Brendon Slotterback
@bslotterback.bsky.social
Decarbonization. Likes charts. Helping philanthropy and government advance clean energy. PGH🌲 🚲
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
most people, left and right, treat traffic violence like the weather and not a specific policy choice
December 12, 2025 at 8:41 PM
most people, left and right, treat traffic violence like the weather and not a specific policy choice
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
Real "scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should" moment for Apple.
This iPhone update sucks. Why on earth would you make the buttons transparent and endlessly animated?
December 12, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Real "scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should" moment for Apple.
We can require utilities to do things, and in many cases it is the most practical way to make progress
New report argues that investor-owned utilities are actively suppressing the growth of VPPs, ensuring that power prices continue rising.
static1.squarespace.com
December 12, 2025 at 3:16 PM
We can require utilities to do things, and in many cases it is the most practical way to make progress
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
Incredible summary of events leading up to Garcia's release from ICE yesterday. Persistence by a federal judge exposes lies from the Trump administration. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/u...
Abrego Garcia Is Released From ICE Detention After Judge’s Order
www.nytimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Incredible summary of events leading up to Garcia's release from ICE yesterday. Persistence by a federal judge exposes lies from the Trump administration. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/u...
The new fossil gas power plant in Homer City, PA will consume as much energy as 3.2 MILLION homes. The PA fracking industry has never wanted more "drill, baby, drill", they've wanted "burn, baby, burn". The data center hype is giving them just that. e360.yale.edu/features/pen...
To Feed Data Centers, Pennsylvania Faces a New Fracking Boom
A rash of data centers planned for western Pennsylvania has residents and environmentalists on edge. The sprawling complexes will be powered by plants that burn fracked natural gas, whose production h...
e360.yale.edu
December 12, 2025 at 2:41 PM
The new fossil gas power plant in Homer City, PA will consume as much energy as 3.2 MILLION homes. The PA fracking industry has never wanted more "drill, baby, drill", they've wanted "burn, baby, burn". The data center hype is giving them just that. e360.yale.edu/features/pen...
A likely outcome of this would seem to be that the AI industry will face more uncertainty as lawsuits play out over years between states and the federal government.
The executive order is the latest in a series of attempts by the Trump administration to hold back state-level AI rules. But many Republicans are also uncomfortable with the effort. n.pr/4iPffZC
Trump is trying to preempt state AI laws via an executive order. It may not be legal
The executive order is the latest in a series of attempts by the Trump administration to hold back state-level AI rules. But many Republicans are also uncomfortable with the effort.
n.pr
December 12, 2025 at 12:36 PM
A likely outcome of this would seem to be that the AI industry will face more uncertainty as lawsuits play out over years between states and the federal government.
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
Republican-led House votes to overturn Trump executive order on bargaining rights
The rare bipartisan vote, 231-195, marks the first time the House has voted to overturn an executive order from President Donald Trump this term.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
The rare bipartisan vote, 231-195, marks the first time the House has voted to overturn an executive order from President Donald Trump this term.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
Republican-led House votes to overturn Trump executive order on bargaining rights
The rare bipartisan vote, 231-195, marks the first time the House has voted to overturn an executive order from President Donald Trump this term.
www.nbcnews.com
December 12, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Republican-led House votes to overturn Trump executive order on bargaining rights
The rare bipartisan vote, 231-195, marks the first time the House has voted to overturn an executive order from President Donald Trump this term.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
The rare bipartisan vote, 231-195, marks the first time the House has voted to overturn an executive order from President Donald Trump this term.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
If you use electricity for heating, fewer houses explode
Six people were injured and three buildings were destroyed in a residential explosion and fire Thursday morning near Hayward in Alameda County, which happened hours after a construction crew hit an underground gas line.
December 12, 2025 at 12:30 PM
If you use electricity for heating, fewer houses explode
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
This should be the biggest story in the country right now. The sitting US President was extorting state lawmakers from his own party by threatening to withhold public money if they didn’t gerrymander for him.
I don’t know how else to say it…
I don’t know how else to say it…
December 12, 2025 at 4:21 AM
This should be the biggest story in the country right now. The sitting US President was extorting state lawmakers from his own party by threatening to withhold public money if they didn’t gerrymander for him.
I don’t know how else to say it…
I don’t know how else to say it…
What price should humans pay for cheap fossil gas? insideclimatenews.org/news/0912202...
Pennsylvania Will Study a Plan to Keep New Natural Gas Pads Farther From Homes, Schools and Hospitals - Inside Climate News
Advocates say more distance is needed to protect public health. Industry groups and Republican legislators say the rule change would effectively ban natural gas development.
insideclimatenews.org
December 10, 2025 at 4:50 PM
What price should humans pay for cheap fossil gas? insideclimatenews.org/news/0912202...
