iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Dana R. Fisher (aka the Apocalyptic Optimist) @fisherdanar.bsky.social · 2h

Today, the Supreme Court will begin the fall session by hearing the case about climate accountability and if localities can sue Big Oil. It’s the first case and begins at 10am ET. Streaming should be here: www.supremecourt.gov/oral_argumen...

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 49m

Delighted to kick of #AASHE26 with a tour of @swarthmorecollege.bsky.social's geoexchange system in the company of my longtime collaborator Dr. Aaron Strong from Hamilton College.

Two biogeochemists turned climate action researchers standing in front of a lot of conduit and pipe.

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

On the 🚆to #AASHE26. Emma Coopersmith and I will be talking about the lab's research on decarbonization in U.S. Higher Education. Find out who is leading on decarbonization and how we can use funding tools to accelerate the transition. Working paper here: scholarworks.smith.edu/env_facpubs/...

Acting on (and Funding) Decarbonization Across Higher Education

Monday, 5 Oct 2026 4:30 pm - 5:15 pm AASHE 2026 in Baltimore

This presentation will share insights about the ongoing sector-wide pivot towards substantial decarbonization of campus heating systems. About 400 U.S. schools are active in the Second Nature commitment for carbon neutrality but our prior research has shown the original framework has not been uniformly leading to the climate actions we need. For example, across U.S. higher education, the median reduction in Scope 1 emissions is only about 10%, with ⅓ of institutions reporting emissions growth. We will present our updated analysis of ~22 U.S. HEIs that have already announced achieving carbon neutrality. For Scope 1 (direct) emissions reductions, roughly 69% of claimed emissions reductions came from offsets, with some schools using offsets for over 100% of baseline emissions. At the same time, our research shows that decarbonization is possible and happening at a range of institutions. Roughly 17 schools are predicted to reduce emissions 50-90% by 2030 (7 of them already have) and we have documented many more large-scale campus decarbonization projects underway. We will discuss features of successful routes to decarbonization and discuss the range of funding approaches we see used to pay for these systems.

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Apparently it took a MacArthur Award to realize that @hollyjeanbuck.bsky.social is on bsky. Great to see attention drawn to the social aspects of decarbonization with the tech $$ so often focusing people on the tech side. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFUM...

youtube.com

Holly Jean Buck | 2026 MacArthur Fellow

YouTube video by macfound

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Ayana Elizabeth Johnson @ayanaeliza.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Help 3 friends make a plan to vote and Patagonia will thank you with $100. Patagonia is committing up to $11.2 million to encourage 300,000+ people to make a voting plan. Details at patagonia.com/elections. Listen to our convo with Patagonia’s CICO, and POW’s CEO, at getitright.earth/podcast

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Mostly here to share thoughts on climate policy, but occasionally one has to share something performed on singer-sewing-machine-hurdy-gurdy and bicycle.

youtube.com

Maillots Jaunes // Singer sound System & JOUBe

YouTube video by JOUBe

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Happy Mountain Day to all who celebrate! 🍁 www.smith.edu/news-events/...

smith.edu

Smith College | Mountain Day

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Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher, PhD @mbonsma.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

In a massive dataset of over 10,000 cities around the world, the strongest association with distance travelled by cycling was not climate, topography, or even infrastructure - it was *gasoline prices* doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Figure 3 from "Global health and climate benefits from walking and cycling infrastructure" by Adam Millard-Balla, Monisha Reginalda, Yasmina Yusufa, and Christopher Bian. The figure shows factors associated with distance travelled by cycling and walking, arranged in order of effect size. For cycling, the largest effects are gasoline prices, GDP per capita, rail service, steep terrain (negative effect), minimum temperature (negative effect), population density, and bicycle lanes. For walking, the largest effects are population density, gasoline prices, bicycle lanes, and maximum temp (negative effect).

Fig. 3 Caption: Factors influencing active travel. Each coefficient represents the impact of a one-SD change in each variable on the share of kilometers traveled by cycling (A) and walking (B). For each city-level variable such as density, the model estimates a separate coefficient for each country. The shaded area shows the distribution of country-level coefficients; for density, for example, the effect on walking ranges from about zero to ~0.11, excluding one outlier. For country-level variables such as gasoline prices, there is only a single coefficient. Variables are ordered by the size of their absolute effect in the median country—density and gasoline prices have the greatest impact on walking and gasoline prices and income (GDP per capita) on cycling. The minimum temperature variable shows the marginal effect of both the linear and squared terms.

