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rbarris.bsky.social
Physics Shrugged
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Happy Obama Appreciation Day

Utterly stunning @oilfieldwitness.bsky.social optical gas imaging video from the site of Musk's massive new fossil power station fuelling the Grok text generation engine on X @nickcunningham.bsky.social's full write-up here - must-read gasoutlook.com/analysis/xai... All this for a crappy chatbot.

FBI Warns Second California Senator Still At Large theonion.com/fbi-war...

Ukraine: Sea Baby autonomous combat drone involved in attacks on Russian ships, survived combat with the Russian air force, traveling over 4000km in the Black Sea, is now on display in Kyiv.

California's decarbonization is not getting enough attention. We have to try to let people know it is possible! 56.1% of all their electricity in '25 from wind, water & solar! Gas down 41% v '23 & 17% v '24 Batteries up 213% v '23 & 66% v '24 #EnergySky

The GOP's "Big Beautiful Bill" takes money from people who can't afford food and health care and gives it to those who can afford first class travel and second homes. And this analysis excludes impacts on energy costs, which will also go up and are highly regressive. See repeatproject.org/reports 🔌💡

What does the future of enhanced geothermal power generation look like? Fervo offered an update to partners and investors at its #capeconnect event today, showcasing progress on its 100MW Cape Station project in UT. I tagged along and I learned a lot. Some highlights based on my notes follow… 🔌💡

Trump's EPA proposed eliminating ALL greenhouse gas emissions standards for power plants. What would repealing the Biden-era regs mean for US emissions and the power sector? ZERO Lab's Qian Luo & I published a detailed paper on this earlier this year: zero.lab.princeton.edu/wp-content/u... 🔌💡

BREAKING NEWS: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has announced the proposed repeal of several major power plant regulations, including limits on carbon dioxide, mercury, and other hazardous air pollution from power plant smokestacks. Read our full statement: ow.ly/K3k150W80YS 🔌💡

Q: So if there were peaceful protests on Saturday for the military parade, President Trump would allow that? LEAVITT: Of course the president supports peaceful protest. What a stupid question.

This is the SECOND time in his second term that Trump has claimed to have subdued California by military force. The first time, he claims he “sent the Army” to “turn on the water” with the “giant faucet.”

Good morning with good news: Manufacturing of Plug-in EVs skyrocketed more than 50% in China during the first 4 months of 2025, compared to January-April 2024! EV production surged to 4.4 million in January-April 2025, up from 2.9 million in same period of 2024. Chart by John Kemp. #energysky

“The entire content production staff at climate.gov (including me) were let go from our government contract on 31 May,” said a former government contractor who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. “We were told that our positions within the contract were being eliminated.” 🔌💡

Competition and high costs to obtain gas turbines, a construction labor shortage, and the costs associated with tariffs mean that it will take at least 7 years to get new gas-fired plants online, NextEra CEO John Ketchum said at the Politico Energy Summit. 🔌💡 ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/nextera...

A Chinese EV will be about 1 of 6 autos made worldwide during 2025. China's EV total will exceed 13 million in 2025. It could reach 14 million or even get close to 15 million. When will China make 20 million EVs per year? Soon, for sure. Possibly 2026! Truly incredible! #energysky

MSNBC correspondent in the heart of LA… @MarshaBlackburn @RepOgles @RepTimBurchett guessing the Fox fear fest pipe you’re hitting all day long isn’t showing y’all this…

@rhg.com: The House Republican budget reconciliation bill "raises energy costs on consumers and businesses and pushes down on demand for clean energy technologies by effectively repealing a number of energy-related tax credits." Other implications of the bill include: rhg.com/research/thr... 🔌💡

China launches world’s first grid-forming sodium-ion battery storage plant #energysky -- via pv magazine global: www.pv-magazine.com/...

