Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 3h

The petrochemical industry is expanding production of PFAS in response to the data center boom, betting that the tech industry's toxic chemical releases face no serious prospect of regulation under the Trump regime. But campaigners know that the states have a powerful role.

Advocates raise alarm over Pfas pollution from datacenters amid AI boom

Tech companies’ use of Pfas gas at facilities may mean datacenters’ climate impact is worse than previously thought

www.theguardian.com

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 3h

@arthurdowning.bsky.social: Many cite S curves to highlight the inevitability of the clean energy transition. But ignoring their limits leads to the overly optimistic assumption that "if only ‘the state’ would get out of the way and let the ‘free market’ rip then the best tech will win."

The problem with 'S-curves'

The pseudo-scientific ‘model’ that dominates the energy industry

substack.com

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 4h

Wondering if this might dampen enthusiasm for AI among those non-fictional executives who are the AI industry's envisioned customer base.

Jacek Debiec, MD, PhD, DPhil 🌎 🧠 @drjacekdebiec.bsky.social · 4h

"A team of researchers found that some of the most popular of..AIs issued apparently homicidal instructions in a virtual scenario. The AIs took steps that would lead to the death of a fictional executive who had planned to replace them."

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

AI models that lie, cheat and plot murder: how dangerous are LLMs really?

Tests of large language models reveal that they can behave in deceptive and potentially harmful ways. What does this mean for the future?

www.nature.com

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 1d

@alexwinter.com #SalesforceTakedown?

Marc Benioff Says Trump Should Send Guard Troops to San Francisco

www.nytimes.com

John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 1d

I too enjoyed reading @beaubaumann.bsky.social about how to build gov't capacity in an era of "Deep State" conspiracies. Key idea is a shift toward building authentic ties to communities. Contrasting examples of "representation:" 19th century's Freedmen's Bureau & today's ICE in border towns.

Todd Tucker @toddntucker.com · 2d

Thought provoking essay from @beaubaumann.bsky.social on how a post DOGE state capacity push should focus on fixing Congress + decentralizing DC bureaucracy + allowing agencies to communicate more with the public.
lpeproject.org/blog/rebuild...

Rebuilding State Authority In A Post-Trump America

In the ruins of the administrative state after Trump, many on the left see an opportunity to design a New Deal-type reconstruction agenda. But building state capacity requires a government that is…

lpeproject.org

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 1d

Big win in CA!

Senator Scott Wiener @scottwiener.bsky.social · 2d

MAJOR NEWS: @GavinNewsom signed SB 79, my bill allowing more housing near public transit — rail, subway, rapid bus.

It’s a huge step for housing in California. It’ll create more homes, strengthen our transit systems & reduce traffic & carbon emissions.

Thank you, Governor!

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

A key reason I work on pension policy. @simonmundy.ft.com: "As much of the financial sector has gone quiet on climate issues over the past year or two, one crucial segment of it has bucked the trend: pension funds."

Why pension funds are still pushing for climate action

Long-term asset owners have bucked the financial sector trend of retreat on green goals

www.ft.com

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

Crazy thought: do you think the comms team for the Authoritarian Takeover campaign met today to decide how to integrate “legionnaires of the Antichrist” into the “all opposition is violent Antifa” frame?

John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

Wish we could ignore Peter Thiel as just another crank, but his close ties to the Trump administration forces us to consider that his insane ideas - that AI critics & those wanting to regulate the tech industry are “legionnaires of the Antichrist” - are shaping our daily existence right now.

Inside billionaire Peter Thiel’s private lectures: Warnings of ‘the Antichrist’ and U.S. destruction

In leaked recordings of private lectures by tech billionaire Peter Thiel he argued that “the Antichrist” is likely to take the form of a critic of technology.

www.washingtonpost.com

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

Here’s hoping that this backfires and inspires even more people to come out

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 2d

The Speaker of the House is telling the Fox News audience that a peaceful demonstration by Americans on the National Mall will actually be a gathering of organizations the administration has designated as violent terrorists.

Seems bad?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Mike Johnson: "We're so angry about it. I mean, I'm a very patient guy, but I've had it with these people. The theory we have right now -- they have a hate America rally that's scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It's the pro-Hamas wing and antifa people ... "

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

Dopamine? Seriously, the winners in our attention economy seem to be those who truly understand brain chemistry.

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

Such humility and grace: "This is a movement... I'm just one person." Hopefully the Venezuelan diaspora, many of whom are in the US and are being terrorized by our regime, will hear this and find hope.

Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 2d

“Oh my god… I have no words.”

