Ross Macfarlane
@rossmacfarlane.bsky.social
Advocate for climate action, clean energy & democracy. Likes to play outside. Director with Sierra Club Foundation, Way to Rise, and Clean Energy Transition Institute and recently Director and Vice President with Sierra Club.
Pinned
Don’t Look Away: The Climate Crisis Demands Our Attention
We live in a time of crisis overload. President Trump and his team are following his advisor Steve Bannon’s strategy to “flood the zone…
medium.com
I wrote a piece for Earth Week about the need to keep bringing focus to the need for climate action at this time we are all being overloaded with issues that are appropriately demanding our attention. Appreciate any thoughts and sharing with anyone you think might be interested.
Fascinating and sobering conversation on @heatmap.news with @advaitarun.bsky.social about the growing risk of an AI Bubble. @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social @jessedjenkins.com 1/
heatmap.news/podcast/shif...
heatmap.news/podcast/shif...
How Clean Energy Could Prepare for an AI Bubble
Rob and Jesse talk data center finance with the Center for Public Enterprise’s Advait Arun.
heatmap.news
November 27, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Fascinating and sobering conversation on @heatmap.news with @advaitarun.bsky.social about the growing risk of an AI Bubble. @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social @jessedjenkins.com 1/
heatmap.news/podcast/shif...
heatmap.news/podcast/shif...
Waiting for a centrally organized resistance to the authoritarian regime? Don't. Creative action is bubbling up all around the country, and appearing in remarkably inventive and courageous ways. Something to be thankful for this week. @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social @theguardian.com
A year on from Trump’s victory, resistance is everywhere | Rebecca Solnit
Americans have shown a tremendous amount and variety of opposition – more than some may realize
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Waiting for a centrally organized resistance to the authoritarian regime? Don't. Creative action is bubbling up all around the country, and appearing in remarkably inventive and courageous ways. Something to be thankful for this week. @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social @theguardian.com
Ridiculous and horrific cruelty all to feed the quotas that Stephen Miller is imposing on ICE agents. Each one of these stories is a family destroyed and a dream demolished.
I need everybody to read this and understand what’s going on. These are spouses of US citizens in the country legally. They have entry clearance and green cards, they’ve passed background checks and have no criminal records. ICE is taking them anyway.
Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Ridiculous and horrific cruelty all to feed the quotas that Stephen Miller is imposing on ICE agents. Each one of these stories is a family destroyed and a dream demolished.
Timeline cleanse: two migrating Trumpeter Swans came to visit our pond today. Beautiful!
November 26, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Timeline cleanse: two migrating Trumpeter Swans came to visit our pond today. Beautiful!
Let's play, "Who's the Traitor?"
1. Decorated War Hero & US Senator who reminds service members of oath to uphold constitution & that they are not required to follow patently illegal orders.
2. US Envoy to Russia with murky financial ties to country who coaches Putin on ways to play Trump
1. Decorated War Hero & US Senator who reminds service members of oath to uphold constitution & that they are not required to follow patently illegal orders.
2. US Envoy to Russia with murky financial ties to country who coaches Putin on ways to play Trump
November 26, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Let's play, "Who's the Traitor?"
1. Decorated War Hero & US Senator who reminds service members of oath to uphold constitution & that they are not required to follow patently illegal orders.
2. US Envoy to Russia with murky financial ties to country who coaches Putin on ways to play Trump
1. Decorated War Hero & US Senator who reminds service members of oath to uphold constitution & that they are not required to follow patently illegal orders.
