Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 1d

There is a carbon price, it's just that the polluters aren't the one to pay it.

Michael Wara @michaelwara.bsky.social · 1d

This is a good thing from a risk-based pricing perspective. But also so hard for people that are now paying $12k + difference in conditions. This is one of the true costs for Californians of wildfire.

Lawrence Vulis @lvulis.bsky.social · 1d

CA FAIR plan seeks 35.8% rate increase.

#climaterisk

www.latimes.com/business/sto...

6 23

Reposted by Dr. Elizabeth Sawin

Helle Abelvik-Lawson @drhelleal.bsky.social · 1d

Late capitalism, with no effective regulation of the most powerful and monied interests (and boy are they monied) is gonna break all hell loose.

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 1d

Climate change disasters as a matter of personal responsibility. "The advisories emphasize the importance of increased personal responsibility in preventing wildfires" www.newsweek.com/wildfire-ris...

Warning issued as entire state faces wildfire risk

National Weather Service meteorologists have issued warnings for Maine amid dry, windy weather.

www.newsweek.com

3 11

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 1d

Climate change disasters as a matter of personal responsibility. "The advisories emphasize the importance of increased personal responsibility in preventing wildfires" www.newsweek.com/wildfire-ris...

Warning issued as entire state faces wildfire risk

National Weather Service meteorologists have issued warnings for Maine amid dry, windy weather.

www.newsweek.com

2 6 13

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 1d

That set of chains we hardly know is there..."Imaginary lock-ins." You fight them by getting specific about your dreams.

Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 1d

8/ Or as Jens Marquardt & Naghmeh Nasiritousi point out we face a "challenge to envision a decarbonized future beyond the status quo of a fossil-dependent society" - a concept that they term 'imaginary lock-ins'.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Imaginary lock-ins in climate change politics: the challenge to envision a fossil-free future

Various path dependencies and carbon lock-ins prevent ambitious climate action. In this study, we develop and apply the concept of imaginary lock-ins, or the challenge to envision a decarbonized fu...

www.tandfonline.com

1 9

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 2d

Definitely fairies.

1

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 2d

I'm always looking for examples of people and teams doing this in creative effective ways!

2 3

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 2d

A current project is producing lots of "how to" guides for groups to build connection and navigate complexity together and I'm thinking about the "forms" for that. I guess maybe there will be several, including a low-bandwith online form and a printed or printable one.

1 4

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 2d

It's one reason I wrote my book to have something in physical form, though that creates its own accessibility challenges. bookshop.org/p/books/mult...

Multisolving: Creating Systems Change in a Fractured World

Creating Systems Change in a Fractured World

bookshop.org

1 5

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 2d

I think about this and also about internet access during tumultuous times. E.g: post disaster, struggling to charge devices, can you download that guide for how to run a participatory meeting?

ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 2d

i went to a tech/social change conference in late Nov 2016, and we spent so much time talking about what “safer” organizing could look like under tyranny

we talked to folks from the Philippines about how all data could be compromised, how we’d have to pass notebooks and encode church sermons

Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 2d

Another effort to track ICE raids was just taken offline www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/06/1...

1 9 19

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 2d

I have heard of half-baked claims but never fried.

Michael Metivier @grousehollow.bsky.social · 2d

I don’t get uptight or upset about typos. Our menu at a little VT restaurant today (which was very good) had “FRIED CLAIMS” on the menu and that was awesome. Also our server said “lagoony” instead of “linguini” and again, awesome. It’s fried claims and lagoony for me from now on.

4 11

Reposted by Dr. Elizabeth Sawin

Tina Bessias @tbessias.bsky.social · 5d

Beautiful. See subsequent post, too.

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 5d

The path between here and a just and livable future is not a smooth curve of managed transition any more (if it ever was). It's white water, surprises, confusion, advance, retreat, learning, messing up, grieving, celebrating, experimenting, truth telling, pausing in the beauty.

1 2 8

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 5d

It's stumbling along unsure. It's not being validated, not being resourced. It's making it up. It's triage. It's trusting the earth and each other and it's life finding a way.

3 32

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 5d

The path between here and a just and livable future is not a smooth curve of managed transition any more (if it ever was). It's white water, surprises, confusion, advance, retreat, learning, messing up, grieving, celebrating, experimenting, truth telling, pausing in the beauty.

2 14 53

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 5d

There's fierce love in action on this planet, today and every day. Not knowing if it's "enough" doesn't make it less beautiful.

6 33

Reposted by Dr. Elizabeth Sawin

Ashley C. Ford @smashfizzle.bsky.social · 6d

The conversation between Klein and Coates showed me that a lot of people who screech about “infighting” on the left aren’t aware of the fact that marginalized people have been forced to learn how to regulate their emotions during conflict, and so, are better able to hear what’s actually being said.

60 1.2K 6.1K

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 5d

This was a great conversation about the #multisolving potential of protecting our health from "forever chemicals" like PFAS.

Defend Our Health: Authors & Friends

Our third conversation featured Dr. Beth Sawin, author of Multisolving: Creating Systems Change in a Fractured World. Dr. Beth Sawin has dedicated her career to the theory and practice of creating change in complex systems and coined the term multisolving. She has seen multisolving build solidarity

www.youtube.com

1 5

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 7d

hmm I think I meant more "experience it as a result and a teaching"

1 2

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 7d

More and more it seems to me, as the polycrisis becomes a mainstream frame, people speak about managing risk, not learning, not rethinking, not reimagining. What do you think?

4 2 10

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 7d

I might still need to manage (get a loan, take an inflammatory) but the consequence frame seeks me to make actual fundamental change to habits, actions, and beliefs.

1 3

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 7d

Do I have a crisis of a low savings account, or a consequence of continuing to spend more than I earn?

Do I have a crisis of a sore back or a consequence of too many hours seated and neglect of my exercise program?

1 4

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 7d

When you recognize something is a result of your own actions and beliefs that calls forth different responses than when something is a crisis that needs to be navigated. One calls for a reckoning the other for managing (or for pushing consequences onto others, the worst kind of managing).

1 3 10

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 7d

What would change if people stopped framing what we are experiencing as a crisis (or even as a polycrisis) and instead began to experience it a result and teaching?

Vanessa Andreotti writes and speaks of the polycrisis as a poly-consequence and I think she has identified something important.

1 4 27

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 7d

Some perspective for you.

Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 7d

I am bringing your TL some sparkles! 🔭 ✨

This is the NGC-1850 star cluster in the LMC, as seen by Hubble! The number of stars in that part of the cluster is bonkers 🤯

Processing that data was really fun!

HD: flic.kr/p/2ruwYSH

An observation of a star cluster by the Hubble Space Telescope. Thousands of stars can be seen in the image, appearing in blue, red, orange or white colors. A blue and white veil of gas goes from the upper left part of the image to the middle down part of it.

11

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 7d

Such beauty and peace this Earth we are a always part of offers up day after day. The humans who have seized the levers of power may not be in touch with the operating instructions for the planet, but they are right there if you pay attention.

A misty view across a dirt road to a pasture. The colors of the asters on the land echo the colors of the sky above

A small outbuilding of unpainted wood with a red door. There are flower parts in front of the building the clouds above and behind it are illuminated by the sun so that they glow.

Close up of a very purple aster comuning with a very plump bumble bee.

1 2 17

Reposted by Dr. Elizabeth Sawin

isaac @sevier.io · 7d

The truth is this is a moment where many different possibilities for the future are opening, and they are opening at an extremely high cost. Solidarity to everyone who is trying to build a path to a better world for us all right now, amidst every loss and grief we are carrying. Solidarity forever.

1 27 98