Listen to the emotional moment this year’s laureate Maria Corina ( finds out she has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Kristian Berg Harpviken, Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, shared the news.

NobelPrize #NobelPeacePrize

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Reposted by John Kostyack

Kevin St. Alder @kevinstalder.bsky.social · 2d

Statement from the Nobel Peace Prize Committee 👏 🙏

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Reposted by John Kostyack

Jennifer Molidor @jennifermolidor.bsky.social · 2d

Hanging onto every bit of good news

The river has come alive in the Klamath with wild Chinook salmon. The wider ecosystem is healing.

This most powerful story of Indigenous-led #rewilding after the largest dam removal in US history keeps getting better.

lostcoastoutpost.com/2025/oct/9/o...

One Year After Klamath Dam Removal, 'There's Just Fish Jumping All Over the Place': Scientists Describe Improvements to Water Quality and Wildlife

lostcoastoutpost.com

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

AI models are trained to be sycophantic & competent sounding ("If it is impossible for the A.I. to find a way to balance climate sustainability and profits, it will simply cheat to do it.") And filters installed to prevent dangerous outcomes can easily be subverted (“jailbreaking”).

Opinion | The A.I. Prompt That Could End the World

www.nytimes.com

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

Let's do this.

Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 2d

We’re eight days away from No Kings Day, and we have 2,500 protests planned in all 50 states and across the world.

October 18 is going to be the biggest day of nonviolent protest in US history — and we want to see you there. Find your local event: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i... #NoKings

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

"María Corina Machado emerged from Venezuela’s political sidelines to build a powerful social movement capable of bringing thousands of people to the streets."

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

The Nobel committee truly rose to the occasion it in awarding the Peace Prize to Venezuela's Machado. Preserving democracy in the face of growing authoritarianism is hard work, let her story provide inspiration. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

Live Updates: María Corina Machado of Venezuela Is Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

www.nytimes.com

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

Hatred of any type of regulation that might cut into heir profits is the other common bond. Y Combinator's CEO Tan acknowledges that climate change is real but how did we get in this mess? Regulating the nuke industry apparently.

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

How to explain his appeal to the Silicon Valley elite? One possibility is that they share his concern that they might someday need to pay their fair share of taxes. Imagine they get weepy when Thiel talks about the challenges of tax dodging (“It’s become quite difficult to hide one’s money”).

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

Wish we could ignore Peter Thiel as just another crank, but his close ties to the Trump administration forces us to consider that his insane ideas - that AI critics & those wanting to regulate the tech industry are “legionnaires of the Antichrist” - are shaping our daily existence right now.

Inside billionaire Peter Thiel’s private lectures: Warnings of ‘the Antichrist’ and U.S. destruction

In leaked recordings of private lectures by tech billionaire Peter Thiel he argued that “the Antichrist” is likely to take the form of a critic of technology.

www.washingtonpost.com

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

A key part of the story is pipeline damage from freezing temps. www.urbint.com/blog/freezin...

Where Gas Pipelines Are Most at Risk for Damage from Freezing Weather

Urbint analyzed high daily temperature information for 210 U.S. cities for the last five years to find where sustained freezing occurs most frequently.

www.urbint.com

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

Would love to see more analysis of how this behind-the-meter strategy works in light of the gas industry's long track record of outages and its vulnerability to extreme weather events. Gas is arguably more vulnerable than any other power source. www.utilitydive.com/news/gas-pow...

Gas plants ‘disproportionately vulnerable to failure,’ warns Union of Concerned Scientists report

Extreme temperatures threaten gas plants and electric reliability, particularly in regions where grid operators use simple methods to account for resource contributions, according to UCS.

www.utilitydive.com

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

More evidence that Wall Street is all-in on this fossil-fueled data center boom: pipeline company Williams’ shares are up ~28% in the past year as it invests billions in powering data centers with behind the meter natural gas.

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 2d

Tech companies want "speed to power" for data centers far more than clean power. Some in the gas industry believe they can win this race w behind-the-meter natural gas produced with single-cycle turbines - which generate nearly double the GHG pollution than combined-cycle. Via @zeitlin.bsky.social

Data Centers Have Solved Their Speed-to-Power Problem — With Natural Gas

“Old economy” companies like Caterpillar and Williams are cashing in by selling smaller, less-efficient turbines to impatient developers.

heatmap.news

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 3d

Link to the article:

Here Are Some Of The Biggest Winners Of This Year’s AI Infrastructure Boom

These founders, CEOs and investors—from OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, AMD and others—keep getting richer while critics condemn their “circular deals.”

www.forbes.com

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