One might expect climate to have a major impact on active travel, and many studies highlight the impact of weather on daily and seasonal travel decisions (9, 25). However, in our model, there is a negligible association between precipitation and the mode shares of walking and cycling. Hotter temperatures decrease walking but have no effect on travel by bicycle. Colder temperatures only reduce walking and cycling in colder climates (SI Appendix for further Discussion). At the national level, gasoline price has the largest association with the share of travel by active modes. A one-SD increase in the price per liter (equivalent to US $0.40) is associated with a ~1.0 percentage point increase in walking and a ~0.5 percentage point increase in cycling—notable given that the mode share of cycling across the entire dataset is just ~0.9%. These findings echo a large volume of research that shows how vehicle travel declines in line with rising fuel prices (26). Gasoline prices also have an indirect effect in promoting denser, mixed-use development (27).

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Joseph D. Ortiz @earthsciinfo.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I've posted about how total cost of ownerships is lower for BEVs than fossil fuel cars. It's true for trucks, vans and school buses too. School districts are saving money by switching from diesel to electric school buses. Let's look at some examples... 🧪🔌💡☀️💨💧🔋 www.the74million.org/article/as-d...

the74million.org

As Diesel Prices Soared, Arkansas District Saved With Electric School Buses

Young: Federal funding paid for Little Rock to buy buses that cost 31 cents per mile to operate, versus 59 cents for diesel-powered vehicles.

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Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

It is with tremendous sadness and sense of loss that we regretfully share the news that @penncssm.bsky.social senior research fellow, and my close personal friend Joseph Romm has passed away unexpectedly. He will be sorely missed here. web.sas.upenn.edu/pcssm/news/r...

web.sas.upenn.edu

Remembering Dr. Joe Romm

It is with great sadness that the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media shares news of the passing of PCSSM Senior Research Fellow Dr. Joe Romm. Please find below an obituary prepared ...

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Miriam Wasser @miriamwasser.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I'm hoping to speak with some Massachusetts residents who use heating oil and are worried about the cost of heating their homes this winter. I've had a few great responses, but I'm looking for me. Please help me spread the word! Thanks wburhomeheating.paperform.co

wburhomeheating.paperform.co

Are you anxious about home heating costs this winter?

Do you live in Massachusetts and heat your home with heating oil? Are you feeling anxious about prices this winter? We want to talk with you.

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

A reminder to take time to write every day:

Dave Janos, STRI Postdoctoral Fellow from 1975-1978, concentrated on his typewriter while living at Barro Colorado Island. Perched on his shoulder is a black vulture (Coragyps atratus) named Gultch, raised by Janos.

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Many don't realize that scientists in government use teaching skills a lot. Former feds who know @marcusmarcusrc.bsky.social know that he's a passionate and effective communicator, so this award is no surprise!

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

It’s Fall 🍎🍁which means new classes, new textbooks and…tenure packet submissions. My own experience with the tenure process led me to get very curious how institutions do and don’t reward engaged scholarship in the tenure process. 🧵

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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

European gas is above €82/MWh - the highest since late 2022. Hormuz remains largely shut and gas storage is at 68% going into winter. None of this started in Europe but we pay for it. The only exit is using less gas. Heat pumps, electrified industry, insulation.

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Bob Kopp @bobkopp.net · 14/09/2026

Note the first half of this quote — EPA’s ability to be malfeasant is a symptom of a corrupt judiciary eager to overturn precedent; climate advocates need to push for institutional reform, not let themselves focus entirely on the details of new executive actions in a future administration

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

If you are a student or faculty member new to campus this Fall, it's a great time to ask whether your institution has climate goals and whether it's actually doing anything to reach them.

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Higher education has some work to do on climate action. We found that the median reduction in direct (Scope 1) emissions is only ~9% - with over a third of U.S. colleges and universities actually reporting Scope 1 emissions higher than in their baseline year. scholarworks.smith.edu/env_facpubs/35

Histogram of percent change in Scope 1 emissions from baseline year for all U.S. HEIs. Histogram includes data from SIMAP, STARS, and SN datasets excluding HEIs with 2020 or 2021 as their most recent year due to possible COVID pandemic impacts (n=491). For a histogram including 2020 and 2021 see figure S1. Figure does not include HEIs reporting >100% change in emissions. Median reduction is 9.5% with a symetric distribution that spans -100% to +100%.

