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eriknordman.bsky.social
Starting 7/1 Director, Institute of Public Utilities @ Michigan State University & Associate Professor of Agricultural, Food, & Resource Economics • Author: The Uncommon Knowledge of Elinor Ostrom • Fulbrighter (Kenya)
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I worked for an arborist on Long Island one summer in the late 90s. We did a tick treatment at Jimmy Buffett's summer house out east. My co-worker rang the doorbell and talked to his wife while I stayed in the truck.

California just debunked a big myth about renewable energy. The state went a record 98 of 116 days providing up to 10 hours of electricity with renewables alone. grist.org/energy/calif... #Energy #Climate #CA #California #Solar #Batteries #Electricity

Elinor Ostrom | Economist and the first woman to be awarded the #Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (2009). She died #OTD in 2012. nobelprize.org/prizes/econo... #WomeninSTEM #economics

The Iran Nuclear Deal done by Obama was a success and was originally dismissed by hawks on both sides. Later, even the hawks, like Mattis, came around and said it was a success and reduced the temperature. Trump torpedoed it in his first Administration. Mindless, reckless, incompetent escalation.

“His actions were illegal—both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the Tenth Amendment to the [US] Constitution. He must therefore return control of the California National Guard to the Governor of the State of California forthwith.” storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

The checkerboard pattern for railroad land grants was originally conceived b/c the federal government thought that the land not part of the grant would double in value thanks to its proximity to the railroads. This would have made the grants zero cost for the government. It wasn't what happened tho.

Federal agents handcuffing US Senator Alex Padilla at a DHS Secretary Noem press conference today. The right wing spin machine is suggesting Senator Padilla barged into the room, lunged at Noem, and didn’t identify himself. There is no gray area, it’s all lies.

🎉 New paper: Introducing SocSES society! 1️⃣ SES field has grown from pioneering ideas into a vibrant, globally connected field. 2️⃣ SES remains reliant on temporary networks and precarious funding 3️⃣ SocSES is a platform designed to support existing SES networks Read here 🔗 lnkd.in/dikBQgq2

Nice universities you got there #Michigan, be a shame if something ever happened to them, said the people who benefit from the economic gains these universities provide.

Michigan Republicans are proposing school budgets that attack k12 schools and universities. Today, Michigan Republicans came out with a proposal to cut higher education, increase tuition, and stunt Michigan's growth and prosperity. More details in replies:

Regional universities are often the economic engine of their city and region. These funding cuts will cause job losses across the state.

FWIW, I had an email exchange with the lead author of this article. I am reproducing it here. She didn't respond to my second message.

The problem isn’t Senator Padilla. It’s the fact a member of the president’s cabinet suggested that the federal government has an obligation to “liberate” American cities from their duly elected officials for an indefinite period, under no serious legal authority, with military personnel.

1/ MI has divided government, Dem Gov and Senate and GOP house. The House just released its budget - it wrecks the state's public universities. Let me explain how. Overall the higher ed budget is basically flat, ticking up from $2.3 to $2.4 billion. But here's the catch ...

Senator Padilla’s office sends me this video of his take-down and detention at Sec. Noem’s press conference in L.A.

There is no way through this but with others.

Sen. Alex Padilla, who was just forcibly removed from a DHS press conference, is the ranking member of Judiciary’s subcommittee on immigration, citizenship, and border safety, which has “oversight of federal agencies with citizenship, asylum, refugee, and immigration enforcement responsibilities.”

The head of the fema command center quit. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/c...

This is very dangerous way to phrase the mission when regular US military forces are part of it. "Liberate" a major US city from its duly elected state and local officials? Utterly unacceptable language

Important!

"The proposal would require the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to identify and sell between 2.2 million and 3.3 million acres of public lands across 11 Western states to build housing." www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/c...

Fulbright scholars are pretty deep into the "first they came for" chain, in case you're wondering how alarmed you should be.

Love Canal: The Black Mothers Behind One of the Biggest Environmental Fights of the 20th Century • today on @therevelator.org republished from @19thnews.org therevelator.org/love-canal-b...

The League of American Bicyclist Advocate Workshop is coming to Detroit this October 7-9th. We're working with the LAB to ensure it's an invaluable (and fun) workshop! $100 to register. bikeleague.org/take-action/...

More illegal acts by the Trump Administration, this time canceling the awards of 200 American Fulbright scholars. Good for the board for resigning en masse. #StandWithFulbright www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/u...

And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda — The Pogues youtu.be/gsXEGvX_ksI

BREAKING: The head of FEMA's storm response center has resigned amid a leadership exodus at the agency.

Okay look, setting everything else aside, if at t0 you are a nonpartisan world-leading scholar of authoritarianism, and then at t1 somebody comes along who, in your expert view, is a would-be tyrant, what ELSE are you supposed to do???

Defenders of capitalism argue that cooperation is undermined by individuals’ tendency to take more from society than they contribute. The economist Elinor Ostrom refuted this idea, but without identifying capitalism as the real cause of exploitation.

Visit Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, Elinor Ostrom, Milton Friedman and more in our time travelling adventure that will teach you a very short history of economics... #EconSky #EduSky #Poetry

What would this look like for UMich? Overall, UM gets very little of its budget from the State, but the College of LSA, gets ~30% of our budget from the state & our students are ~40% in-state. Maintaining standards with these cuts would mean huge in-state tuition hikes or far lower in-state admits

The Environmental Protection Agency moved to roll back emissions standards for power plants—the second-largest source of CO2 emissions in the US—on Wednesday, claiming that the US power sector does not “contribute significantly” to air pollution.

If you’re a declining rust belt state looking to push smart young folks elsewhere, this is an excellent idea:

well this is very bad

Sometimes the new coverage of wonky environmental regulatory stuff doesn't quite capture what's at stake. EPA argues that US power sector GHG emissions aren't "significant", and therefore they don't have to regulate them. Read the proposed rollback here: subscriber.politicopro.com/f/?id=000001...

UMich and MSU would face 91% and 72% cuts, respectively, in state funding. GVSU's state funding would be cut 58%. Just gutting our state's engines of opportunity and economic development. University of Michigan, MSU face huge funding cuts under House Republican budget

More illegal acts by the Trump Administration, this time canceling the awards of 200 American Fulbright scholars. Good for the board for resigning en masse. #StandWithFulbright www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/u...

Fulbright Board Resigns After Accusing Trump Aides of Political Interference www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/u...

"It is possible (...) we are witnessing the withering away of a great effort to promote a more prosperous and co-operative world. Some people will say that such an ending would just signal healthy “realism”. But it would be a folly: we share one planet; and so our destinies are intertwined."

MSU professor @joshcowenmi.bsky.social eyes run for Congress in key mid-Michigan district www.detroitnews.com/story/news/p...

Similar story at NOAA, employees at Climate.gov told, "Your knowledge, skills, and abilities are no longer of use to NOAA."

Major US climate website likely to be shut down after almost all staff fired #Climate

Some quick scattershot thoughts about the international impact and implications of the LA protests and Trump II's response to them. I'll start with the response. First and foremost, it's a gift to authoritarian govts everywhere for obvious reasons. 🧵

The book proposal I'm currently working on is about a general theory of crises. So far my research is pointing toward the conclusion that the most important thing to do is to **understand that you are in a crisis** and that the normal rules which serve well in normal conditions may not apply.

Every time I remember Greta Thunberg exists, every time I see how young she is, how many battles she has become embroiled in, how completely reasonable and fair the things are says are, I think of how fucked her media treatment has been. The way people comment on her alone should have ended careers.