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lensofjw.bsky.social
James Walsh
@lensofjw.bsky.social
45 followers 300 following 34 posts
“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers”

Currently focused on climate change mitigation in Africa: p2x.co.za

Previous filmmaking: sinamatella.com
&
Photography: jameswalsh.work
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by James Walsh
rebeccasolnit.bsky.social
One of the less understood beauties of a transition to a renewable economy is: you cannot invade a country and steal its sunshine and its wind, and you will not need to. The uneven distribution of fossil fuel, esp. oil, has corroded geopolitics for more than a century....
leahmcelrath.bsky.social Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · Oct 15
Nobel Peace Prize recipient María Corina Machado appeared on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast.

She touted the oil reserves in Venezuela (the largest in the world) and vowed to privatize the oil industry to enable American corporations to exploit and profit from the country’s resources if she gains power.
October 17, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by James Walsh
dieworkwear.bsky.social
Not true.

I see you're a luxury watch dealer. I'm also interested in watches. Let me show you how free and easy migration has allowed you to earn a living. 🧵
Corey Wiley on Twitter writes: "You don’t get it. Foundational immigration law is morally just and has been established over millennia. Disrespecting these rules and ideals is very offensive to folks who highly value civilized society"
June 10, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Reposted by James Walsh
70sbachchan.bsky.social
African officials express concern that the nuclear armed, ethnically volatile former British colony is sleepwalking towards a human rights disaster. #NewsIfUSAWasAForeignCountry
djrothkopf.bsky.social David Rothkopf @djrothkopf.bsky.social · Jun 8
Tanks being moved into DC. National guard being mobilized in LA. Paramilitary thugs being unleashed across America. It's summer in America in fascism is in full bloom.
June 8, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Reposted by James Walsh
thierryaaron.bsky.social
8/ We therefore only need to substitute part of the current primary energy demand

As Saul Griffith, @rewiringamerica.bsky.social shows with electrification "we’ll only need 40-50% of the energy we currently use to do all of the things that we do today. So it actually makes the project a lot easier"
How to decarbonize America — and create 25 million jobs
The US has the technology to decarbonize by 2035. Here’s a plan to do it.
www.vox.com
June 10, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by James Walsh
mckay4senate.bsky.social
The real enemy of this administration is cosmopolitanism. Whether in Los Angeles or South Africa, multiracial pluralistic democracy is a threat to them because it means their “us or them” model of the world is wrong. So they stir up trouble on purpose and gleefully lie.
acyn.bsky.social Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · Jun 10
Kristi Noem calls Los Angeles a “city of criminals”

“They are not city of immigrants, they are a city of criminals”
June 10, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Reposted by James Walsh
direnkocakusak.bsky.social
This is a particularly insightful piece that discusses, for instance, why solar and wind energy have expanded at a rate faster than even the most optimistic projections.

"Hold on to your socks" ☀️ 💨
June 6, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by James Walsh
cleanpowerdave.bsky.social
Africa's solar revolution is accelerating💫🌍

The latest data shows in the last 2 quarters, many countries are importing more solar panels, including:
☀️Algeria 400MW during Q1-2025
☀️Nigeria 400MW
☀️Kenya 100MW
☀️Chad 100MW
May 8, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by James Walsh
alastairotter.bsky.social
In Africa, 25% of the electricity is generated from low-carbon sources. Hydropower is the main source of low-carbon electricity, generating 17% of the continent’s electricity. theoutlier.co.za/charts/chart...
May 26, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Reposted by James Walsh
elbarroquista.bsky.social
Ha muerto el gran Sebastião Salgado.
May 23, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Reposted by James Walsh
70sbachchan.bsky.social
Sadly both the theories behind IRA have mostly failed

1. Deliverism: deliver jobs and investments to consolidate democratic voters -> win 2024 election

2. Poltiical Lock-In: deliver jobs and investments to red states & districts so that a IRA caucus inside the GOP would protect the clean economy
May 23, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by James Walsh
jessedjenkins.com
Here's an #upshift since we really need one right now: Sublime just signed a deal with Microsoft to sell up to 622,500 tons of electrochemically produced cement over a period of 6 - 9 years. Sublime says "for scale, that's enough to build roughly 31 NFL stadiums."
🔌💡
www.linkedin.com/posts/sublim...
Why Microsoft Just Signed a Deal for Green Cement
The software giant is teaming up with a low-carbon cement startup to help address emissions from the construction of data centers.
www.bloomberg.com
May 22, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Reposted by James Walsh
70sbachchan.bsky.social
Fact 1 "The spectacular acceleration in global renewable investment is, in fact, a story about one country: China."

