Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 1h

Obviously he isn't the villain du jour, but if you don't know about Dick Cheney's personal role in 2002's catastrophic Klamath River salmon die-off, you probably don't hate him enough!

www.counterpunch.org/2007/07/16/c...

Cheney and the Klamath

Was the Veep Behind the Nation's Largest Salmon Kill?

www.counterpunch.org

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Jeff Goodell @jeffgoodell.bsky.social · 11d

Next step in this extortion racket: You want federal money, you sing sweet words about fossil fuels and you don't talk about climate change. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion

www.nytimes.com

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Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 17h

If you haven't seen it yet, it's a good night to watch FISH WAR, the award-winning 2024 documentary about Northwest Tribes defending their treaty fishing rights through years of civil disobedience protest.

Poster for the documentary, "Fish War," highlighting its selection at several film festivals.

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Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 20h

When you rediscover an important thought you once jotted down in your Notes app.

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Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 22h

“Since the 1970s, when California’s green turtles first surfaced, scientists have suspected that the animals represent an expansion of the species’ known range… these suspicions are almost definitely true.”

A shot of hope from @biographic.bsky.social.

www.biographic.com/go-north-you...

Go North, Young Turtle

As eastern Pacific green sea turtles were being slaughtered in much of their range, an intrepid group of turtles pushed north into uncharted waters.

www.biographic.com

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Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 1d

Promoting the editor-in-chief's personal side project. Zero named sources in a story that promotes the editor-in-chief's personal political position. Misspelling the subject's name. It took one day for CBS News to become a conservative blog.

www.cbsnews.com/video/some-n...

CBS News: Some NYPD officers worry about Mandani becoming NYC mayor the Free Press reports.

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Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 1d

One thousand percent chance that Humpy's legendary victory in the Seattle Mariners' Salmon Race is going to get prominent treatment in my #FishBook.

www.si.com/mlb/how-hump...

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Tom Joscelyn @tomjoscelyn.bsky.social · 2d

“I spent three nights and three days in federal custody. During that time, I was never told what I was charged with, was not allowed to shower despite being covered in tear gas and pepper spray, had no phone call to my family, and no access to an attorney.” - George Retes, U.S. citizen and veteran.

I’m a US citizen and a veteran. ICE arrested me for no reason.

Jailed for three days without an explanation or ability to notify anyone, George Retes argues the only path to healing starts with the government taking accountability for its actions.

newsletter.ofthebrave.org

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Aarne Granlund @aarnegranlund.bsky.social · 3d

Fall colours in Savonranta at the Vuokalankoski dam removal site. It opened up fish migration between the huge Saimaa lakes and Vuokala Lake in 2021. The water quality is still excellent.

#RestoreNature

Old mill buildings and a bridge over a restored river. The birch trees are in fall foliage.

Fall foliage on the upper part of the Vuokalankoski rapids.

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 3d

Deep dive into the surge in US pedestrian deaths:

"It’s not that more pedestrians are getting hit by vehicles; it’s that the ones that are getting hit are more likely to die."

"[That] seems like fairly strong evidence for the theory that the rise in large SUVs is behind the uptick in ped deaths."

Why Are So Many Pedestrians Killed by Cars in the US?

It’s unfortunately not uncommon for pedestrians to be killed by cars in the US.

www.construction-physics.com

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 4d

Ducks, welcome to the war on cars.

Family of ducks crossing Perth freeway cause peak-hour pile up

Six cars are caught in a pile-up as a family of ducks attempts to cross busy Kwinana Freeway during the morning peak hour in Perth.

www.abc.net.au

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 5d

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

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Sarah Boon @snowhydro.bsky.social · 5d

It's not just about wildfire, but about wildlife as well. See @bengoldfarb.bsky.social 's CROSSINGS.

Evan Frost @wildwoods.bsky.social · 5d

"Research shows wildfires are 4x more likely in areas w/roads than in roadless forests...and >90% of wildfires occur within 1/2 mile of a road. Even USFS's own research undercuts the argument that repealing the roadless rule would have a positive effect on fire mgmt."🌍 www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-e...

