Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dustin Mulvaney

@dustinmulvaney.bsky.social

10K followers 1.4K following 1.9K posts

Professor, Environmental Studies🌎 San José State University @CalState.Bsky.social Fellow, Payne Institute @ Colorado School of Mines, Climate & Community Institute @cplusc.bsky.social, Switzer Network. www.dustinmulvaney.com 📍Popeloutchom, Monterey Bay 🌅🦦 .. more

Videos

Environmental science 33%

Energy 20%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · Jul 16

The sagebrush rebel revival, my latest in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. thebulletin.org/2025/07/the-...

The sagebrush rebel revival

Dustin Mulvaney traces the current deregulatory bonanza that the Trump administration has unleashed on public lands and waters to the Wise Use movement of the 1980s and the Sagebrush Rebellion that pr...

thebulletin.org

1 27 62

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 35m

Agree totally, they absolutely are. My point is if we want more renewable energy faster, the permitting reform conversation needs to be redirected advance the mileposts for the state’s renewable portfolio standard. Utilities will not adopt renewable energy faster than compliance.

Reposted by Dustin Mulvaney

Burrito Justice @burritojustice.bsky.social · 1h

Fleet Week is pretty low budget this year

pelicans flying over sf bay, with boats and the ggb in the background. blue skies, few clouds

pelicans in a blue sky with a nice gradient

3 7 41

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 1h

For more details about why this confounding of issues is problematic, and whats needed for rapid phase out of fossil fuels, see:
rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

A Progressive Take on Permitting Reform: Principles and Policies to Unleash a Faster, More Equitable Green Transition - Roosevelt Institute

In this report and corresponding fact sheet, authors Johanna Bozuwa and Dustin Mulvaney outline a progressive alternative to permitting reform, one that focuses on increasing public capacity for plann...

rooseveltinstitute.org

1 2

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 1h

Please stop confounding housing and clean energy issues when talking about permitting reform. Because when you apply what you know about housing and what you think is happening to clean energy, it ends up benefiting the fossil fuel industry.

2 1

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 1h

Watch this space.. we have a big report coming out very soon on this topic with @cplusc.bsky.social 🔌💡

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 5h

V good @business-humanrights.org summary of the current state of benefit sharing in the renewable energy sector

It is really wild how underdeveloped this model is, but there is also a massive amount of opportunity.

www.business-humanrights.org/en/blog/bene...

Benefit sharing in wind and solar projects must become the norm. The Just Transition Work Programme is a unique opportunity - Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Check out this page via the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre

www.business-humanrights.org

1 2 8

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 1h

Coast is super clear today. Some of the peaks the sun is rising over are in the Diablo range, beyond the Santa Cruz Mountains and Aromas Hills. #CAwx #sunrise 🌅

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 3h

Good morning sunshine, Monterey Bay.

Sun rising in orange sky with orange sunbeam reflected in water

1 1 11

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 3h

Hi, Yep, that’s it!

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 3h

Good morning sunshine, Monterey Bay.

3 2 28

Reposted by Dustin Mulvaney

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 5h

Benefit sharing in wind and solar projects must become the norm. The Just Transition Work Programme is a unique opportunity - Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Check out this page via the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre

www.business-humanrights.org

1 14 27

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 11h

Thank you for the very generous comment, and for recapturing that quote; that might be a keeper, no doubt heavily edited by @jessimckenzi.bsky.social

1 2

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 11h

Highly recommend the good fire fair. Kids got to watch #rxFire, play with tools, made healthy and unhealthy forests out of matches, cotton, and paper and burned them. Got to see a wildland fire truck. Good stuff.

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 18h

Great event. Kids had a blast! #RxFire #CAfire 🔥

Prescribed fire Photo Booth with our kids wearing adult yellow jackets and holding tools.

Kids activity to show how fire spreads in healthy versus unhealthy Forest

Duff and Woody debris on fire on Forest floor, smoke filtered sunlight beams through

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 12h

As you teach us, this was probably a regular sight at this spot for thousands of years before colonization.

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 12h

Other Lauraceae include sweet/culinary bay, camphor and cinnamon trees. Each produce different volatile oils, potent terpenes and phenols in their leaves. 🧪

1 20

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 13h

Lighthouse restoration looking pretty good too!