Good morning with good news: Global 2025 RE capacity additions will equal all RE capacity installed in the 20th century! By 2000, 0.8 TW of RE capacity was installed. By 2023, 3.9 TW installed. In 2024, 0.7 TW installed. In 2025 ~0.8 TW installed. www.motive-power.com/visualized-r... #energysky

This IEA graphic shows how global sales of electric vehicles & improved efficiency of combustion vehicles (eg hybrids) is slashing growth in global oil demand. Use in road transport has peaked & likely to soon post annual declines. Aviation & petro-chemical feedstocks only drivers of growth now.🔌💡🔌🚗

This headline is trash, though. Trump administration races to blame DOGE because Trump administration, of which DOGE is a key part, fired too many people. Subhead: The Washington Post went alone with their charade, allowing the Trump administration to act like DOGE is not them.

NEW A little-noticed provision in the Senate budget bill would gut the government’s long-running CAFE fuel economy program for cars & light trucks. The provision sets all penalties for automakers who run afoul of the rules to zero — essentially repealing the law. heatmap.news/politics/cor...

🚨Another HUGE bit of news tonight; in collaboration with the Trump admin, Texas just kicked 20,000 undocumented college students — people who grew up in Texas and graduated from high school there — out of eligibility for in-state tuition. This may force thousands to drop out.

DELETED: Trump administration deleted a webpage summarizing evidence that “undocumented immigrants are arrested at less than half the rate of native-born U.S. citizens for violent and drug crimes and a quarter the rate of native-born citizens for property crimes.” 1/2

Rep. Joyce: “Who is the administrator of the DOGE service? Who is the administrator the U.S. DOGE Temporary Service? And who do they report to?” Russell Vought: “..It's been led by Steve Davis and we're in the midst of—with the last week or so—of establishing the leadership on an ongoing basis.”

And here's the whole blog! 🔌💡 blog.gridstatus.io/caiso-solar-...

A vast majority of the clean energy projects announced after the Inflation Reduction Act was enacted benefit Republican-led congressional districts. 🔌💡 www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

Reed: I’m not a great mathematician but I think you were talking about a trillion dollars. I believe 1.5 billion times ten is 15 billion. McMahon: I think the cut is 1.2 billion Reed: That would be 12 billion not a trillion McMahon: Okay

this thing is just full to bursting with horrors

The supreme court supporting big oil. #energysky @antoniajuhasz.bsky.social www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

In the coming weeks, the Senate will decide the fate of clean energy in America. So I decided to crunch some numbers and see how much solar, wind, and storage capacity has been built in each Senators' state.

1. Trump and his Republican allies say their budget cuts are targeted at waste, fraud, and abuse But Trump's new 1,223-page budget proposal, quietly released on Friday afternoon, reveals the real target: Poor children

Pub defenders and criminal defense attorneys listen up. Former PD union disciplinary rep head here. I know you. Do NOT talk to ICE, the FBI, or cops if they show up at your door without having your own lawyer. You are not as clever as you think you are. You are not as safe as you think you are. 1/

China's emissions potentially peaking is reason to celebrate, but transitions start much earlier before there are peaks and declines. At the center of China's 🇨🇳 story is a decoupling of the growth in power demand and fossil generation. India 🇮🇳 is following the same trajectory.

Good morning with good news: In April 2025, the world's electricity was as clean as it has been since about 1945. April fossil fuel share of global electricity: 2025: 54.75% 2024: 56.17% 2023: 58.12% 2022: 57.24% 2021: 61% 2020: 59% 2019: 61% Booming global solar & wind pushes down FF! #energysky

bwahahaha

SCOOP: The Trump administration is now targeting the solar industry, cracking down against projects sited on farmland. To start, the administration is going to redesign a major USDA energy program — REAP — to dissuade solar projects on land suitable for farming. Via @heatmap.news

Trump’s new ‘gold standard’ rule will destroy American science as we know it" by Colette Delawalla (@cdelawalla.bsky.social), Victor Ambros, Carl Bergstrom, Carol Greider, Michael Mann and Brian Nosek for @theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...