2. US Envoy to Russia with murky financial ties to country who coaches Putin on ways to play Trump
Reposted by Ross Macfarlane
EXCLUSIVE: US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff advised Russia on how to pitch Ukraine plans to Trump, in audio files reviewed by Bloomberg
Witkoff has got to go.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Witkoff has got to go.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Witkoff Discusses Ukraine Plans With Key Putin Aide: Transcript
The following is a transcript of an Oct. 14 phone call lasting just over 5 minutes between Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special envoy for peace missions, and Yuri Ushakov, Vladimir Putin’s most senio...
www.bloomberg.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:27 PM
EXCLUSIVE: US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff advised Russia on how to pitch Ukraine plans to Trump, in audio files reviewed by Bloomberg
Witkoff has got to go.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Witkoff has got to go.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
"I told the president that ... the Russian Federation has always wanted a peace deal. That's my belief" They have certainly shown that in interesting ways with an armed invasion, constant bombing, kidnapping children, massive civilian deaths .... but sure, Steve.
Steve Witkoff is such a Russian patsy. Just absolutely embarrassing.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
November 25, 2025 at 11:31 PM
"I told the president that ... the Russian Federation has always wanted a peace deal. That's my belief" They have certainly shown that in interesting ways with an armed invasion, constant bombing, kidnapping children, massive civilian deaths .... but sure, Steve.
Sleeper issue around the data center boom: cooling water used for Amazon's server farms in Eastern Oregon creates major groundwater contamination issue, poisoning local drinking water. thefern.org/2025/11/the-...
‘The precedent is Flint’: How Oregon’s data center boom is supercharging a water crisis | Food and Environment Reporting Network
In the spring of 2022, Jim Doherty kept having the same conversation with folks at the only grocery store in Boardman, his eastern Oregon hometown, or at the grain depot where he picked up food for…
thefern.org
November 25, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Sleeper issue around the data center boom: cooling water used for Amazon's server farms in Eastern Oregon creates major groundwater contamination issue, poisoning local drinking water. thefern.org/2025/11/the-...
When the company at the heart of the AI Boom/Bubble has to issue a memo assuring investors that it's not Enron it doesn't leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling about our economy
Been wondering about this exact thing for months, and not just with Nvidia. None of the numbers work; the revenues don't come close to the wild-ass valuations anyway, and the whole thing is a self-dealing ouroboros of like a half-dozen companies buying and selling to each other.
November 25, 2025 at 6:06 PM
When the company at the heart of the AI Boom/Bubble has to issue a memo assuring investors that it's not Enron it doesn't leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling about our economy
See you in court. The US Dept of Interior skips NEPA review for its 5 year plan to expand offshore drilling, breaking with prior precedent. 1/ www.eenews.net/articles/int...
Interior skips NEPA analysis for offshore drilling expansion
All prior five-year drilling plans — dating back to 1980 — reference National Environmental Policy Act analyses.
www.eenews.net
November 25, 2025 at 2:56 PM
See you in court. The US Dept of Interior skips NEPA review for its 5 year plan to expand offshore drilling, breaking with prior precedent. 1/ www.eenews.net/articles/int...
This is one comeback that isn't going to happen. @silviomarcacci.bsky.social substack.com/home/post/p-...
Coal’s Not Coming Back
19th century technology can’t compete economically with 21st century clean energy
substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:50 PM
This is one comeback that isn't going to happen. @silviomarcacci.bsky.social substack.com/home/post/p-...
I sponsor your bill, good sir, and amend it to include funding for the new buggy whip factory to be built on my estate. The future is ours!
I'm seeking a legislative sponsor for my bill to allocate $4M for a new three-masted whaling ship. Spermaceti candles burn far brighter and cleaner than tallow, so I expect a great profit. cowboystatedaily.com/2025/10/27/w...
Wyoming, Basin Electric Take Step Toward First New Coal Plant In Over A Decade
Wyoming and Basin Electric took a step Monday toward building the first new coal-fired power plant in more than a decade. Adding a second unit to the Dry…
cowboystatedaily.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:32 PM
I sponsor your bill, good sir, and amend it to include funding for the new buggy whip factory to be built on my estate. The future is ours!
Read? What is this thing that you talk about, reading?
Truly hilarious
Truly hilarious
Trump didn’t read before posting:
“OUR AMERICAN CODE OF MILITARY OBEDIENCE REQUIRES THAT, SHOULD ORDERS AND THE LAW EVER CONFLICT, OUR OFFICERS MUST OBEY THE LAW.”
