richcalhoun.bsky.social
Environmental science teacher and developer of sustainable businesses and housing in rural New England mill towns.
254 posts
452 followers
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Biden promised his base he’d be a “wartime President” on climate but never declared an emergency and IRA policies that directly benefited voters were slow to roll out. Trump declared an “energy emergency” on Day 1 and has since assaulted the environment nonstop, his campaign promise.
It all sucks.
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After generations of pollution in our mill town and a recent opioid epidemic that wiped out our young people, it is hard to build up here. But, we have no zoning/NIMBYs and we've spent the past 4 years chasing investors/grants to no end. Why not here, for the ME-02 votes?
wgme.com/news/local/t...
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When I was young in NC, my friend’s Dad was shot+killed by KKK and Nazi radicals allied w/ local leaders and the mill. He was a Duke doctor, trying to help textile mill workers fight for safer working conditions. There is a human cost to sending that $ South. www.politico.com/magazine/sto...
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Large scale industrial policy was a weird way to materially impact everyday voters. CO Dems passed big rebates on electric lawn equipment and e-bikes, their policies are wildly popular.
Plenty of us made this point to elected Dems and pundits but very few listened.
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Pretty terrible “I told you so” moment for advocates who’ve been begging their blue state Rep/Senators to speed up IRA funding. I’ve lost 2 projects already and several others are barely hanging on. We worked decades to get here, it feels like Dems stabbed us in the back, I don’t see a path forward.
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The industries rewarded most handsomely by early IRA $ were the auto industry and the fossil fuel industry. Neither group had any real interest in climate action but were happy to steer our $ into their coffers.
Both industries spent heavily to elect Republicans in ‘24, this is what they wanted.
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Not many folks understand the work we're doing w/ beavers in Maine but, in part, we're trying to bring back healthy hydrology. Fires are going to be a bigger threat in the coming decades and beavers are the cheapest way to do the scale of work we need, in the time we have, youtu.be/6lT5W32xRN4?...
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Dems told their own base voters to get to the back of the line as they showered 90%+ of initial IRA funding on red districts. On the slim chance that Dems ever get power back at the national level, they need to rectify their betrayal of the folks who support them. www.masslive.com/westernmass/...
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The Biden admin unleashed funding for the Oil&Gas industry, the auto industry and red districts, which drove investment in blue districts down significantly. The last few years in our rural mill town have been brutal as we’ve tried to access IRA $ with little success.
Dems chose this outcome.
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Dem leadership and centrist climate folks assured us that investing most of the IRA/CHIPS $ into red districts would ensure the funding’s protection. While it seems the Senate may ultimately preserve some IRA funding, much will be lost. Our mill towns got relatively little support, it’s frustrating.
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Farewell IRA, we hardly knew you.
90% of IRA spending went to red districts while blue states faced a quagmire of competitive grants and means-testing to get funding. If Dems ever hold power again, they need an entirely different approach. Somewhere in DC, Sinema and Manchin are laughing.
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There's a price to pay for the long competitive grant process we all just went through under the previous administration. While our state DOT started spending funds for repaving and bridges very quickly, the process for any non-auto usage was just getting started. We begged them to hurry up.
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We’re all paying the price for the slow pace of our process. The Biden administration barely got any bike/pedestrian funding out the door because they needed to create the funding mechanisms. Meanwhile, increased highway $ simply flowed faster through preexisting channels.
Now, we get nothing.
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youtu.be/PI_Jl5WFQkA?...
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My youngest sister’s first film holds up well. youtu.be/laTIbNVDQN8?...
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The oil and gas industry isn't very happy right now either. The Dallas Fed just released scathing anonymous comments from O&G heads. 😁 www.dallasfed.org/research/sur...
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Ouch
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It took Swobbee/Oonee years to get a small grant (for DOT standards) while state DOT's got immediate billions from the BIL, the vast majority of which was spent on highways. I know it's easier to break than build, but I really wish Biden/Dems had moved faster. sustainabilitymag.com/articles/oon...
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We asked the Biden administration to fast track that funding for years, in the same way that they turned on the firehose of funding for highways. Instead, they spent years building a maze of competitive grants and means-testing which limited progress to a glacial pace.
Now, we'll get nothing.
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I just got back from coaching at the U.S. Squash Center near Drexel/UPenn. It might not be worth a trip (squash is a niche sport) but it is remarkable how well they transformed an old armory into a world class venue.
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Thank you for this!
Thanks also to the writers at SNL who started writing climate skits back in the late 80's and to everyone at "Dinosaurs" who created the bleakest, most incredible series finale! Seeing environment/climate themes in comedies made a huge impact on me. youtu.be/bnFjAkAs_q4?...
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I wish a politician could find a way to channel this commercial’s energy into a coherent message, I’ve always loved it.
I shared it with my Dad years ago and the tinkling of glass bottles put a huge smile on his face, it brings back memories of something simpler. Thanks for posting.
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NIH cuts will invariably hit the programs that are researching the cures that could give my 9yo a long, happy life. It weighs so heavy.
These people don’t remember a world when “John Q” resonated and they don’t understand how hard parents will fight.
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We’re still fighting gas expansion projects across the state in EJ communities like Springfield. Enbridge says they’re just “upgrading” the existing AGT but it will expand capacity, it would be great to hear from the DPU. Our community has struggled w/ the DPU, they don’t always act in good faith.
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In the past (and present), the DPU has served as a rubber stamp for the gas industry while creating regulatory friction for renewables. Given the illegality of Enbridge’s recent Weymouth station, how does the DPU view Project Maple, their even larger pipeline project? www.cbsnews.com/amp/boston/n...
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So, now the car industry will face similar tariffs that were hoisted onto the struggling bike industry last year? I'm incredibly sorry for folks losing their jobs but the US auto manufacturers wanted this, they fought hard against Biden. Our bike shop is struggling, maybe this helps us stay afloat.