Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 5h

Tonight, I cooked memelas, of queso fresco and homemade tortillas, on my Lodge cast iron SANS PFAS while reading that Gov. Newsom vetoed the bill to keep forever chemicals out of our cookware citing affordability. SMH

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/c...

Newsom Vetoes California’s Ban on ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Cookware

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Evan George

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 7h

"Data center operators should pay for residential upgrades to heat pumps, rooftop solar and storage— to secure the power they need right now, and establish the grid stability we all need for the future."

Why data center operators should pay for residential electrification upgrades

Upgrading households is the fastest way for hyperscalers to obtain all the electricity they need, writes Ari Matusiak, founder and CEO of Rewiring America.

www.utilitydive.com

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 17h

Welcome to The Drain, a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news. Our song of the week is “Fire” by Waxahatchee, which is more about rebuilding and resilience than about destruction. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEyY...

Waxahatchee - Fire (Official Video)

YouTube video by Merge Records on YouTube

www.youtube.com

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 17h

Look, you can suggest a topic for @emorwee.bsky.social to investigate for the Heated newsletter. “What should we expose next?” heated.world/p/what-shoul...

What should we expose next?

An invitation to shape the future of HEATED's climate coverage.

heated.world

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 17h

The upcoming release of several dozen new or redesigned EV models could help fuel a comeback, despite the loss of federal tax incentives, @dangearino.bsky.social writes. "You can't stop the future."

insideclimatenews.org/news/0910202...

What’s Ahead for the US Electric Vehicle Industry After Hitting a Massive Speed Bump? - Inside Climate News

The sudden loss of tax credits hurts, but automakers are taking steps to mitigate the damage, and dozens of new models are coming soon.

insideclimatenews.org

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 17h

In media news: Americans’ confidence in traditional media (newspapers, radio, TV) has hit a new low, with 28% expressing a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in them to report the news fully, accurately and fairly. news.gallup.com/poll/695762/...

Trust in Media at New Low of 28% in U.S.

Americans' trust in newspapers, television and radio to report the news fully, accurately and fairly is at a new low of 28%.

news.gallup.com

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 17h

Georgia GOP is tossing out red-meat culture war issues to voters as they defend a pair of seats on the Public Service Commission, which regulates Georgia Power and other utilities. Good @volts.wtf pod on what he calls the most important political race of 2025. www.volts.wtf/p/pay-attent...

Pay attention to the most important political race of 2025

With energy affordability set to dominate national politics, Peter Hubbard and Brionté McCorkle explain why a down-ballot Georgia race is ground zero for the fight.

www.volts.wtf

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 17h

Energy Secretary Chris Wright is announcing the Trump administration’s fusion road map at an AI and fusion industry gathering today, according to @amyaharder.bsky.social at Axios. www.axios.com/2025/10/14/c...

Energy chief Chris Wright to outline fusion road map under Trump

Wright's announcement coincides with a suite of gatherings.

www.axios.com

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 17h

Who is watching California’s oil refiners, like when they explode? State, regional and local agencies are all investigating in a silo, reports @gauchoesque.bsky.social at @calmatters.org calmatters.org/environment/...

Two California refineries exploded this year. With the federal government out, who’s watching them?

An El Segundo refinery fire has renewed questions about who is investigating the state’s oil industry after serious accidents. With the U.S. Chemical Safety Board defunded, California has yet to fill ...

calmatters.org

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 17h

My @uclalawemmett.bsky.social colleague Julia Stein talks about rebuilding authorities in this deep dive about fire recovery policy by Alissa Walker that was just published in the second issue of the Los Angeles Review of Architecture. nyra.nyc/articles/ang...

Angeles Ashes

Postfire redevelopment could help long-term Altadena residents regain their footing—or hasten their exit.

nyra.nyc

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 17h

Let us not forget that there was actually a bill in the California Legislature this session that sought to prevent this problem of corporate land grabs by encouraging the creation of rebuilding authorities. That effort was scuttled. www.latimes.com/homeless-hou...

Conspiracy theories thwart rebuilding plan after L.A. County wildfires

After a social media uproar based on misinformation, a proposal to create a new housing authority to help rebuild after January's wildfires fails to pass in the state Legislature.

www.latimes.com

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 17h

A post-disaster land grab similar to that in Altadena has been happening in Maui two years after the wildfire there, as @grist.org reported this week. grist.org/housing/two-...