“OUR AMERICAN CODE OF MILITARY OBEDIENCE REQUIRES THAT, SHOULD ORDERS AND THE LAW EVER CONFLICT, OUR OFFICERS MUST OBEY THE LAW.”
November 24, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Read? What is this thing that you talk about, reading?
Truly hilarious
Truly hilarious
Seems like its a combination of having Hegseth and company wanting to kill people and blow things up; Marco wanting to throw over the commie regime; Trump wanting to change the subject; and nobody having taken time to think it through or prepare the public for what will be another quagmire.
Really looks like the United States is about to launch a regime change war against Venezuela with:
-No casus belli
-No authorization from Congress
-No allies or international support
-No plan for a post-Maduro Venezuela
-No preparation for any sort of stabilization or containment of the fallout
-No casus belli
-No authorization from Congress
-No allies or international support
-No plan for a post-Maduro Venezuela
-No preparation for any sort of stabilization or containment of the fallout
November 24, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Seems like its a combination of having Hegseth and company wanting to kill people and blow things up; Marco wanting to throw over the commie regime; Trump wanting to change the subject; and nobody having taken time to think it through or prepare the public for what will be another quagmire.
Reposted by Ross Macfarlane
“Climate change isn’t everything“ is becoming a go-to justification for delaying action.
This is - deliberately or inadvertently - a misframing of the issue. The point isn’t CC is everything, it’s that it’s essential to deal with.
1/
This is - deliberately or inadvertently - a misframing of the issue. The point isn’t CC is everything, it’s that it’s essential to deal with.
1/
November 24, 2025 at 6:07 AM
“Climate change isn’t everything“ is becoming a go-to justification for delaying action.
This is - deliberately or inadvertently - a misframing of the issue. The point isn’t CC is everything, it’s that it’s essential to deal with.
1/
This is - deliberately or inadvertently - a misframing of the issue. The point isn’t CC is everything, it’s that it’s essential to deal with.
1/
This is exactly what the founding fathers most feared when they were drafting the Constitution
Pretty remarkable that Trump has installed someone on the Saudi dole — Jared Kushner collects millions in fees from the Saudis every year — in a key role for America's most sensitive and consequential foreign policy negotiations (Gaza, Ukraine), and it is largely TREATED AS A NON-STORY
November 24, 2025 at 12:21 AM
This is exactly what the founding fathers most feared when they were drafting the Constitution
Reposted by Ross Macfarlane
Sunday evening reading: I wrote about the state of the fever swamp.
What becomes of MAGA as Trump’s hold over the movement is weakening, his ability to integrate its different factions is waning?
Into the Twilight of the Trump Era:
What becomes of MAGA as Trump’s hold over the movement is weakening, his ability to integrate its different factions is waning?
Into the Twilight of the Trump Era:
Into the Twilight of the Trump Era
What becomes of MAGA as Trump’s hold over the movement is weakening, his ability to integrate its different factions waning? A deep dive into the state of the fever swamp
steady.page
November 23, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Sunday evening reading: I wrote about the state of the fever swamp.
What becomes of MAGA as Trump’s hold over the movement is weakening, his ability to integrate its different factions is waning?
Into the Twilight of the Trump Era:
What becomes of MAGA as Trump’s hold over the movement is weakening, his ability to integrate its different factions is waning?
Into the Twilight of the Trump Era:
More evidence that Elon's X has become a right-wing bot paradise, dominated by fake foreign accounts. Happy that I left.
X rolled out a new feature overnight showing where accounts are based. This network of “Trump-supporting independent women” that claimed to be “real Americans” are based in Thailand.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
November 23, 2025 at 10:17 PM
More evidence that Elon's X has become a right-wing bot paradise, dominated by fake foreign accounts. Happy that I left.
The "climate realists" in the pundit class are being wildly delusional. Our current trajectory sets the world up for impacts from global warming that will imperil our global economy and civilization. @theatlantic.com @peterbrannen.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...