Fact 2. "The renewable share of new capacity additions in electricity generation worldwide is 90%"
adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-...

Why are these two facts not known broadly?
Chartbook 386: How China's powerslide is driving the global green electricity transition.
What will the energy transition look like and who will make it happen?
adamtooze.substack.com
May 20, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Reposted by James Walsh
dpcarrington.bsky.social
"As scientists, we are deeply concerned by mischaracterisation of our [geoengineering] research as “neo-colonial experimentation”. This not only spreads misinformation but also diminishes the contributions of African expertise in tackling complex climate challenges"

www.degrees.ngo/african-scie...
Informed voices, informed futures: African scientists respond to misrepresentations of solar geoengineering research
African scientists are internationally recognised experts in the field of solar radiation management (SRM). We publish our research in top journals, serve on UN expert panels, and work together to ens...
www.degrees.ngo
May 14, 2025 at 10:51 AM
lensofjw.bsky.social
The final sentence (of the second screenshot) is bang on here.
weisenthal.bsky.social Joe Weisenthal @weisenthal.bsky.social · Mar 24
I WANT TO BELIEVE IN ABUNDANCE

I wrote my review of the new book, what I liked, what political opportunities it presents, and where I was left unsatisfied.

Here are some sections, and you can read the whole thing here.

www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
May 10, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Reposted by James Walsh
chrisbataille.bsky.social
There’s a lot packed in this abstract cc #SCC @noahqkaufman.bsky.social
May 8, 2025 at 5:05 AM
Reposted by James Walsh
bgrueskin.bsky.social
He thinks there’s a cargo ship full of VCR tapes steaming toward the Port of Blockbuster that he’s going to exact these tariffs upon, doesn’t he
May 5, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Reposted by James Walsh
petesikora.bsky.social
Climate people, I love us, but the crew is way too cerebral.

Stop over-thinking “message”:

Preventing global catastrophe and creating good jobs, lowering energy bills & air pollution in the process is VERY persuasive!

PS: please stop saying “emissions”. It’s pollution. Call it pollution. Thanks!
May 1, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Reposted by James Walsh
laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social
Thinking of frequency control as a service that can be provided in many ways is really important because fossil fuel interests always prey on simple minds to push for subsidies to thermal power, rather than a technology neutral approach, as the solution.
May 1, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Reposted by James Walsh
costasamaras.com
Saves nothing. Costs everything.
bobkopp.net Bob Kopp @bobkopp.net · Apr 25
State Department eliminates Office of Global Change, which has led US involvement in UNFCCC, IPCC, etc
Rubio eliminates office that oversees climate talks
The Office of Global Change was notified Thursday that it would be shuttered.
www.politico.com
April 25, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Reposted by James Walsh
lolennui.bsky.social
If I really wanted people to have more babies I would simply make it less expensive, isolating, and professionally punishing to be a new parent but what do I know
April 23, 2025 at 5:41 AM
Reposted by James Walsh
zeitzoff.bsky.social
There’s a lot of chaos right now, but I keep coming back to this report: Big Banks are quietly preparing for catastrophic climate change.

These risks aren’t distant or abstract—they’re now part of mainstream financial planning.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/big-...
April 21, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by James Walsh
volts.wtf
Amazing.
amandalitman.bsky.social Amanda Litman @amandalitman.bsky.social · Apr 15
Some stats from 100 days in on congestion pricing:
- Complaints about car-honking are down 70%
- The Holland Tunnel has 65% fewer delays at rush hour; time to get thru it is down 48%
- 6 million fewer cars
- Half as many traffic-related injuries
- 1.5 million more visitors to BIDs year over year
How Well Is Congestion Pricing Doing? Very.
One hundred days in, honking is down; bus speeds are up.
www.curbed.com
April 16, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Reposted by James Walsh
bcbsara.bsky.social
The largest paying crowd in the history of Wrigley Field was the day Jackie Robinson made his debut. Wrigley is the only park left Jackie played a game in. Mike Ryoko was a kid at that ballpark that day and he wrote about it. Take a minute and read this today.

