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Joshua Basseches

@joshuabasseches.bsky.social

13K followers 1.8K following 2.8K posts

Renewable energy and climate politics and policy. Assistant Professor at Tulane University. Forthcoming book about utilities and state-level renewable electricity policymaking. More at joshuabasseches.com

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · Aug 19

In a new Op-Ed for @technologyreview.com, I draw on research from my forthcoming book to suggest a playbook for clean energy advocates in these backwards times:
www.technologyreview.com/2025/08/19/1...

How to make clean energy progress under Trump in the states—blue and red alike

Cheaper energy bills are a nonpartisan issue—no matter where you live.

www.technologyreview.com

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 16h

I agree that’s a huge part of it! A lot of my work is forthcoming, such as my book. If you email me at [email protected], I can add you to the mailing list so you’ll know about it when it comes out in the spring.

Reposted by Joshua Basseches

Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 16h

Donald Trump is making it easier for you to get discriminated against when trying to rent or buy a home.

Housing is out of reach for too many Americans and Trump is making it worse.

HUD Issues Layoff Notices, Targeting Fair Housing Staff With Deep Cuts

Fair housing staffers who investigate claims of housing discrimination at field offices nationwide were among the hundreds of HUD staffers who received layoff notices.

www.bloomberg.com

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Reposted by Joshua Basseches

Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 22h

No Kings Day is almost here.

The Trump regime believes that if it can overwhelm us with atrocities and threats, we'll surrender our rights without fighting for them.

But the people won’t bow down. We will rise. Join us at a peaceful protest on Saturday: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i... #NoKings

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 17h

Couldn't agree more about the importance of this PSC race in Georgia. Thanks to @volts.wtf for covering it!
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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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 17h

Utility capture of regulators is a huge problem in many states, and a major focus of my scholarship.

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 17h

Absolutely, I’ve been following that. I applaud Commissioner Lewis’ “no” vote, and am sorry that the deal went through regardless.

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 19h

Wow!
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/07/m...

Pete Hegseth railed against diversity and equity to generals. As a Harvard student, he had a much different take. - The Boston Globe

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth once described closing minority achievement gaps as a “laudable goal.”

www.bostonglobe.com

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 20h

Good. #ClimateInTheCourts
www.eenews.net/articles/mar...

Maryland offshore wind lawsuit to push ahead during shutdown

A judge said Tuesday that the case involving U.S. Wind won’t stop while much of the federal government remains shuttered.

www.eenews.net

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 20h

As the current national administration seeks to prop up coal -- a highly polluting and uneconomic technology of the past -- the global economy and investors are sending a very different signal about where the future of energy is headed:
www.eenews.net/articles/ren...

Renewables overtake coal as global electricity leader

It's the first time sources like wind and solar generated more power than coal over a six-month period.

www.eenews.net

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 20h

Agreed-- state-level climate and renewable energy policy is what I study, so you don't need to tell me!

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 20h

Regardless of party (right now it's the GOP), these are the kind of lawmakers that don't belong in power: those more interested in scoring points against the other party than solving the people's problems:
www.eenews.net/articles/law...

Lawmakers cast blame for flood insurance lapse but do little about it

Congressional leaders are using the National Flood Insurance Program lapse as a talking point in the shutdown fight.

www.eenews.net

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 20h

They can do a lot, but they’re limited by FERC and deficits in fiscal and administrative capacity that the federal government has historically had (though everything is changing and being reimagined right now!)

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 20h

Unfortunately, the value of EVs from a decarbonization standpoint is contingent on cleaning up the electric power sector, which the current national administration has no intention of doing. (2/2)

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 20h

A nice reminder that folks who want to buy EVs have other places they can turn besides the federal government for incentives. (1/)
www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Trump axed the EV tax break. Can states replace it?

www.politico.com

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 20h

Unless and until shareholders' interests can be aligned with ratepayers' interests, policymakers must be aware of the risks of entrusting more of the electricity system's fate to fewer business actors. (2/2)

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 20h

PJM has problems, no doubt about it. But we should be wary about the motives of those prescribing solutions. Monopoly investor-owned utilities have a different business model than independent power producers. With they key word being "monopoly." (1/2)
www.utilitydive.com/news/eei-edi...

Investor-owned utilities call for ending ‘overreliance’ on PJM capacity market

“Narrowly focusing on design changes to PJM markets has left customers exposed to reliability risks and cost uncertainty,” the Edison Electric Institute’s Drew Maloney said.

www.utilitydive.com

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 20h

This national administration's policies -- far from securing "energy dominance" -- are throwing the U.S. electric power sector into chaos and uncertainty, at the worst possible time: as demand growth surges at the fastest rate in decades:
www.utilitydive.com/news/navigat...

Navigating the One Big Beautiful Bill era in US power markets

In today’s volatile climate, success will hinge less on predicting the future and more on preparing for it, say the authors from energy consulting firm E3 in this detailed original analysis of federal...

www.utilitydive.com

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 1d

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 Joshua Basseches

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 2d

MIT's response to the Trump admin's proposed "compact" is excellent and should be a model for other universities. orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

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Reposted by Joshua Basseches

Common Cause @commoncause.org · 2d

When corruption threatened our country under Nixon, Common Cause rose up and demanded accountability—and we prevailed.

Today, as new threats emerge, we’ll do it again. Because no one is above the law.

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Reposted by Joshua Basseches

Josh Moody @byjoshmoody.bsky.social · 2d

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 2d

An effort to reduce electric bills (which are skyrocketing in California, as everywhere) while at the same time incentivizing electrification. This is what leadership and state-level policymaking and administrative capacity can get done, under U.S. federalism and under Trump. (2/2)

California’s Big Climate and Energy Package, Explained

How California Quietly Overhauled Its Energy Policy

heatmap.news

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 2d

This tweak (or innovation, one might call it) to California's cap-and-trade (now "cap-and-invest") program, as part of its re-authorization, hasn't gotten much attention, so thanks to @emilypont.bsky.social for her reporting on it. (1/)

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 2d

Does he really think Americans are that stupid? Does the wind stop in the wintertime? Of course not. What does happen in the winter, as Texans know well, is that gas plants freeze.
www.eenews.net/articles/wri...

Wright says it’s not windy in winter. Data says otherwise.

Stats from South Fork Wind's first year undermine the Energy secretary's assertions that offshore turbines don't operate well in the winter.

www.eenews.net

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 2d

The effects from a decarbonization standpoint are unclear, but for those concerned about corporate power, this is unequivocally an ugly development: (3/3)
www.eenews.net/articles/bla...

BlackRock’s $6.2B buyout of Minn. utility gets state approval

The utility commission's vote Friday paves the way for private investors to take control of Allete, the parent company of Minnesota Power.

www.eenews.net

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