Scott Waldman
scottpwaldman.bsky.social
Scott Waldman
@scottpwaldman.bsky.social
White House and climate policy reporter at POLITICO's E&E News.
[email protected]
Signal: @waldman.04
Reposted by Scott Waldman
Ex-EPA officials I spoke to remember past administrators avoiding trips during shutdowns

Lee Zeldin went a different route — going to 11 states and Canada, recording 16 days for travel since this lapse's start on Oct. 1

"Not a good look," said an agency staffer

www.eenews.net/articles/zel...
Zeldin kept up EPA roadshow during shutdown
In a sign of the Trump administration’s novel approach to the funding gap, the administrator traveled for 16 days during the shutdown.
www.eenews.net
November 12, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Scott Waldman
NEW: At least three GOP lawmakers took advantage of a decades-old rooftop solar credit that'll expire in January due to Trump’s megalaw, E&E News has found.

They all support ending the perk that sliced thousands of dollars off the cost of installing their panels. www.eenews.net/articles/mee...
Meet the Republicans who killed solar subsidies — after using them
POLITICO’s E&E News examined satellite imagery of more than 100 homes owned by Republican lawmakers to see if they have solar panels. Seven had rooftop
www.eenews.net
November 12, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Ahead of midterms, climate policy has become a wedge issue splitting Democrats. After last week's electoral victories, some Democrats will only talk about expanding clean energy through lens of affordability. Others believe talking about climate change will win voters. www.eenews.net/articles/ret...
Retreat or recast? Democrats debate future of climate politics.
Democratic election wins last week reignited arguments on how — or if — candidates should discuss climate change on the campaign trail.
www.eenews.net
November 11, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Reposted by Scott Waldman
my latest: i spent weeks investigating how frustrations about data centers were about to swallow american politics…

…and then the 2025 election happened, proving the electoral impacts are already here.

read and share my deep dive on the bipartisan AI techlash shaping our elections before our eyes!
The Data Center Backlash Is Swallowing American Politics
Activists on both the left and the right are pushing back against rampant AI development.
heatmap.news
November 6, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by Scott Waldman
My latest on how the Obamacare subsidies at the center of the government shutdown also impact hospitals' resilience to climate change.

www.eenews.net/articles/hos...
'I could feel the roof pick up.' Hospitals face new disaster risks under Trump.
The president's megalaw is making it difficult for cash-strapped hospitals to gird for storms that are being turbocharged by climate change.
www.eenews.net
November 6, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Reposted by Scott Waldman
Anybody know if a University of Chicago economist who wasn't even in the government at the time wrote almost half of the regulatory impact analysis for EPA's endangerment/car rules draft repeal? Because it sure looks like he did. Signal jchemnick.01.

www.eenews.net/articles/whi...
White House wrote half of EPA’s cost-benefit analysis for climate rule rollback
The move — revealed in emails and internal drafts — sidelined EPA's deep bench of career economists.
www.eenews.net
November 4, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by Scott Waldman
The shutdown has left NOAA's network of cooperative research institutes locked out of federal labs and cut off from federal collaborators. In some cases, it's affecting research aimed at public safety—like toxic algae monitoring in the Great Lakes. My story 🔏 & quick 🧵 www.eenews.net/articles/shu...
Shutdown disrupts research into Great Lakes’ toxic algae
At risk is the ability for researchers to forecast dangerous blooms weeks in advance.
www.eenews.net
November 4, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Scott Waldman
Today a story I've spent months reporting and writing runs on @desmog.com and @theguardian.com.

It's based on hundreds of exclusive documents revealing how Exxon funded the rightwing Atlas Network to spread climate denial across Latin America and the Global South.

www.desmog.com/2025/11/03/a...
‘A Pretty Ugly History’: How Exxon Exported Climate Denial to the Global South
With Brazil about to host COP30, DeSmog has obtained copies of checks Exxon mailed to the right-wing Atlas Network in the 1990s to turn Latin America against climate treaties.
www.desmog.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Scott Waldman
Every oil state disposes of toxic wastewater underground. But in Oklahoma, it hasn't been staying there, creating large, ongoing pollution events known as "purges."

An investigation a year in the making for @readfrontier.bsky.social and @propublica.org

www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...
Toxic wastewater from oil fields keeps pouring out of the ground. Oklahoma regulators failed to stop it.
Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drin...
www.readfrontier.org
October 31, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Conservative groups are working the White House, Homeland Security, DOJ to go after prominent environmental organizations. It's part of an effort to link progressive groups to Antifa, despite the lack of evidence. Stripping away nonprofit status is only 1st step. www.eenews.net/articles/gre...
Green groups gird for life in Trump’s crosshairs
The administration’s pursuit of its perceived enemies has compelled environmental groups to take new precautions.
www.eenews.net
October 24, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Reposted by Scott Waldman
SCOOP from me:

I uncovered that the Interior Department just quietly defunded *two* multimillion dollar research programs studying how whales move and behave near U.S. wind farms actively being built.