Our Almost-Apocalyptic Climate Future
By shooting for 3 degrees Celsius of warming, the world could slide toward a more cataclysmic 4 degrees.
www.theatlantic.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:10 PM
The "climate realists" in the pundit class are being wildly delusional. Our current trajectory sets the world up for impacts from global warming that will imperil our global economy and civilization. @theatlantic.com @peterbrannen.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...
Decimating federal programs and firing public servants; killing hundreds of thousands of children; taking a chainsaw to the government -- all to cost taxpayers MORE money.
Heck of a job, Elon
Heck of a job, Elon
November 23, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Decimating federal programs and firing public servants; killing hundreds of thousands of children; taking a chainsaw to the government -- all to cost taxpayers MORE money.
Heck of a job, Elon
Heck of a job, Elon
Beautiful, haunting, and devastating. The best of her family's legacy felled by a horrible disease while the worst conspires with imbeciles to sicken the rest of us. @newyorker.com www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
A Battle with My Blood
When I was diagnosed with leukemia, my first thought was that this couldn’t be happening to me, to my family.
www.newyorker.com
November 23, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Beautiful, haunting, and devastating. The best of her family's legacy felled by a horrible disease while the worst conspires with imbeciles to sicken the rest of us. @newyorker.com www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Ending my online session with some great news.
First Solar just opened a $1.1 billion integrated solar PV manufacturing plant in Louisiana capable of producing 3.5 gigawatts of panels each year. The plant will employ >700 people electrek.co/2025/11/21/f... 🔌💡
First Solar opens a Louisiana factory that’s 11 Superdomes big
First Solar opens a massive $1.1 billion solar factory in Louisiana, adding 3.5 GW of new US capacity and more than 800 well-paid jobs.
electrek.co
November 22, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Ending my online session with some great news.
Canary, meet coal mine -- Puget Sound will feel severe impacts from ocean impacts from ocean acidification earlier than most regions, new study confirms. @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social
November 22, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Canary, meet coal mine -- Puget Sound will feel severe impacts from ocean impacts from ocean acidification earlier than most regions, new study confirms. @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social
Proud to know Gabe Gonzalez, the community organizer featured in this @NPR story on neighborhood efforts to resist ICE and Border Patrol in Chicago. Courage, resilience and hope in the face of brutality. www.npr.org/2025/11/19/n...
Grassroots resistance swells in the wake of the immigration crackdown in Chicago
Chicago is no longer the main focus of the federal immigration crackdown. For one neighborhood group, the intense enforcement activity was a test of resistance tactics they developed eight years ago.
www.npr.org
November 22, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Proud to know Gabe Gonzalez, the community organizer featured in this @NPR story on neighborhood efforts to resist ICE and Border Patrol in Chicago. Courage, resilience and hope in the face of brutality. www.npr.org/2025/11/19/n...
So great to see this simple act of solidarity and community continuing to spread! By having a whistle and being prepared to use it, you can be ready to help your neighbors and bear witness if ICE thugs are raiding where you are. @wawhistles.bsky.social @katemacfarlane.bsky.social
Whistles to warn of ICE agents have become a sound of resistance. “In South Seattle, whistles have been distributed at Skyway Farmers Market. Cherryl Jackson-Williams … said whistles brought people who are ‘concerned for the safety of their neighbors’ together. The kits were all taken w/in an hour.”
From Seattle to L.A., Chicago, and now Charlotte, communities are stepping up as Trump’s mass detention and deportation agenda grows more violent and indiscriminate.
"The ways that community members are helping their immigrant neighbors truly are ingenious and varied."
✍️ @tusk81.bsky.social
"The ways that community members are helping their immigrant neighbors truly are ingenious and varied."
✍️ @tusk81.bsky.social
November 22, 2025 at 6:33 PM
So great to see this simple act of solidarity and community continuing to spread! By having a whistle and being prepared to use it, you can be ready to help your neighbors and bear witness if ICE thugs are raiding where you are. @wawhistles.bsky.social @katemacfarlane.bsky.social