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
Can't get off gas fast enough
"The Energy Information Administration ramped up its natural gas price forecast by about 10% on Tuesday from its November forecast, citing the “cold snap” in the United States that will drive up demand for heating."
"The Energy Information Administration ramped up its natural gas price forecast by about 10% on Tuesday from its November forecast, citing the “cold snap” in the United States that will drive up demand for heating."
A new threat to affordability – just in time for winter | CNN Business
A new problem is threatening to worsen the affordability squeeze this winter: Natural gas prices have raced back up just as extreme cold forces Americans to crank up the heat.
www.cnn.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Can't get off gas fast enough
"The Energy Information Administration ramped up its natural gas price forecast by about 10% on Tuesday from its November forecast, citing the “cold snap” in the United States that will drive up demand for heating."
"The Energy Information Administration ramped up its natural gas price forecast by about 10% on Tuesday from its November forecast, citing the “cold snap” in the United States that will drive up demand for heating."
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
I’ve posted this before but the light was perfect today- a little Victorian cat paw in a brick at the front of the old Norfolk & Norwich Hospital. As this is on the front-facing corner of the main gates, the bricklayer quite clearly put it there on purpose, at a height where children would spot it.
December 10, 2025 at 4:07 PM
I’ve posted this before but the light was perfect today- a little Victorian cat paw in a brick at the front of the old Norfolk & Norwich Hospital. As this is on the front-facing corner of the main gates, the bricklayer quite clearly put it there on purpose, at a height where children would spot it.
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
Requiring temporary visitors to surrender five years of social media to the U.S. sends the message that the American commitment to free speech is pretense. This simply is not the behavior of a country confident in its freedoms.
It's a threat to free speech around the world and must be opposed.
It's a threat to free speech around the world and must be opposed.
Foreign tourists could be required to disclose 5 years of social media histories under Trump administration plan
The Customs and Border Protection proposal would apply even to countries that don't require visas to enter.
www.nbcnews.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Requiring temporary visitors to surrender five years of social media to the U.S. sends the message that the American commitment to free speech is pretense. This simply is not the behavior of a country confident in its freedoms.
It's a threat to free speech around the world and must be opposed.
It's a threat to free speech around the world and must be opposed.
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
worth noting here that the position of the conservative legal movement is that trying to remedy environmental racism is itself illegal race discrimination
ballsandstrikes.org/legal-cultur...
ballsandstrikes.org/legal-cultur...
December 10, 2025 at 4:07 PM
worth noting here that the position of the conservative legal movement is that trying to remedy environmental racism is itself illegal race discrimination
ballsandstrikes.org/legal-cultur...
ballsandstrikes.org/legal-cultur...
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
This is very good news for a 24/7 renewable grid. Advanced geothermal can supplement solar and wind by providing dispatchable power from places where we didn't use to think geothermal was possible. @fervoenergy.bsky.social @wsj.com @timlatimer.bsky.social
www.wsj.com/finance/ferv...
www.wsj.com/finance/ferv...
Exclusive | Fervo Energy Raises $462 Million, Lands Google as Investor
The company, also backed by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, has emerged as a leader in advanced geothermal energy.
www.wsj.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:31 PM
This is very good news for a 24/7 renewable grid. Advanced geothermal can supplement solar and wind by providing dispatchable power from places where we didn't use to think geothermal was possible. @fervoenergy.bsky.social @wsj.com @timlatimer.bsky.social
www.wsj.com/finance/ferv...
www.wsj.com/finance/ferv...
Fossil cars and trucks are bad for lungs
Air pollution in New York City down 22% after six months of congestion pricing
#airpollution
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
#airpollution
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
A first look into congestion pricing in the United States: PM2.5 impacts after six months of New York City cordon pricing
npj Clean Air - A first look into congestion pricing in the United States: PM2.5 impacts after six months of New York City cordon pricing
www.nature.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Fossil cars and trucks are bad for lungs
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
We are now living in a 1.5 degree warmed world—with no end in sight (at least not based on current policies or practices).
www.ft.com/content/9e0e...
www.ft.com/content/9e0e...
Three-year temperature average set to exceed 1.5C for first time
Data shows 2025 is on track to be the third-warmest on record after November temperature rise of 1.54C
www.ft.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:06 PM
We are now living in a 1.5 degree warmed world—with no end in sight (at least not based on current policies or practices).
www.ft.com/content/9e0e...
www.ft.com/content/9e0e...
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
Just remembered this other classic from 2005 😭
December 10, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Just remembered this other classic from 2005 😭
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
The hydrogen bubble has burst.
Nearly 60 major low-carbon H₂ projects have been cancelled or paused — far more capacity than the world has actually built. The reason? Fundamentals still don’t add up:
• Demand isn’t there
• Costs remain high
• Infrastructure is missing
www.ft.com/content/b098...
