Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
@jcbrul.bsky.social
Into climate risk mitigation and adaptation strategies. IT and data nerd. Web3 for climate. Energy Web Worker Node operator. I like maps. Cities are cool. Dogs. DMV sports. Tarheel basketball.
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
Public transportation is crucial for our economy, communities, and people.
And here in Illinois, we are on the verge of delivering a world-class transportation network.
The Northern Illinois Transit Authority is our step toward a future of having the best transit system.
And here in Illinois, we are on the verge of delivering a world-class transportation network.
The Northern Illinois Transit Authority is our step toward a future of having the best transit system.
December 17, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Public transportation is crucial for our economy, communities, and people.
And here in Illinois, we are on the verge of delivering a world-class transportation network.
The Northern Illinois Transit Authority is our step toward a future of having the best transit system.
And here in Illinois, we are on the verge of delivering a world-class transportation network.
The Northern Illinois Transit Authority is our step toward a future of having the best transit system.
I feel like this was obvious and already assumed. The convicted fraudster doing fraud. He's Trump, it's in his DNA.
NEW:
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
w/ @robert-faturechi.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
w/ @robert-faturechi.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
The Trump administration has argued that Fed board member Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud by declaring more than one primary residence on her loans. We found Trump once did the very thing ...
www.propublica.org
December 8, 2025 at 1:12 PM
I feel like this was obvious and already assumed. The convicted fraudster doing fraud. He's Trump, it's in his DNA.
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
When global temperatures shot up by ~6°C about 56 million years ago, plants were unable to thrive
The reduced ability of vegetation & soils to capture & store carbon may have kept temperatures elevated for >100,000 years
Today Earth is warming ~10 times faster than it did 56 million years ago
The reduced ability of vegetation & soils to capture & store carbon may have kept temperatures elevated for >100,000 years
Today Earth is warming ~10 times faster than it did 56 million years ago
56 million years ago, the Earth suddenly heated up – and many plants stopped working properly
It could be a sign of what’s to come.
theconversation.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:06 AM
When global temperatures shot up by ~6°C about 56 million years ago, plants were unable to thrive
The reduced ability of vegetation & soils to capture & store carbon may have kept temperatures elevated for >100,000 years
Today Earth is warming ~10 times faster than it did 56 million years ago
The reduced ability of vegetation & soils to capture & store carbon may have kept temperatures elevated for >100,000 years
Today Earth is warming ~10 times faster than it did 56 million years ago
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
1. Some good news at last. This week’s column is about the amazing thing a couple of us stumbled into three years ago, which we’ve now developed into a global research programme. It doesn’t change everything, of course, but it could help change quite a lot. + 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Over a pint in Oxford, we may have stumbled upon the holy grail of agriculture | George Monbiot
I knew that a revolution in our understanding of soil could change the world. Then came a eureka moment – and the birth of the Earth Rover Program, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
December 5, 2025 at 6:55 AM
1. Some good news at last. This week’s column is about the amazing thing a couple of us stumbled into three years ago, which we’ve now developed into a global research programme. It doesn’t change everything, of course, but it could help change quite a lot. + 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
But Hunter Biden....
"This $620 million loan is the largest made by the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital."
finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-j...
"This $620 million loan is the largest made by the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital."
finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-j...
Trump Jr.-Backed Company Cashes In on Massive Pentagon Contract
What a coincidence!
finance.yahoo.com
December 4, 2025 at 4:12 PM
But Hunter Biden....
"This $620 million loan is the largest made by the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital."
finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-j...
"This $620 million loan is the largest made by the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital."
finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-j...
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
This is a legitimate scientific revolution in meteorology.
Also, to be clear, these models are not the AI LLMs that most people are familiar with. They are machine learning algorithms trained on observations (actually reanalysis).
Also, to be clear, these models are not the AI LLMs that most people are familiar with. They are machine learning algorithms trained on observations (actually reanalysis).
Meteorologists are surprised that the weather model that did the best job forecasting hurricanes this year was a new one, introduced by Google. AI may be the beginning of a new era of forecasting. n.pr/49MFa1M
As the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season ends, the future of forecasting is AI
Meteorologists are surprised that the weather model that did the best job forecasting hurricanes this year was a new one, introduced by Google. AI may be the beginning of a new era of forecasting.
n.pr
November 30, 2025 at 5:55 AM
This is a legitimate scientific revolution in meteorology.
Also, to be clear, these models are not the AI LLMs that most people are familiar with. They are machine learning algorithms trained on observations (actually reanalysis).
