Bob Kopp
@bobkopp.net
#Climate & sea level science + policy. Rutgers University. All views my own. www.bobkopp.net
Pinned
Bob Kopp
@bobkopp.net
· May 7
There’s so much happening right now, I thought I’d put together a running thread on the dismantling of #climate and research and knowledge infrastructure in the United States 🧵
Reposted by Bob Kopp
There’s a big story everyone is missing—but this article hits on it.
We aren’t just seeing public health dismantled bc we’ve been taken over by conspiracy theorists and lunatics.
What we’re really seeing is the giant, predatory, underegulated wellness industry come to Washington.
We aren’t just seeing public health dismantled bc we’ve been taken over by conspiracy theorists and lunatics.
What we’re really seeing is the giant, predatory, underegulated wellness industry come to Washington.
FDA deletes warning on bogus autism therapies touted by RFK Jr.‘s allies
The agency used to warn of chelation, used by RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine ally David Geier.
arstechnica.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:30 AM
There’s a big story everyone is missing—but this article hits on it.
We aren’t just seeing public health dismantled bc we’ve been taken over by conspiracy theorists and lunatics.
What we’re really seeing is the giant, predatory, underegulated wellness industry come to Washington.
We aren’t just seeing public health dismantled bc we’ve been taken over by conspiracy theorists and lunatics.
What we’re really seeing is the giant, predatory, underegulated wellness industry come to Washington.
Reposted by Bob Kopp
Last night with no warning, RFK Jr. cancelled up to $2 billion in funding for mental health and substance abuse research and programs administered through SAMHSA.
He and his minions did so because “they no longer believe the defunded programs align with the Trump administration's priorities”.
He and his minions did so because “they no longer believe the defunded programs align with the Trump administration's priorities”.
Trump administration sends letter wiping out addiction, mental health grants
The Trump administration sent hundreds of letters Tuesday terminating federal grants supporting mental health and drug addiction services.
www.npr.org
January 14, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Last night with no warning, RFK Jr. cancelled up to $2 billion in funding for mental health and substance abuse research and programs administered through SAMHSA.
He and his minions did so because “they no longer believe the defunded programs align with the Trump administration's priorities”.
He and his minions did so because “they no longer believe the defunded programs align with the Trump administration's priorities”.
Reposted by Bob Kopp
Explain to me like I'm five what the 2nd Amendment is for if not for this. King George III never said anything this obnoxious or deliberately inflammatory.
January 14, 2026 at 5:20 AM
Explain to me like I'm five what the 2nd Amendment is for if not for this. King George III never said anything this obnoxious or deliberately inflammatory.
Reposted by Bob Kopp
Axios: What to know about the world's great climate collapse www.axios.com/2026/01/13/c...
What to know about the world's great climate collapse
"We've gone from over-indexing it to zero-indexing it," S&P Global's Dan Yergin says.
www.axios.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:38 PM
Axios: What to know about the world's great climate collapse www.axios.com/2026/01/13/c...
Reposted by Bob Kopp
In the document (www.epa.gov/system/files...), on p.34, EPA says the following: 3/
January 13, 2026 at 1:26 AM
In the document (www.epa.gov/system/files...), on p.34, EPA says the following: 3/
Reposted by Bob Kopp
Alaska officials gave false info to American Samoans, telling them they can vote. (They can’t, due to a unique status.)
Now, the state is threatening them with years in prison, part of GOP’s voting fraud panic.
@burness.bsky.social spent months reporting the story; spend some of your w-e with it.
Now, the state is threatening them with years in prison, part of GOP’s voting fraud panic.
@burness.bsky.social spent months reporting the story; spend some of your w-e with it.
Americans by Name, Punished for Believing It - Bolts
In a small Alaska town, American Samoans face prosecution for voting in the only country they’ve ever known. They live in a limbo, created by colonial expansion, that now confuses even public official...
boltsmag.org
January 10, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Alaska officials gave false info to American Samoans, telling them they can vote. (They can’t, due to a unique status.)
Now, the state is threatening them with years in prison, part of GOP’s voting fraud panic.
@burness.bsky.social spent months reporting the story; spend some of your w-e with it.
Now, the state is threatening them with years in prison, part of GOP’s voting fraud panic.
@burness.bsky.social spent months reporting the story; spend some of your w-e with it.
Reposted by Bob Kopp
“Not monetizing does not equal not considering or not valuing the human health impact.”