Reposted by Dustin Mulvaney

Jan Null, CCM @ggweather.bsky.social · 13h

Conditions were too good tonight, with clear skies and a late moonrise, to not chase the Milky Way. It was definitiely worth the trip. Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park, 10/11/2025. (Tech notes: Nikon D850, 22mm, f3.2, iso 800, single 20 sec exposure)

3 6 61

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 13h

Smoke on the San Lorenzo River from prescribed fire, near the big trees at Henry Cowell Redwoods. #RxFire #SantaCruzMountains

Cloud of smoke on the river under blue skies, trees line riverbanks.

3 4 49

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 14h

Sure is. This was the good fire fair at Henry Cowell.. seems like great conditions with green grass sprouting up. I saw they burned a bit in wilder and Eagle peak area of empire grade this week; Soquel demo forest tomorrow.

1 2

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 14h

Massive fallen California laurel tree in the San Lorenzo River floodplain. This tree is in the Lauraceae family, a cousin of the avocado.

Giant tree fallen over, large child climbing on it. Sprout growing out of base.

Seeds of California laurel, green and purple.

3 30

Reposted by Dustin Mulvaney

Randall Grahm @randallgrahm.bsky.social · 16h

As an aspiring dry-farmer, I’m a big fan of rain. But I still have tons of fruit that are weeks away from ripeness.

2 2 9

Reposted by Dustin Mulvaney, Rebecca Zorach

Sylvia Chi 齊思涵 @sylviachi.bsky.social · 16h

I hadn't been following this bill, but just saw that Gov. Newsom vetoed AB 93, which imposed certain water use reporting requirements on data centers, as part of the business licensing process (including for annual renewals).

calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202...

AB 93: Water resources: data centers. | Digital Democracy

Digital Democracy overview of bill AB 93: Water resources: data centers.

calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org

1 10 33

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 16h

This is the same storm that caused the love creek slide, which buried *ten* people alive in Ben Lomond. Horrific tragedy. USGS says there were 18,000 landslides in the Bay Area! pubs.usgs.gov/publication/...

USGS Publications Warehouse

A catastrophic rainstorm in central California on January 3-5,1982, dropped as much as half the mean annual precipitation within a period of about 32 hours, triggering landslides and floods throughout...

pubs.usgs.gov

2 1 1

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 17h

First time seeing this marker in Henry Cowell for the January 4, 1982 flood. This is one of the highest water levels recorded at Big Trees on the San Lorenzo when the river peaked over ten to twelve feet at 30,000 cubic feet per second. Today’s end of summer flow is 18 cfs. #CAwx #SanLorenzoRiver

Tall pole showing water levels about 7 feet overhead.

1 2 21

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 18h

Great event. Kids had a blast! #RxFire #CAfire 🔥

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 19h

Take me to the river. 🎶

Bend in the San Lorenzo river reflecting blue sky and puffy clouds A California Laurel tree hangs over

1 19

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 19h

Good fire in the big trees. 🔥🌲

3 6 47

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 1d

Kids are stoked to go see the wildland fire engine. 🚒

CACoastFire @centralcoastfire.bsky.social · 2d

Last plug to join us at the Central Coast Good Fire Fair this Saturday Oct 11 from 10am to 3pm. It’s looking promising for our demonstration burn in the redwoods 🔥 We’ll also have fun activities for kids and adults, food trucks, prizes, and more… #goodfire

2 6

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 1d

Even older than that when you consider time finish ms! Major changes to western solar plan, missing forced labor issue in Xinjiang, because that did not get reported until 2020; and lots more to say about farmland & env review; didn’t realize those would be such hot topics. dustinmulvaney.com/pub

Publications — Dustin Mulvaney, Professor

dustinmulvaney.com

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 1d

Sounds like at least next era is on record as yes so far.

Unless NV energy was going expand the proposed substation that connected to the greenlink, there was no where near the capacity for anywhere close 6.2 GW. It was closer to 1 or 2 GW.

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 1d

Welcome back monarchs on Sunday,
No kings next Saturday.
A sign like this should work for both.

THE ONLY ORANGE MONARCH I CARE ABOUT IS THE
BUTTERFLY

2 14 68

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 1d

See chapters 5 & 6. bsky.app/profile/dust...

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · Dec 8

To anyone interested, here is my book, Solar Power: Innovation, Sustainability, and Environmental Justice, University of California Press. ☀️🔌💡 drive.google.com/file/d/1MpQ3...