Michael Parks
@jurassicparks.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1.1K following 570 posts
Journalist learning and writing about grasslands. Also a dad / husband in new mexico.
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jurassicparks.bsky.social
Good pt
thisbrokenwheel.bsky.social
As a paleontology enthusiast I always find it funny how pop culture constantly describes large herbivorous dinosaurs as "gentle giants" when most of our current living herbivorous megafauna are some of the most physically dangerous and temperamental creatures on the planet.
faineg.bsky.social
horses can SERIOUSLY injure you with their jaws - do not ever antagonize enormous animals with opinions
jurassicparks.bsky.social
Thank you. That's very helpful.
jurassicparks.bsky.social
Who knows maybe it'll be a national conscious uncoupling
juliedicaro.bsky.social
This is getting wild.

The states of Iowa, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and 14 others have just asked for permission to file THEIR amicus brief in IL v. Trump.
The States of Iowa, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and 14 additional States
respectfully move for leave to submit the attached amicus curiae brief in support of Defendants
and their opposition to Plaintiffs’ requested temporary restraining order and preliminary
injunction. Proposed amici are States with a vested interest in federalism, the relationship between
States and the federal government, and deploying the National Guard. We also each have a vital
interest in supporting the President and Congress in enacting and enforcing valid immigration
laws. Every State has a responsibility to protect our citizens.
The federalization of States’ National Guard units is a matter of profound public
importance, as it directly implicates the delicate balance of power between state and federal
governments—a true cornerstone of Federalism. States generally maintain authority over their
National Guard units, allowing governors to deploy them for state-specific needs, such as disaster
response or public safety. Federalization of state National Guard units without gubernatorial
Reposted by Michael Parks
volts.wtf
A fantastic guide to the current terminology & thinking of the Silicon Valley bros, who are riding high at the moment.

(I really can not exaggerate how aesthetically & morally repulsive I find every bit of this.)
are you high-agency or an NPC?
AI anxiety and the new language of silicon valley
jasmi.news
jurassicparks.bsky.social
man this is really making me miss being on twitter
jurassicparks.bsky.social
I suppose tell me all you know about how not to mess up as a first time author😂
Reposted by Michael Parks
donmoyn.bsky.social
The elimination of USAID is a moral atrocity and all involved made a choice to enable, and then lie about, ending the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.
MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family's food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food.
On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher's little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: "No one has died" because of his government's decision to gut its foreign aid program. Rubio also insisted: "No children are dying on my watch."
That, Taher says, "is a lie."
Reposted by Michael Parks
profsecchi.bsky.social
Another EWG 🎯, read the 🧵
“the top 4 practices that would generate the largest reductions in GHG emissions on continuous corn […] are: riparian forest buffers, tree or shrub establishment, hedgerow planting & windbreak establishment”
Note how these are all PERMANENT practices,unlike cover crops.
jurassicparks.bsky.social
Impressive stat
anneschech.bsky.social
Ag conservation practices can help. We found that adopting the four best conservation practices on just 1% of continuous corn acres each in the four states would reduce total greenhouse gas emissions at an amount that would be like taking over 850,000 cars off the road. See report for more info. 4/4
jurassicparks.bsky.social
Similar to the data center story, I've heard in that area dairies are buying land for the water, dryland or grazing on top, importing forage
jurassicparks.bsky.social
You dont have to give up your car to deal with ethanol. And at the level of society, maybe ICE engines. But I get what you're saying a personal action level!
jurassicparks.bsky.social
A former lender / farmer there told me the assumption that land in the area would be a depreciating asset, but the scarcity of water under land has made it so valuable the opposite happened
jurassicparks.bsky.social
This is specifically in west texas
jurassicparks.bsky.social
In the Ogallala region twenty years ago banks wouldn't write a 20 year loan cuz they thought land values would go down as water went down. Land prices quadrupled.
jurassicparks.bsky.social
I cannot for the life of me find a good, accessible book about the enclosures of commons in England (causes, consequences, etc)

Can this really not exist?
Reposted by Michael Parks
saskajanet.bsky.social
Look at her go!
#invertebrates 🌿
Screen shot of Project Monarch app map of progress of a monarch butterfly from southern Ontario to Oklahoma.
Reposted by Michael Parks
flglchicago.bsky.social
Here’s video of the incident
jurassicparks.bsky.social
This is a good explainer, for anyone who hasn't been refrigerant-pilled:

nasrc.org/wp-content/u...
nasrc.org
jurassicparks.bsky.social
Maybe useful opinion: fixing refrigerants now is a huge lever on climate change. But for the moment, alas:

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/c...
Trump Administration Moves to Relax Rules on Climate Super Pollutants
www.nytimes.com
jurassicparks.bsky.social
Scrooge opinion incoming: the Montreal Protocol if anything shows how challenging climate is. We solved a problem with infinitely less industrial opposition / economic impact... partly by creating new kinds of climate warming refrigerants that are not ideal (but acceptable to industry)
jurassicparks.bsky.social
If we're going to keep pushing ag into old growth ecosystems we have an obligation to restore the others, but this is also v. not ideal to begin with
jurassicparks.bsky.social
They're both important. Ethanol may be more tractable.