Also, to be clear, these models are not the AI LLMs that most people are familiar with. They are machine learning algorithms trained on observations (actually reanalysis).
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
If Joe Biden had claimed that he redesigned the hulls of Coast Guard cutters, we'd be way over in 25th amendment territory.
With Trump, it's so common that most Americans don't even notice it now.
With Trump, it's so common that most Americans don't even notice it now.
Trump during his Thanksgiving call with service members: "We're ordered a lot of Coast Guard cutters. Brand new, beautiful, the best machines in the world. I'm a looks person. I wanted the hull to be perfect. You know, I sort of redesigned the hull a little bit. The hulls. But we ordered a lot."
November 28, 2025 at 1:56 AM
If Joe Biden had claimed that he redesigned the hulls of Coast Guard cutters, we'd be way over in 25th amendment territory.
With Trump, it's so common that most Americans don't even notice it now.
With Trump, it's so common that most Americans don't even notice it now.
Orange clown says 🤡 things
Estimated FY2026 tariff revenue: $207 billion.
Estimated FY2026 individual income tax revenue: $2.6 trillion.
Estimated FY2026 individual income tax revenue: $2.6 trillion.
Trump says he may cut income tax 'completely' because of tariff income reut.rs/4p65j0l
November 28, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Orange clown says 🤡 things
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
France plans to spend $150 million to rip out grape vines due to wine industry woes from increasing heat, drought, etc
Yet planting rows of trees around vines can drought- & heat-proof them while keeping production up w/o irrigation
I reported about this #agroforestry solution in southern France:
Yet planting rows of trees around vines can drought- & heat-proof them while keeping production up w/o irrigation
I reported about this #agroforestry solution in southern France:
Better wines among the pines: Agroforestry can climate-proof grapes, French researchers show
MONTPELLIER, France — As the world warms due to climate change, winemakers are struggling to maintain the quality of their product. But in the home of wine, agroforestry researchers are showing that g...
news.mongabay.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:59 PM
France plans to spend $150 million to rip out grape vines due to wine industry woes from increasing heat, drought, etc
Yet planting rows of trees around vines can drought- & heat-proof them while keeping production up w/o irrigation
I reported about this #agroforestry solution in southern France:
Yet planting rows of trees around vines can drought- & heat-proof them while keeping production up w/o irrigation
I reported about this #agroforestry solution in southern France:
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
Today on Volts: the subset of cleantech known as "electrotech" -- solar, batteries, heat pumps, etc. -- is marching toward inevitable victory, not because it's low-emissions (though it is), but because it's more efficient & cheaper. I discuss the good news with @kingsmillbond.bsky.social.
Clean electrification is inevitable
Kingsmill Bond explains why the global march of "electrotech" has moved beyond the reach of US political interference.
www.volts.wtf
November 21, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Today on Volts: the subset of cleantech known as "electrotech" -- solar, batteries, heat pumps, etc. -- is marching toward inevitable victory, not because it's low-emissions (though it is), but because it's more efficient & cheaper. I discuss the good news with @kingsmillbond.bsky.social.
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
Today on Volts: I've had more requests to cover this than almost any other topic in the pod's history, so now, at long last, balcony solar! We dig into how "plug-in solar" took off in Europe & how it's making its way to the US, starting in Utah. Backyard DIY types rejoice!
What's the deal with balcony solar?
Cora Stryker joins me to explain how "plug-in" solar took Europe by storm and is finally, via Utah (?), making its way to America.
www.volts.wtf
November 26, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Today on Volts: I've had more requests to cover this than almost any other topic in the pod's history, so now, at long last, balcony solar! We dig into how "plug-in solar" took off in Europe & how it's making its way to the US, starting in Utah. Backyard DIY types rejoice!
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
Iron-enhanced biochar could redefine what soil Is capable of A review of dozens of studies hints that seeding biochar with iron fragments can mop up contaminants, stabilize nutrients, and lower farm emissions. www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/iron...
Iron-enhanced biochar could redefine what soil Is capable of
A review of dozens of studies hints that seeding biochar with iron fragments can mop up contaminants, stabilize nutrients, and lower farm emissions.
www.anthropocenemagazine.org
November 26, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Iron-enhanced biochar could redefine what soil Is capable of A review of dozens of studies hints that seeding biochar with iron fragments can mop up contaminants, stabilize nutrients, and lower farm emissions. www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/iron...