Trump blames wind turbines for whale deaths, then cuts vital research on the topic. 🧵
Trump claims ‘wind mills’ kill whales but quietly torpedoes the…
The Interior Department defunds two vital research programs that track North Atlantic right whales near active offshore wind construction sites.
www.canarymedia.com
October 23, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Scott Waldman
“These are not political people,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said of the DOE report authors. But 4 of the 5 have spoken out against the endangerment finding and 3 have ties to groups that employ/promote critics of climate action. @scottpwaldman.bsky.social today: www.eenews.net/articles/doe...
DOE climate report colored by past views of its authors, critics say
A review by POLITICO's E&E News found that most of the authors have spoken out against the endangerment finding, once called the "holy grail" of climate
www.eenews.net
October 20, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Trump's climate science report was crafted by researchers who are anything but "independent" since they are longtime climate policy critics and have been affiliated with conservative groups funded by fossil fuel companies. That could cost the administration in court.
www.eenews.net/articles/doe...
DOE climate report colored by past views of its authors, critics say
A review by POLITICO's E&E News found that most of the authors have spoken out against the endangerment finding, once called the "holy grail" of climate
www.eenews.net
October 20, 2025 at 5:35 PM
As a parent of teens, I'm worried that my own sanity will shatter like glass on a tile floor if I have to hear this damn phrase again.
October 20, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Scott Waldman
Tensions are rising between Energy Sec. Chris Wright & the WH over a series of political missteps and policy disputes.

w/ @benlefebvre.bsky.social

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
‘It just seems so messy’: How Chris Wright went wrong with the White House
Missteps in cutting clean energy spending and friction between staffers has led to questions about whether the former fracking company CEO will remain in the Cabinet.
www.politico.com
October 17, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Energy Secretary Wright and Interior Secretary Burgum have both cited "pollution" from offshore wind turbines as one of the reasons they need to be scrutinized or shut down.
Chevron refinery in El Segundo exploded and burned last night. Here's the view from my house. Some things to know. 🧵
October 3, 2025 at 6:39 PM
ICYMI: Our team dug deeper into the Trump administration's misleading climate science report. It's more than a fact check. We show the sleights of hand they employ - fake debates, manipulated data, reliance on fossil fuel-funded experts - to reach a desired outcome. www.politico.com/interactives...
How a major DOE report hides the whole truth on climate change
www.politico.com
September 29, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Energy Secretary Wright made tens of millions of dollars as the CEO of a fracking company, so he certainly knows that the natural gas he brought to market is the primary cause of the decline of the coal industry.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Fox: "We're announcing today expanded programs to help the American coal industry. We're helping it because for years it has been under assault. It was out of fashion with the chardonnay set in San Francisco, Boulder, and NYC ... coal just makes the world go round."
September 29, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Scott Waldman
Scott, Ben & I went through the entire report line by line to understand the types of tactics the authors use. The examples in our final project are prime illustrations of how this document misleads, manipulates and obscures. Proud to see this story published and proud to work with this badass team.
Ben Storrow, @chelseaeharvey.bsky.social and I are out with a different look at the misleading Trump administration climate science report. It's more than a fact check. We show the sleights of hand they employ - fake debates, manipulated data, fossil fuel-funded experts - to reach a desired outcome.
How a major DOE report hides the whole truth on climate change.
September 27, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Ben Storrow, @chelseaeharvey.bsky.social and I are out with a different look at the misleading Trump administration climate science report. It's more than a fact check. We show the sleights of hand they employ - fake debates, manipulated data, fossil fuel-funded experts - to reach a desired outcome.
How a major DOE report hides the whole truth on climate change.
How a major DOE report hides the whole truth on climate change
www.politico.com
September 27, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Scott Waldman
Scoop: Trump lost the legal battle over halting the offshore Revolution Wind project after Orsted, its developer, brought reams of evidence to court alleging the government was lying about military security concerns.

It’s a sign truth can empower companies Trump targets.

Via @heatmap.news
How Trump’s Case Against Revolution Wind Fell Apart
The administration argued in the name of national defense — but Orsted had receipts.
heatmap.news
September 26, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Trump's climate denial tirade at the UN is part of an administration-wide effort to pressure other countries to drop their climate policies and clean energy reliance. Aside from some commitments to buy LNG to avoid tariffs, the pressure campaign is largely ineffective. www.eenews.net/articles/tru...
Trump urges the world to abandon climate fight
Through his rhetoric and promotion of U.S. fossil fuels, the president is trying to undermine global climate efforts.
www.eenews.net
September 24, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Trump's UN speech was one of his most unfiltered and extended climate denial riffs ever, full of falsehoods, lies and distortions.

“I’m really good at predicting things...I don’t say that in a braggadocios way, but it’s true. I’ve been right about everything.”

www.eenews.net/articles/con...
‘Con,’ ‘scam,’ ‘hoax’: Trump’s UN speech on climate
The president used a large chunk of his speech to world leaders to condemn climate science and clean energy policies.
www.eenews.net
September 23, 2025 at 6:39 PM
It used to be global cooling." Climate change is "the greatest con job perpetrated on the world." Climate predictions "made by stupid people." "I've been right about everything and I'm telling you that if you don't get away from green energy...it's a scam." Trump to the UN just now.
September 23, 2025 at 2:53 PM
"We understood a lot more than people who studied it," Trump says, describing RFK Jr. and their mutual claims about autism research. He notes they have been pushing their claims (debunked by a vast body of research) for 20 years and that the administration's new report stems from their beliefs.
September 22, 2025 at 8:50 PM