” text finds 69 inactive verbs, requiring no action, against 32 active verbs.
1/4
November 22, 2025 at 8:21 PM
COP30 TEXT ANALYSIS: One way to read dense COP text is to focus on the verbs. These are helpfully italicised – and for good reason.
MOSTLY INACTIVE: Carbon Brief analysis of the “global mutirão” text finds 69 inactive verbs, requiring no action, against 32 active verbs.
1/4
MOSTLY INACTIVE: Carbon Brief analysis of the “global mutirão” text finds 69 inactive verbs, requiring no action, against 32 active verbs.
1/4
Circa $5.7 T of that $7 T number from the IMF rare not subsidies but estimates of untaxed externalities related to FF consumption. The only way they, + $1.3 trillion in consumer price subsidies, would become a “fiscal pool” that could be repurposed is if all the 🌎’s govt’s imposed huge taxes on FFs.
The IMF finds global fossil-fuel subsidies in the trillions (≈$7T estimated recently), a fiscal pool that can be repurposed to finance retraining, guaranteed jobs, and community remediation if political will exists. Redirecting even a fraction funds huge, concrete programs.
November 22, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Circa $5.7 T of that $7 T number from the IMF rare not subsidies but estimates of untaxed externalities related to FF consumption. The only way they, + $1.3 trillion in consumer price subsidies, would become a “fiscal pool” that could be repurposed is if all the 🌎’s govt’s imposed huge taxes on FFs.
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
The only guarantee of peace in Europe is a Ukrainian victory over russia.
November 21, 2025 at 5:49 PM
The only guarantee of peace in Europe is a Ukrainian victory over russia.
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
Surely Putin will respect his signature this time, right?
November 22, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Surely Putin will respect his signature this time, right?
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
I recall being excited when I first read about sand batteries in combination with PV. But... Since we just added 800 million new humans since 2015 (Paris), sand is dwindling fast.
Wie Sand am Meer?
www.unep.org/news-and-sto...
Wie Sand am Meer?
www.unep.org/news-and-sto...
The problem with our dwindling sand reserves
A new UNEP video captures how sand mining is a growing problem, exhausting a finite resource at a great cost to the planet.
www.unep.org
November 22, 2025 at 10:54 AM
I recall being excited when I first read about sand batteries in combination with PV. But... Since we just added 800 million new humans since 2015 (Paris), sand is dwindling fast.
Wie Sand am Meer?
www.unep.org/news-and-sto...
Wie Sand am Meer?
www.unep.org/news-and-sto...
The 29 are: Austria, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Monaco, Neth., Panama, Palau, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switz., UK, and Vanuatu.
Where's NZ ?!
Where's NZ ?!
Full text of letter leaked to Guardian saying at least 29 nations won't agree a deal without a road map for a phase-out of fossil fuels
"true leadership is .. not lowering expectations to accommodate the most reluctant"
#cop30
www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...
"true leadership is .. not lowering expectations to accommodate the most reluctant"
#cop30
www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...
Cop30 live: standoff over inclusion of fossil fuel phaseout in final text escalates
Following a dramatic fire yesterday, the climate summit is due to finish this evening, but disagreements over the final text look difficult to resolve
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:35 PM
The 29 are: Austria, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Monaco, Neth., Panama, Palau, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switz., UK, and Vanuatu.
Where's NZ ?!
Where's NZ ?!
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
Um, no. Those are Hindu-Arabic numerals.
Arabic numerals are shown below. Those are also useful for school children in the USA to learn, both for appreciating other cultures and because knowing them can come in very handy when traveling in the Middle East and North Africa.
Arabic numerals are shown below. Those are also useful for school children in the USA to learn, both for appreciating other cultures and because knowing them can come in very handy when traveling in the Middle East and North Africa.
November 21, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Um, no. Those are Hindu-Arabic numerals.
Arabic numerals are shown below. Those are also useful for school children in the USA to learn, both for appreciating other cultures and because knowing them can come in very handy when traveling in the Middle East and North Africa.
Arabic numerals are shown below. Those are also useful for school children in the USA to learn, both for appreciating other cultures and because knowing them can come in very handy when traveling in the Middle East and North Africa.
If you see this, quote with the energy you bring to Bluesky:
November 21, 2025 at 3:43 PM
If you see this, quote with the energy you bring to Bluesky:
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
When we think of a circular economy, #recycling is often the first thing that comes to mind. But recycling is just one of the elements in our toolbox, and not necessarily the most preferable one. Learn more from Arturo Castillo @scientistscoa.bsky.social
on.soundcloud.com/2t5jGAdZrMdV...
#plastic
on.soundcloud.com/2t5jGAdZrMdV...
#plastic
Beyond Recycling - The Many Meanings of the Circular Economy
When we speak about plastic pollution, a central idea to solve it is that of the circular economy. And when this idea of circularity is mentioned, recycling is often the first thing that comes to mind
soundcloud.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:20 AM
When we think of a circular economy, #recycling is often the first thing that comes to mind. But recycling is just one of the elements in our toolbox, and not necessarily the most preferable one. Learn more from Arturo Castillo @scientistscoa.bsky.social
on.soundcloud.com/2t5jGAdZrMdV...
