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Gregor Macdonald

@gregor.us

1.8K followers 360 following 1.2K posts

Journalist covering cities, climate, and energy. Proprietor of Cold Eye Earth (formerly The Gregor Letter) https://www.coldeye.earth | @coldeye.earth

www.coldeye.earth

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Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · Aug 19

With US emissions and US consumption of fossil fuels no longer falling, and a new set of destructive policies just starting to land, only an economic recession during the Trump term would effectively counter the new trend. #energysky

Cold Eye Earth @coldeye.earth · Aug 18

Slipping into Darkness
www.coldeye.earth/p/slipping-i...

Slipping into Darkness

Monday 18 August 2025

www.coldeye.earth

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Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · 1d

US coal consumption in the power sector is up +15% in the first half of 2025: www.eia.gov/outlooks/ste...

Short-Term Energy Outlook - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis

www.eia.gov

Reposted by Gregor Macdonald

Tim Dickinson @timdickinson.bsky.social · 2d

I explored this risk in a piece a month ago...

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Trump's Military Moves Ratchet Up Threat of State-on-State Conflict

Donald Trump is using the military to beta-test a police state, and some fear it could lead to civil conflict like National Guard forces clashing.

www.rollingstone.com

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Reposted by Gregor Macdonald

Governor Gavin Newsom @governor.ca.gov · 2d

This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power by the President of the United States.

America is on the brink of martial law.

Do not be silent.

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 3d

This evening, President Trump is ordering 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployments to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the United States. No officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate.

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Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · 3d

bsky.app/profile/kyle...

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 3d

NEW: Judge Immergut could quickly halt Trump's deployment of CA guard troops to Portland, a workaround that tested her warning that Trump's initial callup was illegal and based on false claims about the unrest facing ICE.

w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social + Blake Jones

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · 3d

bsky.app/profile/oreg...

Oregon Capital Chronicle @oregoncapitalchronicle.com · 3d

Judge Karin Immergut has scheduled a hearing tonight on the new temporary restraining order request that includes CA troops. More tk

oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/10/05/c...

California joins Oregon lawsuit blocking deployment of Guard troops from both states to Portland • Oregon Capital Chronicle

California on Sunday joined Oregon and the city of Portland in suing over the Trump administration’s order to deploy National Guard troops to the city, the latest attempt to deploy federal troops to a...

oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · 3d

Quite an active courtroom evening shaping up here in Portland.

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Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · 3d

Not a lawyer but it seems to me Trump's intention/declaration today that he will re-purpose already federalized National Guard from CA to OR would function as defying the spirit of Judge Imergut's ruling to block putting OR Nat'l Guard on Portland streets.

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Reposted by Gregor Macdonald

Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 9d

Agreed. This ought to be examined immediately.

Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News @froomkin.bsky.social · 10d

This is an absolutely extraordinary, revelatory quote. Why is the NBC affiliate in Portland the only place reporting it? www.kgw.com/article/news...

Trump seems to back off Portland military plan: 'Am I watching things on television that are different from what's happening?'

President Trump had said he will send troops to Portland to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, which he said were "under attack."

www.kgw.com

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Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · 10d

Why is messaging far more critical for Dems than GOP? Partly because GOP messaging and positions stir the archaic intuitions of voters, while Dem positions are the product of thoughtful solutions to complicated systems. Any bully can deliver the GOP message. Dems need oratorical artistry.

Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · 10d

To put this in more concrete terms: moderation will help Dems if your messenger is Bill Clinton or Barack Obama. Without a messenger, voters will regard any Dem moderation is ephemeral, the moderation will be portrayed as such by the GOP, and Dems will wind up shedding support from progressives.

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Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · 10d

The more @mattyglesias.bsky.social flogs the idea that moderation of positions will help Democrats the more it seems like a squishy thesis. What's missing: 1. RW media effectively portrays all Dem positions as extreme. 2. Dems are bad at messaging. If Dems can't cure #2, moderation gains no ground.

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Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · 10d

As someone who lives inside a mile to Portland's ICE facility, I can report:

1. I pass by (within 100 feet of ICE) on the bikepath nearly every day.
2. It's been pretty quiet and dull over there for a month.
3. I did not enjoy the military helicopter flying overhead for hours last night.

Reposted by Gregor Macdonald

Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 11d

War-ravaged Portland

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Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · 21d

Someone made a panicked decision at $DIS and hoo boy are they going to regret it.

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Reposted by Gregor Macdonald

G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 22d

trump approval hits a new low in today's yougov/economist poll. now worse than he was in yougov's data at this point in 2017 www.economist.com/interactive/...

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Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · 22d

The tricky thing about the quote Attiah deployed is that it's 1. accurate in its meaning, but 2. only the 2nd sentence is a direct quote. You describe it as a "direct, verified quote" but it isn't. Now, critics of Attiah are quite wrong when they imply she missed the meaning. She did not. Thoughts?

Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · 22d

My enduring proxy for this problem is the theory of evolution: in wide distribution since the 19th century--and all the while accumulating evermore evidence--but globally the acceptance level is still meh.

Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · 22d

Whenever I read material claiming the ability to call peak FF consumption in real time, my first conclusion is an easy one: the claim can be dismissed, because FF consumption in the near term is governed by economic growth, not the incremental progress of energy-infrastructure transition.

Reposted by Gregor Macdonald

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 26d

#UMich 👀

@weisenthal.bsky.social

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Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · 28d

Fossil fuels are dirt cheap. The whole lot of 'em.
www.eia.gov/outlooks/ste...

"Driven by falling gasoline prices, U.S. drivers’ gasoline expenditures as a share of disposable personal income are likely to be the lowest since at least 2005—excluding the pandemic-affected year of 2020."

Short-Term Energy Outlook - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis

www.eia.gov

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Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · Sep 6

And a final flourish. One of the my all time favorite essays that's so beautifully written it's kind of a story on its own. Barthes: The Eiffel Tower. Bonus: I thought of this essay when reading the new Cusk story, and it's probably not coincidental.

www.columbia.edu/itc/architec...

www.columbia.edu

Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · Sep 6

Here's another writer I only found this year, and her story is a mix of the traditional approach with modern touches. She is unique. harpers.org/archive/2023...

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Reposted by Gregor Macdonald

Jorgy @jjorgensonmcr.bsky.social · Sep 6

In the nightcap Julian puts JB Straubel and new second-life battery player Redwood Materials in the spotlight "second-life batteries are the cheapest form of long-duration storage. If true, battery startups are in trouble — and renewables are in luck." 🔌💡

www.canarymedia.com/articles/lon...

Used EV batteries could upend the race for long-duration storage

Redwood Materials says second-life batteries are the cheapest form of long-duration storage. If true, battery startups are in trouble — and renewables are…

www.canarymedia.com

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Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · Sep 4

My tastes run the gamut. So, this summer I was going wild for Chekhov, and highly recommend 'Gooseberries' en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goosebe...

The Cusk story is highly modern by contrast, artistic, not difficult to read, but for many tastes it may not pay out. Tell me what you think.

Gooseberries (short story) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Gregor Macdonald @gregor.us · Sep 4

Absolutely stunned by this story from Rachel Cusk, my very first encounter with her work. Feels like a breakthrough in what the short story can be. Can't remember being this jolted since the time I first read Murakami.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

“Project,” by Rachel Cusk

Reality became malleable, was always giving way and changing its rules.

www.newyorker.com

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