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
Basically electricity from solar plus batteries is already cheaper than fossil fuels in most of the world and the momentum is still increasing.
Same for electric cars.
We are also learning how to make bottom-up energy cheap and super robust.
This is unstoppable.
Same for electric cars.
We are also learning how to make bottom-up energy cheap and super robust.
This is unstoppable.
November 23, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Basically electricity from solar plus batteries is already cheaper than fossil fuels in most of the world and the momentum is still increasing.
Same for electric cars.
We are also learning how to make bottom-up energy cheap and super robust.
This is unstoppable.
Same for electric cars.
We are also learning how to make bottom-up energy cheap and super robust.
This is unstoppable.
Teens for beans! Ah, the musical fruit.
November 20, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Teens for beans! Ah, the musical fruit.
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
“Someone with a 1-hr car commute needs to earn 40% more to be as happy as someone with a short walk to work. On the other hand, if someone shifts from a long commute to a walk, their happiness increases as much as if they’d fallen in love.” #CityMakingMath
50 reasons to want more walkable cities.
50 reasons to want more walkable cities.
50 Reasons Why Everyone Should Want More Walkable Streets
From making you live longer to making cities more resilient: If you want a reason to make your city more walkable, it's in here.
www.fastcompany.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:40 AM
“Someone with a 1-hr car commute needs to earn 40% more to be as happy as someone with a short walk to work. On the other hand, if someone shifts from a long commute to a walk, their happiness increases as much as if they’d fallen in love.” #CityMakingMath
50 reasons to want more walkable cities.
50 reasons to want more walkable cities.
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
Shameless plug:
For a year, I've been working on a series about the vast systems that underlie life in most of the world. Built up over generations, these systems are the cathedrals of our time--but all too few of us know anything about them, and they're all at risk of failing. Here's the latest:
For a year, I've been working on a series about the vast systems that underlie life in most of the world. Built up over generations, these systems are the cathedrals of our time--but all too few of us know anything about them, and they're all at risk of failing. Here's the latest:
Two Hundred Years to Flatten the Curve
How generations of meddlesome public health campaigns changed everyday life — and made life twice as long as it used to be
www.thenewatlantis.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Shameless plug:
For a year, I've been working on a series about the vast systems that underlie life in most of the world. Built up over generations, these systems are the cathedrals of our time--but all too few of us know anything about them, and they're all at risk of failing. Here's the latest:
For a year, I've been working on a series about the vast systems that underlie life in most of the world. Built up over generations, these systems are the cathedrals of our time--but all too few of us know anything about them, and they're all at risk of failing. Here's the latest:
Google Maps should allow you to switch from Mercator to Gall-Peters projections.
November 13, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Google Maps should allow you to switch from Mercator to Gall-Peters projections.
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
Equalizing electricity prices between residential, commercial, and industrial customers would save households - aka voters - 21% on their electricity bills. Commercial prices would go up 1%. Industrial prices would go up 59% because residential and commercial customers deeply subsidize them today.
7. Residential customers - aka you and me, aka voters - pay 28% more (16.5 c/kWh, 2024 average) than commercial customers (12.9 c/kWh) and 201% more than industrial (8.2 c/kWh). This trend is accelerating: Residential prices rose 27% from 2019-2023, vs. 21% for commercial and 19% for industrial.
November 13, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Equalizing electricity prices between residential, commercial, and industrial customers would save households - aka voters - 21% on their electricity bills. Commercial prices would go up 1%. Industrial prices would go up 59% because residential and commercial customers deeply subsidize them today.
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
Get ready to rock and roll!
A Sudden Stratospheric Warming is on the way. In about two weeks, temperatures 12 miles up over Canada and Greenland are forecast to spike by 50°F or more. That’s a shockwave in the stratosphere — a rapid disruption of the polar vortex high above the Arctic… 1/
A Sudden Stratospheric Warming is on the way. In about two weeks, temperatures 12 miles up over Canada and Greenland are forecast to spike by 50°F or more. That’s a shockwave in the stratosphere — a rapid disruption of the polar vortex high above the Arctic… 1/
November 13, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Get ready to rock and roll!
A Sudden Stratospheric Warming is on the way. In about two weeks, temperatures 12 miles up over Canada and Greenland are forecast to spike by 50°F or more. That’s a shockwave in the stratosphere — a rapid disruption of the polar vortex high above the Arctic… 1/
A Sudden Stratospheric Warming is on the way. In about two weeks, temperatures 12 miles up over Canada and Greenland are forecast to spike by 50°F or more. That’s a shockwave in the stratosphere — a rapid disruption of the polar vortex high above the Arctic… 1/
Got it. Make sure to talk shit to seagulls before starting your day at the beach.
newatlas.com/biology/seag...
newatlas.com/biology/seag...
