Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Gernot Wagner

@gwagner.com

22K followers 2K following 2.3K posts

Climate economist, Columbia https://gwagner.com It’s pronounced juggernaut without the jug.

Gernot Wagner is an Austro-American climate economist at Columbia Business School. He holds an AB and a PhD in political economy and government from Harvard University, as well as an MA in economics from Stanford University. A founding co-director of Harvard's Solar Geoengineering Research Program (2017–2019) he joined the faculty of New York University in 2019, moving to Columbia University in 2022. Wagner writes a monthly column for Project Syndicate, and is the co-author, with Martin L. Weitzman, of Climate Shock, a Top 15 Financial Times-McKinsey Business Book of the Year 2015. He won the "Austrian of the Year" award in 2022, awarded by Austrian daily Die Presse. .. more

Economics 35%

Environmental science 29%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 1d

bfy.tw/UPgF

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 1d

Good to see this Big Battery Big Read in today's @financialtimes.com, with amazing interactive graphics to boot

ig.ft.com/mega-batteri...

3 1 10

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 1d

Meanwhile, out in the real world:

"Hiring is at its lowest level since 2009"¹

¹ @cnbc.com, via @unusualwhales.bsky.social

1 8

Reposted by Aaron Sojourner, Daniel Huppmann

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 1d

Props for honesty, I s'pose

Top FT headline: "Wall St investment bank revenue set to top $9bn as Trump effect bears fruit"

2 2 12

Reposted by Gernot Wagner, Aaron Sojourner, Anthony Burke

Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 1d

The US federal attack on Portland has resulted in the best advertisement for a city that I have ever seen. Round-the-clock joy, community solidarity and silliness that much of the West has lost and longs for.

80 1.1K 4K

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 2d

Restrict the cheapest energy sources, increase energy prices.

The math couldn't be clearer.

NYT editorial: The Trump Bump on Your Energy Bills

Rapidly declining solar & battery prices

Texas surpassing California on total utility-scale solar deployment

1 30

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 2d

The striking bit about "car guys":

Yeah, there's the occasional meet up, where standing in line is the point. But in general, the fewer cars, the more enjoyable the experience.

For bicycles, it's the opposite: the more of them on any given street, the more enjoyable the experience.

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 22d

You can be a “car guy” and not like car dependency. You can be a “car guy” and get that too many cars in cities is bad for everyone, including drivers. You can be a “car guy” and be tired of lies & manipulations like “the war on cars.” You can be a “car guy” and know more choice means more freedom.

2 4 43

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

STEPHANOPOULOS: I didn't insinuate anything. I asked you whether Tom Homan accepted $50k as was heard on an audio tape recorded by the FBI in September 2024. You did not answer the question. Thank you for your time.

VANCE: No, George, I sai--

STEPHANOPOULOS: We'll be right back

1.5K 3.8K 19K

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 2d

Meine letzte Kolumne nun auch auf Deutsch:

CH₄ als "Das unterschätzte Problem der Stahlproduktion – und wie man es lösen könnte"
www.derstandard.at/story/310000... mit @rolandkupers.bsky.social im @derstandard.at

Das unterschätzte Problem der Stahlproduktion – und wie man es lösen könnte

Methan ist ein stärkeres Treibhausgas als CO₂. Diese Emissionen aus kohlebasierten Hochöfen zu reduzieren, wäre eine sinnvolle und machbare Maßnahme für den Übergang zu grünem Stahl

www.derstandard.at

1 1 9

Reposted by Steve Peers, Juan Cole, Gernot Wagner , and 4 more Steve Peers, Juan Cole, Gernot Wagner, Adrian Daub, Brian Keegan, Alfie Kohn, Manisha Sinha

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 2d

Sunday reading:

I wrote about the aggrieved extremist who is currently firing thousands of federal workers and ravaging state capacity based on conspiratorial nonsense - and about mainstream media’s infuriating tendency to sanitize Russell Vought and the regime he serves.

This week’s piece:

We need to talk about Russell Vought – But Properly

Why certain mainstream outlets insist on sanitizing Vought as a devout “small government” conservative – and what actually animates his war against pluralistic democracy

steady.page

69 1.4K 3.3K

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 3d

Honey, I invested $100 billion in AI, and all I got was 1 + 2 + 3 = 15

ZackKorman post: Copilot in Excel is a global financial crisis waiting to happen.

4 31 130

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Gernot Wagner, Aaron Sojourner

Filipe Campante @filipecampante.bsky.social · 3d

Every single paragraph in this article is shocking. I had been quite pessimistic all along, but could not have imagined the speed and depth of the collapse.

2 5 63

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 3d

Live from the Hellscape that is DEMOCRAT-CONTROLLED INNER-CITY America, on the New York City SUBWAY no less.

linktr.ee/jembleu

2 17

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Peter Thorne, Tom Clark , and 11 more Anna O. Law, Peter Thorne, Tom Clark, Steve Peers, American Library Association, Gernot Wagner, Melanie C. Green, Silvia Secchi, Michael Zimmer, Scott A. Imberman, Anthony Burke, Blair Fix, Farah Mendlesohn, Jeannette Sutton

LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 @longtimehistory.bsky.social · 3d

ICE secretly kidnap autistic boy during bathroom break—never notify parents.