Two years after a wildfire took everything, Maui homeowners are facing a new threat: Foreclosure

A Native Hawaiian mother’s fight to keep her family in Lāhainā despite soaring costs, mortgage limbo, and land-hungry investors eager to own a piece of Hawaiʻi.

grist.org

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 17h

Another headline that got less attention this past week had to do with “private corporate land acquisition” complicating the rebuilding effort. Homes in Altadena that burned in the Eaton Fire are being disproportionately bought up by corporate developer. @laist.com laist.com/news/climate...

Corporations are buying up Altadena lots. Policies to counter that trend have so far failed

More than half of sales through September have been to corporate developers. Grassroots community efforts continue to work to combat the trend.

laist.com

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 17h

“What made the January 2025 fires so destructive wasn’t the ignition alone, but the fact that vegetation had been dried far beyond normal by unusually high summer temperatures," says my @uclasustainablela.bsky.social colleague Alex Hall, who helped perform a rapid analysis in January. Good reminder.

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 17h

Arson alone does not explain the Palisades Fire. But you wouldn't have known it from the media coverage last week. This week at the Drain: legal-planet.org/2025/10/14/d...

Arson Alone Does Not Explain the Palisades Fire - Legal Planet

People often start fires, but that's just the spark. The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.

legal-planet.org

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Reposted by Evan George

UCLA Emmett Institute @uclalawemmett.bsky.social · 3d

Big deal! legal-planet.org/2025/10/08/s...

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 3d

I see hawks in LA all the time, but rarely foraging on the ground, like here at Stoneview Nature Center.

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Reposted by Evan George

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 3d

DOE's ridiculous orders to keep uneconomic coal plants operating has brought together strange bedfellows to argue before energy regulators that they shouldn't have to pay to keep them running:
www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-do...

Groups challenge MISO cost allocation plan for coal power plant

Industrial, business and environmental groups say they should not have to pay to continue running a 1,560-MW, coal-fired power plant that doesn’t benefit them after the DOE ordered it to stay open.

www.utilitydive.com

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Reposted by Evan George

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 4d

Can you think of a single movie in which there is a video from the government denouncing its political opponents playing on a loop in public spaces in which that government was the good guy?

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 4d

A new Noem video is being played at airports trashing Democrats.

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 4d

Trump policies have dimmed the Vegas economy so why not also dim its energy supply, I guess…

www.marketplace.org/episode/2025...

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Reposted by Evan George

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 5d

SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news

Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says

It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.

heatmap.news

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 4d

Spanberger has also stated she’s open to extending tax breaks for data centers. technical.ly/civics/virgi...

From right-to-work to who gets the jobs, here’s where Virginia’s gubernatorial candidates stand on its economy

Early voting just began for the Commonwealth’s race between Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears.

technical.ly

Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 4d

Spanberger’s plan: energy storage jobs, new generation sources to the grid, energy efficiency programs, ratepayer project programs, and the use of VPPs. She supports the longtime decarb goals of the Virginia Clean Economy Act and smarter siting of data centers. insideclimatenews.org/news/0308202...

Virginia’s Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Embraces Renewables, Natural Gas and Community Planning for Data Centers - Inside Climate News

Former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger strikes a different tone than the current Republican administration and wants to expand energy possibilities.

insideclimatenews.org

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 4d

Spanberger, the Dem, has settled on an all of the above energy message with an emphasis on renewables (wind, solar, storage) and on making data centers “pay their fair share” wjla.com/news/electio...

RECAP: Virginia governor nominees face-off in only debate before election day

7News live blogged Virginia's first and only gubernatorial debate scheduled between the nominees: Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears

wjla.com

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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 4d

The Republican Earle-Sears says the words “all of the above” when she means pro fossil fuels, anti-wind and solar, but doesn’t seem much focused on energy or affordability. Her energy comments at last night's debate were sort of a mess wjla.com/news/electio...

RECAP: Virginia governor nominees face-off in only debate before election day

7News live blogged Virginia's first and only gubernatorial debate scheduled between the nominees: Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears

wjla.com

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