Chances that some startup is going to pitch annular fusion as a way to power data centers is trending toward 100%.

Environmental review is complex because ecosystems are complex. The data centers didn’t “cause” the problems described here, but they may have accelerated them through a mechanism that wouldn’t have been obvious at the time unless you were well-enough trained to understand it.

Infinite Jest is a documentary.

Yglesias' camp has been trying to marginalize environmentalists/conservationists for a very long time. But the breach really became apparent immediately post-IRA. For some, I don't think this is really about energy or climate, it's just a wedge issue in a broader ideological fight.

Nuclear industry supported HB6, which was the policy that propped up coal while wiping out Ohio’s modest renewable energy and efficiency commitments. www.nei.org/news/2019/oh...

Anyway - just putting a plug in for making space for and building common ground with those folks, who might experience similar dissatisfactions in different ways. Looking forward to reading the book!

Thanks for the response, and agreed that what we're working toward is something "big" ... or at least qualitatively different. I think there are people out there who would consider "radical" transportation changes who aren't radical in any other sense (or might consider themselves conservative.)

There are many people who might not consider themselves "radical" but who do chafe, in different ways, at a culture that values speed and optimization over health, community, place and care for future generations. Widening the tent to include them is needed if we are to attain "critical mass."

Being known as the guy who rides a bike everywhere, or likes to take trains, in my semi-normie social circles (church, bowling league, etc.) opens the door to a lot of questions. People are curious about what it's like, why I do it, and that's where the long, slow work of culture change happens.

Went to a panel session about VTOLs that was terrifying (and would have been more so if the startup had a halfway decent business plan). They’re only very loosely regulated in the US.

Back in 2019, we wrote about the poor quality of the EV charging experience and called for higher standards and better interoperability. NEVI has helped drive toward that higher quality network, even if we also need way more chargers than we have now. frontiergroup.org/resources/re...