Mother reported him missing a week ago—turns out ICE had him detained the whole time.

He was helping sell fruit and asked to go to the restroom—by the time she was done helping a customer he was gone.

Houston, Texas

220 2.4K 4.1K

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Will Jennings, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 12 more Lisa W. Fazio, Will Jennings, Rosemary A. Joyce, Gernot Wagner, Alan Richardson, R. M. Wilson, Michael D. McDonald, Michael Jones‐Correa, Alfie Kohn, Ann Bartow, Greg Linden, Andrew Rudalevige, Dan Immergluck, Colin Woodard, David Darmofal

David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 3d

A classic case of irresponsible both-sidesism from the NYT. The story is that Trump and MAGA propagandists are lying about Portland to incite a conflict, not that there are different views of the matter.

270 1.5K 5.7K

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 3d

Papers, scones, guitar, dog. Saturday.

1 2 40

Reposted by Scott C. Doney, Gernot Wagner, Aaron Sojourner , and 2 more Scott C. Doney, Gernot Wagner, Aaron Sojourner, Scott A. Imberman, Bessma Momani

Itai Sher @itaisher.bsky.social · 4d

An excellent response by MIT’s President Sally Kornbluf rejecting the Trump compact.

Other universities should do the same.

2 32 130

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 4d

Key Insights from "Hard to Abate, Impossible to Ignore" panel at @columbiabusiness.bsky.social:

Decarbonizing steel and cement with electrochemistry, green hydrogen, and a "geological hack"

business.columbia.edu/insights/cli...

Hard to Abate, Impossible to Ignore: How Green Steel and Low-Carbon Cement Are Cleaning Up Heavy Industry | Columbia Business School

Columbia Business School’s Climate Week panel explored how green steel and low-carbon cement can decarbonize heavy industry through innovation and partnerships.

business.columbia.edu

2 4

Reposted by Will Lowe

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 4d

That's the key, yes:

Brain drain = missing brain gain

Won't make for splashy headlines, but let's just say I'm writing a lot of recommendation letters in A4 instead of Letter-sized format these days.

Thijs Heus @thijsheus.bsky.social · 4d

You won't notice those, is my guess. Those are the international postdocs/PhDs who now choose to go back to Europe/China/... instead of taking positions at the flaghsips.
Much of the US brain drain is going to be a lack of brain gain.

1 13

Reposted by Gernot Wagner

Thijs Heus @thijsheus.bsky.social · 4d

1 7

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 4d

You've got to wait until after Monday's announcement to make the move.

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 4d

As far as high-profile academics moving out of Trump's America goes, it doesn't get more high-profile than this.

🇺🇸 → 🇨🇭

Department of Economics @Universität Zürich 🇨🇭 @econ.uzh.ch · 4d

We are thrilled to welcome Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee as the new Lemann Foundation Professors to our department, beginning in the summer of 2026.

2 9 34

Reposted by Diane Coyle, Jonathan Portes, Sascha O. Becker , and 6 more Diane Coyle, Jonathan Portes, Sascha O. Becker, Stefanie Walter, Gernot Wagner, Maya Sen, Kai Gehring, Simon Wiederhold, Colm O’Cinneíde

Department of Economics @Universität Zürich 🇨🇭 @econ.uzh.ch · 4d

We are thrilled to welcome Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee as the new Lemann Foundation Professors to our department, beginning in the summer of 2026.

2 24 140

Reposted by Gernot Wagner

Daniel Huppmann @danielhuppmann.bsky.social · 4d

“Die 🇺🇸 sichern sich durch fossile Förderung Unabhängigkeit, 🇨🇳 dominiert mit Elektrifizierung & grüner Industrie”, warnen @gwagner.com & @monika-schnitzer.com

Für 🇪🇺 „droht doppelte Abhängigkeit von fossilen Importen aus dem Westen & grünen Technologien aus dem Osten.”
📰 gwagner.com/zeit-industr...

Screenshot des Artikels “Batterien statt Kraftwerke”, Die Zeit

6 12

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, David M. Schultz, Mary Feeney , and 12 more Richard S.J. Tol, David M. Schultz, Mary Feeney, Rosemary A. Joyce, Dustin Mulvaney, Gernot Wagner, Silvia Secchi, Bessma Momani, Henry Farrell, James Goodwin, Dana R. Fisher, Mark Rice, Leah Stokes, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, David Darmofal

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

130 1.1K 2.2K

Reposted by Gernot Wagner

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 5d

An expert on anti-fascist groups who teaches at New Jersey’s flagship state university is moving his family overseas.

Antifa expert at Rutgers University says he is moving to Spain because of death threats

An expert on anti-fascist groups who teaches at New Jersey’s flagship state university is moving his family overseas.

bit.ly

27 98 300

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 5d

It's like Republicans arguing against CO₂ markets.

Sir, you're supposed to be the friend of the market-based solution.

1 7

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 5d

Almost as if the "market-based" approach was always the Republican solution to a problem whose only other solution is single-payer, government-run

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 5d

Republicans have had 15 years to come up with an Obamacare replacement plan. They still haven’t

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Thune: "The president would like to overhaul Obamacare and give people health insurance that is higher quality and more affordable."

1 19