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Hey #bikesky. New semester, new cargo 🚲 which means my passenger is now quite weather-protected. What's your favorite gear when you're the one getting 🌧️ on for a 30 min e-bike commute? Backpack pannier suggestions also welcome.

The raincover on an front-loading cargo bike, on a lovely rail-trail.

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John Smillie @johnsmillie42.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

A study out of Ball State University (Indiana) yet again confirms no statistically significant negative impact on residential property values near large wind and solar installations. www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2026/09/util...

solarpowerworldonline.com

Utility-scale solar has no effect on nearby residential property values, Indiana research finds

A new research brief from Ball State University’s Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) finds no statistically significant negative effects on

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Conscious choice not to list the largest mortality risk to kids reported in this study: cars. "For a child with allergies, the risk of dying is lower than cancer, drowning, drug use and pneumonia, estimates researchers in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology." From @washingtonpost.com

Figure showing that even among children with food allergies, there are only 3 deaths per 1 million children. There are 63/million from road injury. From the general population, is 633 per 10mil for road injury and 1 per 10mil for food allergy (firearms 112 per 10 mil).
Fig 1 Risk of death from selected causes among children in any setting. For the sake of illustration, we present the risk of death from anaphylaxis to food alongside the risk of death from other causes. This includes deaths in any setting, not only schools and child care centers. A, The risk of death among children with food allergy (rate per 1 million per year) is shown. B, The risk of death among all children, including those with and without food allergy (rate per 10 million per year) is shown. The risk of death from food allergy in any setting is based on a systematic review conducted by Umasunthar et al,86 who compiled data on children 0 to 19 years of age from studies conducted between 1999 and 2012. The estimated rates of death from other causes are based on survey data collected from high-income countries for 2016,87,88 with an assumed prevalence of food allergy of 4%.86 This figure assumes that children with food allergy have the same risk of death from other causes (eg, road traffic injuries) as children without food allergy. The actual risk of death from any given cause varies from one community to another.
https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(21)00223-2/fulltext

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

1st real run-in with an AI agent and it was...not great. @enphaseenergy.bsky.social's bot told me (incorrectly) to permanently remove two pieces of equipment that run ~50% of my solar.

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

"It is certainly not a good look for this amendment that the authors have mischaracterized the NCA5 language on an issue that is central to the entire purpose of the amendment."

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

"New lawsuits [against polluters violating the law]...have fallen off a cliff under the second Trump administration." "[EPA]’s imposing fewer monetary penalties in favor of orders that merely require offenders to clean up their act." insideclimatenews.org/news/0109202...

Under recent administrations, about 60 percent of EPA administrative enforcement actions were penalty orders while around 40 percent were compliance orders. Under the current administration, these proportions have been turned on their head. Median cost fell from $11,000 under Trump 1 to just $1146.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 01/09/2026

Air-source heat pumps - efficient electric heating/cooling machines - have outsold gas furnaces for US residential space heating since 2021. Annual ASHP sales have grown 90% since 2004 are now 53% of new residential heating equipment sales. Data and plot from RMI: rmi.org/resources/tr...

Plot showing annual sales of air-source heat pumps and gas furnaces in the US from 2004 to 2026. Heat pumps start well below furnaces, pass them in 2021, and remain higher.

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Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 17/08/2026

Do something, anything. More relevant than ever: go.bsky.app/Aa1sErQ Thanks, @costasamaras.com, for pulling this together.

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

In Boston for ~90 min today and delighted to meet @zackdeclerck.bsky.social while looking at my first rentable cargo-bike (@ridecargob.bsky.social). Every city should have these!

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

@volts.wtf makings some nice points that "steering at the last minute did not stop iceberg collision" should not lead to the conclusion that steering isn't important for ships.

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Jeva Lange 🫎 @jeva.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

The AQI in Wenatchee right now...

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Zeke Hausfather @zekehausfather.com · 02/08/2026

I'm not sure folks have realized just how crazy the second half of 2026 and 2027 will be for global temperatures – on the back of a record-smashing El Niño event. Here is my latest estimate of where both years will end up compared to global temperatures since 1850.