Nearly 60 major low-carbon H₂ projects have been cancelled or paused — far more capacity than the world has actually built. The reason? Fundamentals still don’t add up:
• Demand isn’t there
• Costs remain high
• Infrastructure is missing
www.ft.com/content/b098...
Hydrogen dreams meet reality as oil and gas groups abandon projects
BP and Exxon are some of the big companies that have halted plans for low carbon plants in recent months
www.ft.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:29 AM
The hydrogen bubble has burst.
Nearly 60 major low-carbon H₂ projects have been cancelled or paused — far more capacity than the world has actually built. The reason? Fundamentals still don’t add up:
• Demand isn’t there
• Costs remain high
• Infrastructure is missing
www.ft.com/content/b098...
Nearly 60 major low-carbon H₂ projects have been cancelled or paused — far more capacity than the world has actually built. The reason? Fundamentals still don’t add up:
• Demand isn’t there
• Costs remain high
• Infrastructure is missing
www.ft.com/content/b098...
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
This is very exciting news, not only because it's cool and interesting and could represent a major leap forward for modern construction technology, but also because it opens the door to a brutalism revival www.scientificamerican.com/article/pomp...
Pompeii Time Capsule Reveals Why Ancient Romans Were Such Incredible Builders
Lime granules trapped in ancient walls show Romans relied on a reactive hot-mix method to making concrete that could now inspire modern engineers
www.scientificamerican.com
December 9, 2025 at 9:33 PM
This is very exciting news, not only because it's cool and interesting and could represent a major leap forward for modern construction technology, but also because it opens the door to a brutalism revival www.scientificamerican.com/article/pomp...
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
What @whitneybauck.bsky.social said!
Want to feel hopeful about climate action? Look to local politics.
75% of the commitments that the US made at the Paris climate agreement can be reached entirely without federal support.
I dug into this for @us.theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
75% of the commitments that the US made at the Paris climate agreement can be reached entirely without federal support.
I dug into this for @us.theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Inside the climate group working everywhere but DC: ‘You can still have huge wins’
Climate Cabinet supports candidates in state and city races as the federal government ignores the climate crisis
www.theguardian.com
December 9, 2025 at 9:33 PM
What @whitneybauck.bsky.social said!
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
US energy reporters and climate folks, take note! In one stroke, German gas utilities are abandoning the prospect of retail hydrogen delivery and accepting the obligation to shrink.
In so doing, they're showing why US gas utilities are so insistent about H2 - it's their final tool of delay.
In so doing, they're showing why US gas utilities are so insistent about H2 - it's their final tool of delay.
New report says that utility execs in Germany and neighboring countries are dispensing with fiction that gas networks don't need to contract to comply with emissions reduction requirements. Seems that they're turning in earnest to the task of figuring out how to handle that contraction.
December 9, 2025 at 6:11 PM
US energy reporters and climate folks, take note! In one stroke, German gas utilities are abandoning the prospect of retail hydrogen delivery and accepting the obligation to shrink.
In so doing, they're showing why US gas utilities are so insistent about H2 - it's their final tool of delay.
In so doing, they're showing why US gas utilities are so insistent about H2 - it's their final tool of delay.
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
"Who is going to clean this up at the end of its useful life?" is a question opponents love to ask wind and solar devs, which O&G driller have been skillfully avoiding for quite some time.
I've written a lot about the abandoned well crisis in this country. It's an environmental and climate disaster but also a financial disaster. This new article notes the financial reality about why nothing is done.
“They can’t, because it bankrupts the industry as we know it.”
“They can’t, because it bankrupts the industry as we know it.”
Meet the TikTok stars demanding oil companies clean up their mess
There are millions of abandoned oil wells across the United States. A group of unlikely activists in Texas is making sure no one forgets they need to be cleaned up.
www.motherjones.com
December 9, 2025 at 5:21 PM
"Who is going to clean this up at the end of its useful life?" is a question opponents love to ask wind and solar devs, which O&G driller have been skillfully avoiding for quite some time.
California does not exist. It’s a fictional place.
December 9, 2025 at 2:19 PM
California does not exist. It’s a fictional place.
Reposted by Brendon Slotterback
The word you’re looking for is “clientelism”
Trump Promises Farmers $12 Billion to Blunt Fallout From His Trade War www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/u...
Trump Promises Farmers $12 Billion to Blunt Fallout From His Trade War www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/u...
Trump Promises Farmers $12 Billion to Blunt Fallout From His Trade War
www.nytimes.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:42 PM
The word you’re looking for is “clientelism”
Trump Promises Farmers $12 Billion to Blunt Fallout From His Trade War www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/u...
Trump Promises Farmers $12 Billion to Blunt Fallout From His Trade War www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/u...