The Trump administration’s latest attack on cherished public lands | Opinion

“For more than two decades, the Roadless Rule has protected nearly 60 million acres of our national forests from industrial development.”

www.sacbee.com

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 6d

Monstrous.

"federal agents detained nearly every resident of the 130-unit building—including children and babies—placing them in zip ties and separating them by race into vans for more than two hours early Tuesday morning."

Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 6d

Good reporting on the South Shore raid from South Side weekly here.

Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...

Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children

Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.

southsideweekly.com

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Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 6d

This is the way.

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Sarah Goodyear @sgoodyear.bsky.social · 7d

This book changed the way I see the world. HIGHLY recommend making Jeff Bezos mad as hell by ordering it through Bookshop.

Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 7d

Sure why not! Support indies by ordering America’s favorite #roadecology masterpiece through Bookshop and I’ll send ya a free signed bookplate (DM w/ proof of purchase and address). Bezos will be absolutely *furious.*

bookshop.org/p/books/cros...

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Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 7d

Sure why not! Support indies by ordering America’s favorite #roadecology masterpiece through Bookshop and I’ll send ya a free signed bookplate (DM w/ proof of purchase and address). Bezos will be absolutely *furious.*

bookshop.org/p/books/cros...

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Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 7d

Eighty-five percent participation in a voluntary program to slow down and thus reduce vessel noise is… actually pretty impressive? Probably much higher than the percentage of drivers who stick to the speed limit in, say, Yellowstone. #marineroadecology

www.sierraclub.org/sierra/slow-...

Slow Lanes Help Save a Dwindling Orca Population

Reducing speeds can help killer whales navigate an increasingly louder sea

www.sierraclub.org

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Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 7d

What bird am I holding? Chaffee County, Colorado.

(Flew in through an open door, bumbled about the office a bit before being apprehended, and, after a few minutes of discombobulation and a sip of water, departed seemingly unharmed.)

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 8d

"Government shouldn't pick winners and losers" goes out the window when they become one of the losers.

Trump launches new bid to save coal

Leaders at DOE, EPA and Interior tossed another lifeline of policy changes and funding to the coal industry.

www.eenews.net

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Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 8d

"Today the consequences of excessive roadbuilding are perfectly foreseeable; it’s the wisdom that remains scarce."

For @bostonglobe.com's Wild Issue, I wrote about Trump's plan to rescind USFS's Roadless Rule, which — spoiler — is a terrible idea. #roadecology

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/04/o...

A road runs through it - The Boston Globe

America’s wild lands are already home to vast networks of paved and dirt roads. Now the Trump administration is about to expand their reach.

www.bostonglobe.com

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Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative @y2y.bsky.social · 8d

Roadless areas are “incredibly important from an ecological standpoint,” says Leslie Weldon, former deputy chief of the US Forest Service and Y2Y board member.

But that's just the start of the impacts if the Roadless Rule is overturned. Read more in this opinion from @bengoldfarb.bsky.social

A road runs through it - The Boston Globe

America’s wild lands are already home to vast networks of paved and dirt roads. Now the Trump administration is about to expand their reach.

www.bostonglobe.com

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Kelli Refer @kellireef.bsky.social · 8d

“The allure of the car is so strong that it has persuaded Americans to treat forty thousand human lives as expendable each year; what chance does wildlife have?” From Crossings by @bengoldfarb.bsky.social

#WeekWithoutDriving

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 10d

This is good —the Mayor of Yellowknife NWT in Canada’s far north weighs in on “Car Bloat” (truck bloat actually) and its many big costs & consequences (thanks @davidzipper.bsky.social for heads-up). And like most who dare tell the truth about that, he’s taking flack.
www.linkedin.com/mwlite/feed/...

Screenshot of LinkedIn post from Yellowknife Mayor describing the costs and consequences of trucks having gotten so much bigger. In the link, he explains the backlash he received for his post.

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Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 10d

Appreciated this paragraph on the emotions that motivate conservation, from @nijhuism.bsky.social's newsletter. Agree that love—of place, wildlife, community—is the more powerful force, especially now, when everything seems rather, well, hopeless.

conservationworks.substack.com/p/what-to-do...

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