Many on the left believe lives should not be valued in money terms. The difference between those people and the Trump administration is that when the Trump administration utters the statement above, it's false.
Many on the left believe lives should not be valued in money terms. The difference between those people and the Trump administration is that when the Trump administration utters the statement above, it's false.
Breaking News: The EPA will stop considering lives saved when setting pollution limits and instead calculate only the cost to businesses.
E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved by Limiting Air Pollution
In a reversal, the agency plans to calculate only the cost to industry when setting pollution limits, and not the monetary value of saving human lives, documents show.
nyti.ms
January 12, 2026 at 9:35 PM
“Not monetizing does not equal not considering or not valuing the human health impact.”
Many on the left believe lives should not be valued in money terms. The difference between those people and the Trump administration is that when the Trump administration utters the statement above, it's false.
Many on the left believe lives should not be valued in money terms. The difference between those people and the Trump administration is that when the Trump administration utters the statement above, it's false.
Reposted by Bob Kopp
Not just EPA: www.theregreview.org/2025/12/10/s...
Another Blow to Regulatory Benefit-Cost Analysis | The Regulatory Review
The Trump Administration’s weakening of regulatory benefit-cost analysis vests unequal power in executive review.
www.theregreview.org
January 12, 2026 at 9:43 PM
Not just EPA: www.theregreview.org/2025/12/10/s...
In other words, EPA is basically abandoning benefit-cost analysis
Breaking News: The EPA will stop considering lives saved when setting pollution limits and instead calculate only the cost to businesses.
E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved by Limiting Air Pollution
In a reversal, the agency plans to calculate only the cost to industry when setting pollution limits, and not the monetary value of saving human lives, documents show.
nyti.ms
January 12, 2026 at 9:42 PM
In other words, EPA is basically abandoning benefit-cost analysis
Reposted by Bob Kopp
Fundraiser for Minneapolis ICE shooter that’s already raised $178,000 casually points out that the mayor is Jewish 😬
January 12, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Fundraiser for Minneapolis ICE shooter that’s already raised $178,000 casually points out that the mayor is Jewish 😬
Reposted by Bob Kopp
this is a five alarm Fucking With The Money fire and between this and the Greenland threats the rich assholes might want to wake up and realize this dude is going to cost them way more than any wealth tax will
Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell
YouTube video by Federal Reserve
www.youtube.com
January 12, 2026 at 1:10 AM
this is a five alarm Fucking With The Money fire and between this and the Greenland threats the rich assholes might want to wake up and realize this dude is going to cost them way more than any wealth tax will
Reposted by Bob Kopp
I have some congresspeople who follow me, so I'll just throw this out there:
As a taxpayer, I would actually prefer that you *not* continue to fund the fascist military machine that is being used to kill and kidnap people from our communities.
As a taxpayer, I would actually prefer that you *not* continue to fund the fascist military machine that is being used to kill and kidnap people from our communities.
January 11, 2026 at 1:17 AM
I have some congresspeople who follow me, so I'll just throw this out there:
As a taxpayer, I would actually prefer that you *not* continue to fund the fascist military machine that is being used to kill and kidnap people from our communities.
As a taxpayer, I would actually prefer that you *not* continue to fund the fascist military machine that is being used to kill and kidnap people from our communities.
Reposted by Bob Kopp
Yale Law School, what are you even doing there?
JD Vance proclaims that all federal police enjoy "absolute immunity" from prosecution for any crime.
In other words, Vance is giving the go-ahead for DHS and others to murder anyone, at any time, and without cause, due process, or regard for the safety of others.
www.cbsnews.com/video/jd-van...
In other words, Vance is giving the go-ahead for DHS and others to murder anyone, at any time, and without cause, due process, or regard for the safety of others.
www.cbsnews.com/video/jd-van...
JD Vance says ICE officer who shot woman in Minneapolis "protected by absolute immunity"
Vice President JD Vance addressed the fatal ICE shooting at the White House press briefing on Thursday. CBS News' Anna Schecter reports.
www.cbsnews.com
January 11, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Yale Law School, what are you even doing there?
Reposted by Bob Kopp
Avoiding the non-scientific dimensions of Greenland’s resource problems confuses the actual problems at play. It’s not primarily a technical challenge to mine in Greenland.
It’s a political and ecological problem.
It’s a political and ecological problem.
