Howard Crystal
banner
howardmc.bsky.social
Howard Crystal
@howardmc.bsky.social
Energy Justice Legal Director, Ctr. for Biological Diversity // Public Interest Lawyer // aka Bruce
Reposted by Howard Crystal
The Center today released video of detonations underway in the Huachuca Mountains -- in critical habitat for endangered jaguar and Mexican spotted owl -- for a double border wall that will block wildlife (but not people) moving between the U.S. and Mexico.

Link to PR, video tinyurl.com/y752jz55
December 4, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
Meet Shirleen, a 900-pound #leatherback turtle and an epic traveler.

Thanks to satellite tracking by the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, we now know more about where she goes.

Leatherbacks are endangered – they need our help but, meanwhile, #GoShirleen!

Learn more ➡️ marinelife.mapotic.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
Our take: More gas guzzlers. "Dan Becker, @biologicaldiversity.org said weakening the standards would extend the manufacturing of gas-powered vehicles and prevent the US from countering China’s dominance of the global electric car market." @maxinejoselow.bsky.social www.spokesman.com/stories/2025...
Trump expected to significantly weaken fuel economy rules
The Trump administration is poised to announce new fuel efficiency standards for automobiles in a bid to undo requirements it has assailed for driving up the cost of new cars, according to people fami...
www.spokesman.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
Yo DC peoples:

Did you love the City Paper?
Did you subscribe to DCist?
Wanna get more of that in your life?

Subscribe to @51st.news!

5 stars. Do recommend.

Link: 51st.news/membership/?...
Join The 51st
The 51st is a worker-led nonprofit news source for D.C. Our reporting is rooted in our conviction that local journalism is meant to make people’s lives better — no paywalls, ever. But that's only poss...
51st.news
November 25, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
A federal judge ruled the Trump administration had “exceeded the bounds of [its] authority" in deploying the D.C. National Guard, and lacked the authority to call up out-of-state Guardsmen to patrol in D.C.

What does this mean? Don't miss @maustermuhle.bsky.social's reporting:
Federal judge: National Guard deployment in DC is ‘unlawful’
The 2,300 Guardsmen aren’t headed home just yet, though.
51st.news
November 23, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
The #ESA is the world's most successful conservation law, and it's under attack again. The Trump admin. just proposed four new rules that would gut the Act and drive imperiled plants and animals closer to extinction.

We have fewer than 30 days to voice our opposition loud and clear ➡️ bit.ly/3LZAGe6
November 21, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
AI & data centers are getting tons of hype, but less discussed (but deeply important) are the AI boom’s dangers to our environment, health, & wallets:

op-ed by Jean Su & Dr. John Fleming of @biologicaldiversity.org
Behind AI Hype, Climate Consequences | Common Dreams
AI’s massive energy use is giving fossil fuels a lifeline when they should be rapidly phased out in response to the climate emergency.
www.commondreams.org
November 10, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
Jean Su warns that the booming AI industry’s high resource consumption threatens the world’s climate goals, despite rosy prognoses of AI’s projected benefits.
“Data Crunch”: AI Boom Threatens to Entrench Fossil Fuels and Compromise Climate Goals
A new report titled “Data Crunch: How the AI Boom Threatens to Entrench Fossil Fuels and Compromise Climate Goals” from the Center for Biological Diversity warns the booming artificial intelligence in...
www.democracynow.org
November 19, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
Here at #COP30, attendees are lauding AI as an antidote to the climate crisis. While AI can deliver benefits, countries must address AI’s grave costs to our climate, water, & planet.

Happy to unpack this w/ @democracynow.org @amygoodman.bsky.social

www.democracynow.org/2025/11/19/j...
“Data Crunch”: AI Boom Threatens to Entrench Fossil Fuels and Compromise Climate Goals
A new report titled “Data Crunch: How the AI Boom Threatens to Entrench Fossil Fuels and Compromise Climate Goals” from the Center for Biological Diversity warns the booming artificial intelligence in...
www.democracynow.org
November 19, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
The #COP30 heat is on again on fossil fuels. In 2023, countries agreed to “transition away from fossil fuels,” but with no follow-up. Now all eyes are on creating a roadmap to operationalize those otherwise hollow words. In 1 week, 60+ countries have supported the idea of making a game plan.
November 18, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
The UN recently created two new bodies to address AI but from an arms race and global access standpoints.