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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 02/08/2026

The application for the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship, which places scientists & engineers into roles in Congress and in the Executive Branch, opened today. This program is essential for building technical policy capacity in the US. If interested, apply: fellowshipapp.aaas.org/app/main

fellowshipapp.aaas.org

STPF Application - AAAS

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 30/07/2026

Fantastic @alexhannaford.com piece here at @emorwee.bsky.social's Heated - profiling an anti-solar influencer. This is SUCH a common story: a project planned near someone rich, influential, or both and that person gets radicalised against all wind, all solar, all batteries etc

heated.world

The influencer teaching millions to fear solar

Alexandra Fasulo says she’s protecting farms and wildlife. Her campaign is becoming a blueprint for the fossil fuel right.

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Sam Levin @samtlevin.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

A Minnesota religious studies professor is facing six years in prison, with the DOJ saying he is part of an "antifa" conspiracy against ICE Erik Davis speaks out about his prosecution, largely based on a handful of his comments in Signal chats. He's not accused of any violence “It’s petty revenge"

theguardian.com

The professor facing prison in ‘antifa’ case: ‘They want to scare all who oppose ICE’

Erik Davis is accused by the government of a ‘conspiracy’ to obstruct ICE – experts say it’s part of a pattern to criminalize lawful organizing and ruin activists’ lives

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Sun fails to illuminate after sunset! Oh no! Maybe that's why utilities choose solar capacity over fossil fuels by a factor of almost 7:1 (on a nameplate basis).

99% of Mid-Atlantic Solar Capacity Failed After Sunset during 90F temps with a bar chart and, embarrassingly, the seal of the U.S. Department of Energy, which until recently was a national resource for facts and insight about energy.

A ring chart showing that 51% of new capacity additions in 2026 are expected to be solar with another 28% batteries to largely support that solars. Wind is at 14%, Fossil Gas at 7%.

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Ken McLeod @kenmcld.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

The administration has sent a letter to Congress about its priorities for the next transportation bill It continues their campaign against bike lanes and urges "Congress to restrict competitive and formula grant funding for bicycle lanes and other bicycle infrastructure"

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

If you know a realtor, send this to them: "A US study has found a 70% drop in hospital admissions and days off from work or school when people with poorly controlled asthma had their gas stove and hob replaced with electric." www.theguardian.com/environment/...

theguardian.com

Replacing gas stove can help asthmatics as much as some drugs, US experts find

Team in Ohio finds swapping to electric has ‘very large’ impact, despite study being scaled back by Trump cuts

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

"...the state’s 26 Gateway Cities, are disproportionately impacted by air pollution and the detrimental health outcomes that accompany it. Yet 17 of these former industrial cities do not currently have state-operated air quality monitors." commonwealthbeacon.org/environment/...

commonwealthbeacon.org

Despite being disproportionately impacted by air pollution, many Gateway Cities don’t have state-run air quality monitors

Of these 26 former industrial cities, 17 do not have state-operated air quality monitors. At a time when environmental justice communities are even more at risk due to federal rollbacks to clean air p...

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

"For every mile of natural gas pipe we replace today,...customers will be paying off this investment into the 2080s (or later)...If we are planning to transition customers off of natural gas by 2050, why are we building a natural gas distribution system to last through the end of the century?"

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Bikepedantic @pedantic.bike · 17/07/2026

Three doable things that Somerville is doing different from other Vision Zero stars: 1. Speed humps. They're everywhere. Not just on local streets, and not on a BS petition or speed study basis. 2. They're not punting on doing an all-ages bike network. 3. Exclusive ped phases. They're miraculous.

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StreetsblogMASS @mass.streetsblog.org · 14/07/2026

SCOOP: In 2023-24, @mayorwu.boston.gov's streets cabinet IDed hazards and prepared safety improvement plans for the intersection where a driver killed Louisa Gag last week. But under her new second-term administration, those plans never got built. mass.streetsblog.org/2026/07/14/w...

mass.streetsblog.org

Wu Administration Shelved Safety Plans For Mission Hill Streets Where Driver Killed Louisa Gag - Streetsblog Massachusetts

"We knew there were dangers. We had a plan to make it safer. It is blatantly irresponsible for the city to make a deliberate decision to not follow through."

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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

So regulations.gov still says 341,699, but I posted that count about 9 hours before the comment deadline. Will be interested to see if there's an update.

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