January 10, 2026 at 6:31 PM
Avoiding the non-scientific dimensions of Greenland’s resource problems confuses the actual problems at play. It’s not primarily a technical challenge to mine in Greenland.
It’s a political and ecological problem.
It’s a political and ecological problem.
Reposted by Bob Kopp
I can't believe I'm posting this video - but we actually have to have a conversation about the real world implications of America going to war over Greenland.
Let me walk you through it. It doesn't turn out well for us.
Let me walk you through it. It doesn't turn out well for us.
January 11, 2026 at 2:44 AM
I can't believe I'm posting this video - but we actually have to have a conversation about the real world implications of America going to war over Greenland.
Let me walk you through it. It doesn't turn out well for us.
Let me walk you through it. It doesn't turn out well for us.
Reposted by Bob Kopp
I just signed - consider signing if you work or have worked in Greenland “We hope many U.S.-based researchers in Greenland …will join us in signing this letter to… call upon our elected representatives to vocally support Greenland’s right to self-governance”. forms.gle/csef7uCnU11y...
STATEMENT FROM U.S. SCIENTISTS IN SOLIDARITY WITH GREENLAND
We are U.S.-based scientists who have conducted research in Kalaallit Nunaat / Greenland, and we write to express our solidarity and gratitude to Greenland’s people for years of friendship and partner...
forms.gle
January 9, 2026 at 7:09 PM
I just signed - consider signing if you work or have worked in Greenland “We hope many U.S.-based researchers in Greenland …will join us in signing this letter to… call upon our elected representatives to vocally support Greenland’s right to self-governance”. forms.gle/csef7uCnU11y...
Reposted by Bob Kopp
Fully agree: the budget is a huge win AND things are definitively not OK. An entire generation of early career scientists has been severely affected, many more senior scientists have been pushed out of jobs, and there’s a lingering air of uncertainty that will affect decision-making for *years*.
This is a HUGE win…and one that happened because we ~collectively~ said “NO!”
But AAAS coming in and saying on record to the NYT “Science is doing ok. Things are not bad at all…” is baffling.
If things are hard for you as a scientist, please share in the comments.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...
But AAAS coming in and saying on record to the NYT “Science is doing ok. Things are not bad at all…” is baffling.
If things are hard for you as a scientist, please share in the comments.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...
Congress Is Reversing Trump’s Steep Budget Cuts to Science
www.nytimes.com
January 10, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Fully agree: the budget is a huge win AND things are definitively not OK. An entire generation of early career scientists has been severely affected, many more senior scientists have been pushed out of jobs, and there’s a lingering air of uncertainty that will affect decision-making for *years*.
Reposted by Bob Kopp
The changes happening at NSF in terms of award processes & types of projects prioritized for funding clearly show this is where we’re heading: political appointees playing key roles, people self censoring or worse to get money, whole research areas excluded from funding… corruption has many facets.
Keeping funding levels high while installing apparatchiks to steer it in political favored directions will fund at least as much corruption as it will science.
This is a HUGE win…and one that happened because we ~collectively~ said “NO!”
But AAAS coming in and saying on record to the NYT “Science is doing ok. Things are not bad at all…” is baffling.
If things are hard for you as a scientist, please share in the comments.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...
But AAAS coming in and saying on record to the NYT “Science is doing ok. Things are not bad at all…” is baffling.
If things are hard for you as a scientist, please share in the comments.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...
January 10, 2026 at 3:38 PM
The changes happening at NSF in terms of award processes & types of projects prioritized for funding clearly show this is where we’re heading: political appointees playing key roles, people self censoring or worse to get money, whole research areas excluded from funding… corruption has many facets.
Reposted by Bob Kopp
Keeping funding levels high while installing apparatchiks to steer it in political favored directions will fund at least as much corruption as it will science.
This is a HUGE win…and one that happened because we ~collectively~ said “NO!”
But AAAS coming in and saying on record to the NYT “Science is doing ok. Things are not bad at all…” is baffling.
If things are hard for you as a scientist, please share in the comments.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...
But AAAS coming in and saying on record to the NYT “Science is doing ok. Things are not bad at all…” is baffling.
If things are hard for you as a scientist, please share in the comments.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...
Congress Is Reversing Trump’s Steep Budget Cuts to Science
www.nytimes.com
January 10, 2026 at 2:46 PM
Keeping funding levels high while installing apparatchiks to steer it in political favored directions will fund at least as much corruption as it will science.