Seagulls don’t respect you until you speak up, according to science
You won't find us endorsing aggression towards animals very often, however, scientists have discovered that raising your voice to seagulls – especially if you're male – will make them think twice abou...
newatlas.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Got it. Make sure to talk shit to seagulls before starting your day at the beach.
newatlas.com/biology/seag...
newatlas.com/biology/seag...
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
I think, of all the slides in this report, this is the most important -- it's really worth examining closely. This illustrates why the triumph of electrotechnical is inevitable.
November 11, 2025 at 5:25 PM
I think, of all the slides in this report, this is the most important -- it's really worth examining closely. This illustrates why the triumph of electrotechnical is inevitable.
"This isn’t a maintenance bill. It’s a systems-building bill. And it positions Illinois to do something few American states have attempted: build a modern, frequent, interconnected railway network that treats mobility as essential infrastructure rather than a social service."
A striking innovation in the Illinois Transit Bill is the explicit embrace of “regional rail”—a term that signals a complete departure from the commuter rail model that has defined suburban train service for over a century www.hsrail.org/blog/illinoi...
Illinois Quietly Rewrote the Rules: Intercity Rail is Now Transit | High Speed Rail Alliance
This new bill positions Illinois to build a modern, frequent, interconnected railway network that treats mobility as essential infrastructure
www.hsrail.org
November 11, 2025 at 2:39 AM
"This isn’t a maintenance bill. It’s a systems-building bill. And it positions Illinois to do something few American states have attempted: build a modern, frequent, interconnected railway network that treats mobility as essential infrastructure rather than a social service."
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
Illinois: $1 billion in battery investment will save consumers $13 billion in capacity costs.
This is what @jigarshahdc.bsky.social and I have been talking about the past years. As capacity costs rise while battery costs plummet, we will see more of this.
pv-magazine-usa.com/2025/11/05/i...
This is what @jigarshahdc.bsky.social and I have been talking about the past years. As capacity costs rise while battery costs plummet, we will see more of this.
pv-magazine-usa.com/2025/11/05/i...
Illinois to add 3 GW of batteries, saving consumers $12 billion over 20 years
Illinois is set to issue procurements for 3 GW of battery storage, under a bill expected to be signed by Governor JB Pritzker. Transmission improvements to speed renewable deployment are also in the w...
pv-magazine-usa.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Illinois: $1 billion in battery investment will save consumers $13 billion in capacity costs.
This is what @jigarshahdc.bsky.social and I have been talking about the past years. As capacity costs rise while battery costs plummet, we will see more of this.
pv-magazine-usa.com/2025/11/05/i...
This is what @jigarshahdc.bsky.social and I have been talking about the past years. As capacity costs rise while battery costs plummet, we will see more of this.
pv-magazine-usa.com/2025/11/05/i...
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
"Rooftop solar is spreading fast in Jamaica, and people with panels got their power back almost immediately. The ‘entire neighborhood benefits,’ one resident said."
Jamaicans Have Been Turning to Solar Power. It Paid Off After the Storm.
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:06 PM
"Rooftop solar is spreading fast in Jamaica, and people with panels got their power back almost immediately. The ‘entire neighborhood benefits,’ one resident said."
Reposted by Joe Brulle 👊🏽🇺🇸🔋
'Small-scale fishermen using low-impact methods are...forced out by industrial vessels "that take more in a day than we can in a season...we are not asking for special treatment, only for rules that protect the ocean, reward those who fish responsibly, + give our communities a chance to survive"'.
Very encouraging to see small-scale fishermen demand better protections from bottom trawling
thefishingdaily.com/eu-fishing-i...
thefishingdaily.com/eu-fishing-i...
Small-Scale Fishermen Demand EU Ban On Bottom Trawling In MPAs - The Fishing Daily - Irish, UK and European Fishing Industry News
Small-scale fishermen urge Commissioner Kadis to ban bottom trawling in marine protected areas under the proposed EU Ocean Act
thefishingdaily.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:43 PM
'Small-scale fishermen using low-impact methods are...forced out by industrial vessels "that take more in a day than we can in a season...we are not asking for special treatment, only for rules that protect the ocean, reward those who fish responsibly, + give our communities a chance to survive"'.