#plastic
on.soundcloud.com/2t5jGAdZrMdV...
#plastic
Um, no. Those are Hindu-Arabic numerals.
Arabic numerals are shown below. Those are also useful for school children in the USA to learn, both for appreciating other cultures and because knowing them can come in very handy when traveling in the Middle East and North Africa.
Arabic numerals are shown below. Those are also useful for school children in the USA to learn, both for appreciating other cultures and because knowing them can come in very handy when traveling in the Middle East and North Africa.
November 21, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Um, no. Those are Hindu-Arabic numerals.
Arabic numerals are shown below. Those are also useful for school children in the USA to learn, both for appreciating other cultures and because knowing them can come in very handy when traveling in the Middle East and North Africa.
Arabic numerals are shown below. Those are also useful for school children in the USA to learn, both for appreciating other cultures and because knowing them can come in very handy when traveling in the Middle East and North Africa.
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
This does feel like a major crossing of the Rubicon – the world's best-funded and in many ways most powerful public health agency is now actively pushing disinformation.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
The CDC website now disseminates disinformation about vaccines, claiming erroneously that infant vaccines might cause autism, when we know conclusively that they do not. It is difficult to overstate just how dangerous this is. www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safe...
November 20, 2025 at 2:03 PM
This does feel like a major crossing of the Rubicon – the world's best-funded and in many ways most powerful public health agency is now actively pushing disinformation.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
French authorities are taking X to court because Grok is now doing straight up holocaust denial. Gas chambers intended for disinfection, cyanide residue tiny, ‘story’ persists because of taboo against critical examination. (Full translation in alt text)
November 20, 2025 at 1:03 PM
French authorities are taking X to court because Grok is now doing straight up holocaust denial. Gas chambers intended for disinfection, cyanide residue tiny, ‘story’ persists because of taboo against critical examination. (Full translation in alt text)
Another example of what happens when countries attempt to suddenly reform subsidies that keep fossil fuel prices low, especially without sufficient flanking policies to protect the poor and ease the transition.
What’s behind the attack on Daniel Noboa in Ecuador
The attack took place amid protests that Noboa is facing for having cut subsidies that held down the price of diesel. The measure, signed in September, caused fuel to go from US$1.80 to US$2.80 per gallon (from R$9.60 to R$15, at the current…
The attack took place amid protests that Noboa is facing for having cut subsidies that held down the price of diesel. The measure, signed in September, caused fuel to go from US$1.80 to US$2.80 per gallon (from R$9.60 to R$15, at the current…
What’s behind the attack on Daniel Noboa in Ecuador
The attack took place amid protests that Noboa is facing for having cut subsidies that held down the price of diesel. The measure, signed in September, caused fuel to go from US$1.80 to US$2.80 per gallon (from R$9.60 to R$15, at the current price). Source link
virtualnewss360.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Another example of what happens when countries attempt to suddenly reform subsidies that keep fossil fuel prices low, especially without sufficient flanking policies to protect the poor and ease the transition.
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
I just heard the film-maker Ken Burns (@kenlburns.bsky.social) being interviewed by Nicolle Wallace on yesterday’s Deadline Whitehouse show and repeating the same mantra (how unique the USA is to have been founded on an idea), and I’m yelling at my phone: “Read a book on world history why dontcha?!”
As an American living abroad and having learned some history of Venice, the French Revolution, the Corsican Republic, and the Swiss Federation, I’ve found myself often yelling at my phone when listening to podcasters repeat the mantra that “the USA is the only nation in the world built on an idea.”
November 18, 2025 at 6:23 PM
I just heard the film-maker Ken Burns (@kenlburns.bsky.social) being interviewed by Nicolle Wallace on yesterday’s Deadline Whitehouse show and repeating the same mantra (how unique the USA is to have been founded on an idea), and I’m yelling at my phone: “Read a book on world history why dontcha?!”
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
Apparently JD Vance’s team ran over and nearly killed a police officer? While they were on their way to a fundraiser? And it’s receiving barely any national coverage?
What the hell happened?
What the hell happened?
November 18, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Apparently JD Vance’s team ran over and nearly killed a police officer? While they were on their way to a fundraiser? And it’s receiving barely any national coverage?
What the hell happened?
What the hell happened?
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
One day we’ll look back on this as one of the stupidest things we’ve done.
California farms applied millions of pounds of PFAS to key crops, study finds
‘Forever chemicals’ sprayed on almonds, grapes, tomatoes and other crops as activists warn of ‘obvious problem’
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:06 PM
One day we’ll look back on this as one of the stupidest things we’ve done.
Reposted by Ronald Steenblik
I have not seen enough discussion on Bluesky of this insane clip where Scott Bessent claims that migrants are bringing their cattle into the US with them and it’s infecting US cattle with screwworm.
November 17, 2025 at 5:30 AM
I have not seen enough discussion on Bluesky of this insane clip where Scott Bessent claims that migrants are bringing their cattle into the US with them and it’s infecting US cattle with screwworm.