It’s imperative that the UN climate body not just acknowledge the potential benefits that AI can bring (eg grid balancing), but also the vast climate, water, and economic costs.
November 18, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
The incomparable @ajeansu.bsky.social breaking down why data centers are the devastating love child of big tech and the fossil fuel industry and why COP30 must tackle the climate impacts of AI.

Check out our latest report: biologicaldiversity.org/programs/cli...
November 14, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
AI is an elephant in the #COP30 room. While govts have touted AI as a climate solution, they have ignored its grave costs to our climate & planet. The global climate space must address how AI data centers are the new lifeline of the fossil fuel industry.

See presser👇

unfccc.int/event/center...
unfccc.int
November 16, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
"The influx of CCS lobbyists at COP30 shows how the AI industry is using the false promise of carbon capture as a lifeline for fossil fuels. AI is the love child of Big Tech and the fossil fuel industry."

@ajeansu.bsky.social for @biologicaldiversity.org
November 17, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
We've published two articles at @therevelator.org looking back at the 50th anniversary of Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang. First came an essay by the real-world inspiration for one of the novel's characters, Bonnie Abbzug: therevelator.org/happy-50th-b...
Happy 50th Birthday, Monkey Wrench Gang • The Revelator
Half a century after the novel’s publication, the Glen Canyon Dam still stands, now home to the world’s largest mud puddle.
therevelator.org
November 17, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Trump’s lawyer got one thing right: if Trump can do his Tariffs, the next President can declare a Climate Emergency: heatmap.news/climate/supr...
Neil Gorsuch Is Worried Tariffs Could Create a ‘Climate Emergency’
But this might all be moot thanks to the “major questions doctrine.”
heatmap.news
November 6, 2025 at 4:08 PM
“This report shows how the U.S. is about to set off an explosion of dirty data center emissions, entrenching more fossil fuels when we need their rapid phaseout.” nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
Report: AI Data Center Boom Threatens U.S. Climate Goals
All Other Sectors Would Need to Increase CO2 Emissions Cuts by 60%
nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
A utility fee is making it twice as hard for this Ohio couple to pay for their rooftop solar-plus-storage system with power cost savings. So they’re suing their municipal utility, and it may be a preview of a statewide — and nationwide — fight to come.
Why one Ohio couple is suing their city over rooftop solar fees
The city's utility says the charge is only fair to customers without solar, but the couple argues it’s an illegal penalty. The dispute echoes a nationwide…
www.canarymedia.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:10 PM
"The danger of AI is not that it will achieve consciousness. The end is much less flashy: [it] will increasingly overtax the grid, leaving us to cook alive in sweltering darkness. The AI hype is part of a larger, false narrative justifying fossil fuel expansion." www.thenation.com/article/envi...
AI Is Going to Kill Everyone You Love. The Surprise Is How.
It’s not hostile super robots you should worry about—it’s the heat they’ll generate.
www.thenation.com
October 23, 2025 at 5:31 PM
October 18, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
Ready to go! #nokings
October 18, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
October 18, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Out with the old, in with the new - we got rid of our stinky range and love our new Copper Induction - highly recommend!
October 14, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Reposted by Howard Crystal
SIGNED! 🥳🥳🥳💪💪💪

A massive victory for holding monopoly utilities accountable to their customers, and for lowering Californian utility bills.

Thank you to @governor.ca.gov, @asmmarcberman.bsky.social, @senmcnerney.bsky.social, @earthjustice.org, The Utility Reform Network for all your leadership!
A bill is sitting on @GavinNewsom’s desk that would lower Californians’ utility bills – all he has to do is sign it. But rumors are swirling that he plans to do the opposite - a move that could prove disastrous for California and for Newsom. A 🧵:
October 12, 2025 at 12:51 AM
“The Republican Party has long denied the severe risks that climate change presents. Under Mr. Trump, Republicans have gone even further. They have become the party that stands in the way of lower energy prices for American households.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/o...
Opinion | This Is Why Your Energy Bills Are Going Up
www.nytimes.com
October 9, 2025 at 3:49 PM