Reposted by Bob Kopp
This is wrong: “Science is doing OK,” Ms. Zimmermann, of @aaas.org, said. “Things are not bad at all, given our expectations.”
No. I might guess that this quote was taken out of context, meant to be solely about the budgeting process. Because the agencies are still being corrupted internally.
No. I might guess that this quote was taken out of context, meant to be solely about the budgeting process. Because the agencies are still being corrupted internally.
Congress Is Reversing Trump’s Steep Budget Cuts to Science
www.nytimes.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:04 PM
This is wrong: “Science is doing OK,” Ms. Zimmermann, of @aaas.org, said. “Things are not bad at all, given our expectations.”
No. I might guess that this quote was taken out of context, meant to be solely about the budgeting process. Because the agencies are still being corrupted internally.
No. I might guess that this quote was taken out of context, meant to be solely about the budgeting process. Because the agencies are still being corrupted internally.
Great that Congress is funding, but exec orders and reorgs strengthening political control over the merit review process still seem to be place. If NIH is flat funded but funds are directed to re-evaluating the germ theory of disease in line with HHS leadership’s skepticism, win is quite limited
This is a HUGE win…and one that happened because we ~collectively~ said “NO!”
But AAAS coming in and saying on record to the NYT “Science is doing ok. Things are not bad at all…” is baffling.
If things are hard for you as a scientist, please share in the comments.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...
But AAAS coming in and saying on record to the NYT “Science is doing ok. Things are not bad at all…” is baffling.
If things are hard for you as a scientist, please share in the comments.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...
Congress Is Reversing Trump’s Steep Budget Cuts to Science
www.nytimes.com
January 10, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Great that Congress is funding, but exec orders and reorgs strengthening political control over the merit review process still seem to be place. If NIH is flat funded but funds are directed to re-evaluating the germ theory of disease in line with HHS leadership’s skepticism, win is quite limited
Reposted by Bob Kopp
"You think you’re watching a woman drive away with an ICE agent following, then shooting her four times in the face, but what you’re really watching is an ICE agent in fear of his life and acting in self-defense."
What You’re Watching Isn’t What You’re Really Watching
“Federal and local officials dispute the circumstances that led an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer to fatally shoot a 37-year-old woman...
buff.ly
January 10, 2026 at 2:40 AM
"You think you’re watching a woman drive away with an ICE agent following, then shooting her four times in the face, but what you’re really watching is an ICE agent in fear of his life and acting in self-defense."
Reposted by Bob Kopp
You know what? Go ahead and abolish Homeland Security, too.
@petebuttigieg.bsky.social: "We have an ICE agent who should have been trained not to be in front of a vehicle and never to shoot into a moving vehicle, and yet this happened on [Kristi Noem's] watch. The whole POINT of Homeland Security is to make this country more stable and safe."
January 10, 2026 at 2:42 AM
You know what? Go ahead and abolish Homeland Security, too.
Reposted by Bob Kopp
We all need some light & joy these days, and to see what is possible. This is a perfect example right here.
This morning, Ms. Rachel and I visited District 2 Pre-K Center, where we sang and read with the wonderful students and educators. We also discussed universal childcare - and how we're making it happen for NYC!
January 9, 2026 at 8:48 PM
We all need some light & joy these days, and to see what is possible. This is a perfect example right here.
Reposted by Bob Kopp
U.S. withdrawal from international climate bodies sidelines scientists when climate impacts are accelerating.
AGU remains engaged at UNFCCC COP, supports U.S. scientists in the next #IPCC assessment, & urges Congress to protect science funding.
Science belongs at the table.
More: buff.ly/sYY3rVB
AGU remains engaged at UNFCCC COP, supports U.S. scientists in the next #IPCC assessment, & urges Congress to protect science funding.
Science belongs at the table.
More: buff.ly/sYY3rVB
January 9, 2026 at 7:31 PM
U.S. withdrawal from international climate bodies sidelines scientists when climate impacts are accelerating.
AGU remains engaged at UNFCCC COP, supports U.S. scientists in the next #IPCC assessment, & urges Congress to protect science funding.
Science belongs at the table.
More: buff.ly/sYY3rVB
AGU remains engaged at UNFCCC COP, supports U.S. scientists in the next #IPCC assessment, & urges Congress to protect science funding.
Science belongs at the table.
More: buff.ly/sYY3rVB