Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Matt Zeitlin

Heatmap News @heatmap.news · 12h

The new winners of the AI boom are two old-school Midwestern pipeline and equipment-makers: Caterpillar and Williams Companies.

Here's the full story from @zeitlin.bsky.social

Data Centers Have Solved Their Speed-to-Power Problem — With Natural Gas

“Old economy” companies like Caterpillar and Williams are cashing in by selling smaller, less-efficient turbines to impatient developers.

heatmap.news

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 12h

There's a turbine shortage. If you want to build a gas-fired power plant, it will be on the grid sometime around the first midterms of the Vance administration. So solar and batteries are the fastest power to deploy?

Not so fast. There is another (kind of turbine)

heatmap.news/energy/natur...

Data Centers Have Solved Their Speed-to-Power Problem — With Natural Gas

“Old economy” companies like Caterpillar and Williams are cashing in by selling smaller, less-efficient turbines to impatient developers.

heatmap.news

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 12h

The case for renewables I hear all the time is something like "Ignore emissions, we can do this faster than gas" and that may be true about combined-cycle power plants, but it may be much less true with using cheap turbines behind the meter heatmap.news/energy/natur...

Data Centers Have Solved Their Speed-to-Power Problem — With Natural Gas

“Old economy” companies like Caterpillar and Williams are cashing in by selling smaller, less-efficient turbines to impatient developers.

heatmap.news

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Reposted by Matt Zeitlin

David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 16h

The #1 piece of advice that TransLink's CEO offers other North American transit agencies:

Provide frequent service

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 14h

if you're reading this it's too late musgrave.substack.com/p/a-post-lit...

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Reposted by Matt Zeitlin

George Pearkes @peark.es · 14h

Absolute banger of a blog post from Dallas Fed economist Anton Cheremukhin who estimates breakeven payrolls have fallen to *30k* thanks to rapid declines in population growth.
www.dallasfed.org/research/eco...

Chart showing estimates of US population growth at monthly frequencies from 2017-2025 from BLS, BEA/Census, CBO, and author's calculations

Estimated monthly contributions to monthly breakeven payroll growth across population, changes in institutionalization/civilian status, and labor force participation 2017 - 2025

Estimated monthly breakeven payrolls rate from 2022-2025

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 1d

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Reposted by Matt Zeitlin

The Hearse Whisperer @babadooknukem.bsky.social · Sep 1

Much like "crab", industrial music is constantly re-evolving from first principles basically anywhere where there's a bunch of metal and plastic laying about

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 3d

part of california's climate and energy policy: more oil drilling in kern county heatmap.news/energy/calif...

California’s Big Climate and Energy Package, Explained

The state quietly refreshed its cap and trade program, revamped how it funds wildfire cleanup, and reorganized its grid governance — plus offered some relief on gas prices.

heatmap.news

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Reposted by Matt Zeitlin

Emily Pontecorvo @emilypont.bsky.social · 3d

California passed a huge climate package last month, w/ a big effort to weave in affordability. It's wonky but important stuff, and I broke it all down for you:
- Cap & invest extension / rebrand
- transmission accelerator
- permission to join a Western RTO!
more here heatmap.news/energy/calif...

California’s Big Climate and Energy Package, Explained

The state quietly refreshed its cap and trade program, revamped how it funds wildfire cleanup, and reorganized its grid governance — plus offered some relief on gas prices.

heatmap.news

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 6d

i appreciate a good aggressive tv interview as much as the next guy, but is there any evidence the "british style" has led to a more informed public, more responsive politicians, more honest politicians, better policy results, etc etc

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 6d

Americans may note such unusual features as 'the reporter calling the politician out when they say something untrue' and 'follow-up questions.'

Jane @localnotail.bsky.social · 7d

no excuse for being this bad

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 6d

russ vought fucntions as as the boogeyman that trump and congressional republicans will just have to release should a prolonged shutdown occur heatmap.news/politics/rus...

How the Shutdown Could Remake the Trump Administration

Republicans have blamed Democrats for unleashing Russ Vought on federal spending. But it doesn’t take much to see a bigger plan at work.

heatmap.news

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Reposted by Matt Zeitlin

Max Read @maxread.info · 6d

today's newsletter: a consideration of the many wonderful cars in One Battle After Another, in particular Willa's 2005 Yaris, Sensei's T-Bird Super Coupe and Bob's boosted 1991 Nissan Sentra SE-R

The Oscar Should Go to Bob Ferguson's 1991 Nissan Sentra SE-R

'One Battle After Another' as a car movie

maxread.substack.com

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Reposted by Matt Zeitlin

Quantian @quantian.bsky.social · 6d

Bluesky is a site explicitly founded by cryptocurrency libertarians with the idea that it would be a decentralized platform where users would be free to choose the open-source moderation and algorithmic feed tools they wanted, and by accident acquired a power userbase that hates all of those things.

William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 6d

Are people mad at the Bluesky ceo for a real reason or an internet madness reason?

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 7d

Heatmap is hiring an intern for our newsroom!

heatmap.news/heatmap-is-h...

Heatmap Is Hiring a News Intern

Come work with us.

heatmap.news

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 8d

@katienotopoulos.bsky.social hacked my phone and has threatening to publicize a private video. I am posting it here to show I’m not afraid of blackmail

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 8d

listen to hear me "go off" on paul wellstone's academic work on transmission politics, the oil and gas industry feeling sorry for offshore wind developers, and what the hell is "gold-plating" anyway

Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social · 8d

NEW SHIFT KEY

It’s our first-ever Heatmap reporter roundtable!

I chat with @zeitlin.bsky.social, @goodjillian.bsky.social, and @emilypont.bsky.social about NYC Climate Week, the new politics of Dem energy affordability, and Paul Wellstone’s forgotten NIMBYism.

heatmap.news/podcast/shif...

Heatmap’s Reporters Talk Electricity, Inflation, and the New Era in Climate Politics

Rob debriefs with colleagues on the latest climate news.

heatmap.news

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 9d

Electricity prices are rising. Trump said he would lower them. Democrats want to run on this, but there's two problems

1. Voters haven't trusted them on this issue
2. They govern states with huge price hikes

heatmap.news/politics/ele...

Why Electricity Price Politics Could Get Complicated for Democrats

Voters are mad at Trump over rising bills, but assigning blame is complicated.

heatmap.news

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 10d

Democrats want to take the offensive on electricity prices, and Trump is giving them an opening to do so.

There are two problems:

1. Voters have trusted Republicans more on energy prices

2. Some of the biggest price hikes are happening in Democratic states heatmap.news/politics/ele...

Why Electricity Prices Might Not Be a Political Win for Democrats

Voters are mad at Trump over rising bills, but assigning blame is complicated.

heatmap.news

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 17d

in 2008, yes

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 17d

(Stayin' Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class, Jefferson Cowie)

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 17d

democrats lose a heartbreaking race to a former presidential loser. there's a large working class shift on them — and it's largely on cultural issues. some counsel moving right on culture, others say they should embrace young voters. a synthesis arrives: populism