press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago...
A newspaper clipping from Mike Ryoko part one: Jackie's Debut a Unique Day All that Saturday, the wise men of the neighborhood, who sat in chairs on the sidewalk outside the tavern, had talked about what it would do to baseball. I hung around and listened because baseball was about the most important thing in the world, and if anything was going to ruin it, I was worried. Most of the things they said, I didn't understand, although it all sounded terrible. But could one man bring such ruin? They said he could and would. And the next day he was going to be in Wrigley Field for the first time, on the same diamond as Hack, Nicholson, Cavarretta, Schmitz, Pafko, and all my other idols. I had to see Jackie Robinson, the man who was going to somehow wreck everything. So the next day, another kid and I started walking to the ballpark early. We always walked to save the streetcar fare. It was five or six miles, but I felt about baseball the way Abe Lincoln felt about education. Usually, we could get there just at noon, find a seat in the grandstand, and watch some batting practice. But not that Sunday, May 18, 1947. By noon, Wrigley Field was almost filled. The crowd outside spilled off the sidewalk and into the streets. Scalpers were asking top dollar for box seats and getting it. Part II: I had never seen anything like it. Not just the size, although it was a new record, more than 47,000. But this was twenty-five years ago, and in 1947 few blacks were seen in the Loop, much less up on the white North Side at a Cub game. That day, they came by the thousands, pouring off the northbound Ls and out of their cars. They didn't wear baseball-game clothes. They had on church clothes and funeral clothes·suits, white shirts, ties, gleaming shoes, and straw hats. I've never seen so many straw hats. As big as it was, the crowd was orderly. Almost unnaturally so. People didn't jostle each other. The whites tried to look as if nothing unusual was happening, while the blacks tried to look casual and dignified. So everybody looked slightly ill at ease. For most, it was probably the first time they had been that close to each other in such great numbers. We managed to get in, scramble up a ramp, and find a place to stand behind the last row of grandstand seats. Then they shut the gates. No place remained to stand. Robinson came up in the first inning. I remember the sound. It wasn't the shrill, teenage cry you now hear, or an excited gut roar. They applauded, long, rolling applause. A tall, middle-aged black man stood next to me, a smile of almost painful joy on his face, beating his palms together so hard they must have hurt. Part III: When Robinson stepped into the batter's box, it was as if someone had flicked a switch. The place went silent. He swung at the first pitch and they erupted as if he had knocked it over the wall. But it was only a high foul that dropped into the box seats. I remember thinking it was strange that a foul could make that many people happy. When he struck out, the low moan was genuine. I've forgotten most of the details of the game, other than that the Dodgers won and Robinson didn't get a hit or do anything special, although he was cheered on every swing and every routine play. But two things happened I'll never forget. Robinson played first, and early in the game a Cub star hit a grounder and it was a close play. Just before the Cub reached first, he swerved to his left. And as he got to the bag, he seemed to slam his foot down hard at Robinson's foot. It was obvious to everyone that he was trying to run into him or spike him. Robinson took the throw and got clear at the last instant. I was shocked. That Cub, a hometown boy, was my biggest hero. It was not only an unheroic stunt, but it seemed a rude thing to do in front of people who would cheer for a foul ball. I didn't understand why he had done it. It wasn't at all big league. I didn't know that while the white fans were relatively polite, the Cubs and most other teams kept up a steady stream of racial abuse from the dugout. I thought that all they did down there was talk about how good Wheaties are. Part IV: Late in the game, Robinson was up again, and he hit another foul ball. This time it came into the stands low and fast, in our direction. Somebody in the seats grabbed for it, but it caromed off his hand and kept coming. There was a flurry of arms as the ball kept bouncing, and suddenly it was between me and my pal. We both grabbed. I had a baseball. The two of us stood there examining it and chortling. A genuine major-league baseball that had actually been gripped and thrown by a Cub pitcher, hit by a Dodger batter. What a possession. Then I heard the voice say: "Would you consider selling that?" It was the black man who had applauded so fiercely. I mumbled something. I didn't want to sell it. "I'll give you ten dollars for it," he said. Ten dollars. I couldn't believe it. I didn't know what ten dollars could buy because I'd never had that much money. But I knew that a lot of men in the neighborhood considered sixty dollars a week to be good pay. I handed it to him, and he paid me with ten $1 bills. When I left the ball park, with that much money in my pocket, I was sure that Jackie Robinson wasn't bad for the game. Since then, I've regretted a few times that I didn't keep the ball. Or that I hadn't given it to him free. I didn't know, then, how hard he probably had to work for that ten dollars. But Tuesday I was glad I had sold it to him. And if that man is still around, and has that baseball, I'm sure he thinks it was worth every cent.
April 15, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Reposted by James Walsh
volts.wtf
Read that last bit again. "Tipping cascades" -- which would effectively augur the end of a recognizably human world -- are a real possibility on our *current trajectory*.

We are toying with the fate of all future generations of human beings. Look around. Are we acting like it?
April 15, 2025 at 5:28 PM