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David Bent

@davidbent.bsky.social
376 followers 279 following 318 posts

Founder: Atelier of What’s Next, a studio for initiatives at the frontier of generating a better future. Edmund Hillary Fellow. Hon Lecturer: UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources. Views own. linktr.ee/davidbent

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Reposted by David Bent
David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I hope 2025 & 2026 have adequately prepared everyone for the shitshow that will be 2027: Strongest El Niño and highest global temperature on record Energy and affordability crisis from the illegal war End of 3-year federal science grants awarded in 2024 AI bubble bursting Continued rise of fascism
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Daniel McElroy @danielmcelroy0.bsky.social · 21h
It is so counterintuitive to successful social democracy. Getting the middle classes to support a larger state does involve ensuring they too feel the benefits!
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Chris Dillow @chrisdillow.bsky.social · 20h
New substack: Kemi Badenoch's reheated Thatcherism is no solution to our economic problems: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/the-wrong-...
chrisdillow.substack.com
The Wrong Way
Kemi Badenoch’s proposals for reviving the UK economy highlight some of the blindspots of the political elite.
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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Recap: Putin launches full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine defends itself valiantly with US support, West adapts a little to energy shock with more on the way, Trump returns to office, cuts aid to Ukraine & renewables, launches a war of choice causing new energy shock, imports fuel from Russia.
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Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
This a million times. People of colour being dragged on to debate maniacs about imaginary labels & race science is an abomination. proper ‘how German are you’ Nazi shit Note that people like me with white migrant parentage never asked to defend our identity Englishness. Is. A. Made. Up. Thing
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Dr Ellie Chowns MP @elliechowns.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
My statement on the "Zionism is Racism" motion.
My statement on the "Zionism is Racism" motion.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Today’s note: tactically, strategically and morally, Kemi Badenoch’s attack on Reform is the right line to draw. Now she has to enforce it:
ft.com
Kemi Badenoch’s speech drew a moral dividing line between Tories and Reform
Opposition leader’s remarks will help distance her party from unpopular views on Englishness and court professional voters
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Some people here don't seem to have understood the purpose of a political party. It's not the same as a protest movement. It is a vehicle designed to get into government, to change legislation and make a material difference to the lives of people at home and abroad.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Let me try this once more. It was a choice. EITHER the Greens adopted a slogan. OR they could have joined the next govt, where they could push for an end to arms sales, sanctions, support for the arrest warrants etc. It was never going to be both. Which one makes a material difference? #GazaGenocide
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Yes, I've seen some of the abuse on this site for the stance I've taken. But it won't change my belief that this motion is gesture politics of the kind you might find in a students' union. Except in this case it has real and damaging consequences - that are already playing out. A massive self-own.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
For the sake of a slogan achieving nothing except great concern and distress to British Jews, Green members have probably destroyed any hope that a party - their party - which consistently and clearly opposes the #genocide will join the next government. Genius. 🤦‍♂️ www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Labour figures rule out working with Greens after ‘Zionism is racism’ vote
Minister says they could not see parties cooperating, while official says coalition should be formally ruled out
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Dr Dean Burnett @drdeanburnett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
"By using AI, tasks like essays that used to take hours can be completed in minutes!" Sure, like how if I arrive at the gym and immediately go for a shower, my workout is done in record time. And if I throw my sandwiches straight in the bin, I can finish my lunch in under 10 seconds.
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Micah @rincewind.run · 05/10/2026
Discworld QOTD, from Jingo “It is always useful to face an enemy who is prepared to die for his country," he read. "This means that both you and he have exactly the same aim in mind.”
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Kate Bevan @katebevan.com · 05/10/2026
European Greens not fucking around here: this is a very strong statement.
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Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
My pet theory about UK politics not just when it comes to the EU is that British policy discourse would land in a more realistic and culturally healthy place if UK elites came to terms with how their society resembles Spain or Sweden with nukes more than Whitehall dreams of being a global player
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
As a Jew I think what the Greens have done is appalling. As a political commentator I think Andy Burnham is a lucky man.
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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I lost friends over antisemitism in Labour. I tried to argue that the fact that people on the right were trying to use antisemitism as a weapon against Labour (and they were, in bad faith) did not mean that antisemitism did not exist in Labour (it did). This argument still echoes.
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Daniel Sugarman @danielsugarman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Although it feels like I am shouting into the void about this sometimes, I want to share some further thoughts on the “Zionism is Racism” motion which the Green Party is due to debate in the next 16 hours. Just to address various points which I think people in general should know. A thread:
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David Bent @davidbent.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Agree with thread just re-tweeted (?) on the ‘all Zionism is racist’ motion to @greenparty.org.uk To pass it would be a tragedy. Conflating Zionism with Judaism is wrong on many levels. There have to be better ways to oppose the terrible actions of this Israeli government.
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Daniel Sugarman @danielsugarman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I want you to imagine people deciding you are unworthy of a basic level of standing in general society, based on a belief you hold specifically *because the last 2,000 years of the history of your people has shown, repeatedly, that it’s not just rational, but vital, for you to hold it*.
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Daniel Sugarman @danielsugarman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Whether you realise it or not, by adopting this motion, the vast majority of British Jews (even the many who are vocal critics of the Israeli government, even a section of those 10% or so of British Jews who consider themselves explicitly anti-Zionist) will see the Greens as an antisemitic party.
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David Bent @davidbent.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Why I just never use the word Zionist. Just too damn complicated to be given one meaning. The situation in Palestine is beyond horrible. But pre-defining Zionism as racist is political simplism at its worst.
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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
And if you can't see why British Jews who are still scarred by stories like my grandmother's, who remember the names of those who didn't escape, see the word differently to the slur it's become in today's political discourse... well, I'm not sure you can claim to be either progressive or anti-racist
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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Zionism - the belief in a Jewish homeland - wasn't a murderous racist ideology. It was a last ditch hope. It was desperation. It was what saved her life. Now it means something different to a lot of people. I can understand why. But the word itself, the belief? It's complicated. That's all
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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
History is complicated. Last year, I learnt my grandmother's story. She was smuggled out of Berlin in 1936 as an unaccompanied teenager, to British Palestine. There was nowhere else for her to go. Six years later, both her parents were killed by the Nazis www.newstatesman.com/world/europe...
newstatesman.com
Berlin’s dark past and me
In retracing my family’s steps in the city, I realised becoming German wasn’t as simple as it seemed.
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David Bent @davidbent.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Astonishing story of using AI at (or beyond) the limits of guardrails -- and finding a tumour that needed to be removed, and then having a baby. Melvin Kranzberg's First Law of Technology: "technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral" www.astralcodexten.com/p/our-ai-mid...
astralcodexten.com
Our AI Midwife
A guest post by Drew Housman
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David Bent @davidbent.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
More on the ‘always contrarian’ aspect of Spiked here: bsky.app/profile/davi...
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David Bent @davidbent.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Actual LOL at ‘humans ask why Deleuze and Guatarri couldn’t write like normal people’. More generally, whole thread well worth your time, on how a radical ‘left’* philosopher became a lodestone for tech bros. *starts left, goes right but, like the Marxist/Spiked Online crowd, always contrarian.
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David Bent @davidbent.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
(Actual LOL at ‘humans ask why D&G couldn’t write like normal people’. Congrats.)
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 30/09/2026
NEW ANALYSIS: Record wind and solar save UK from gas imports worth £5.9bn during Hormuz crisis 🌤️ wind/solar generation up 14% in 2026 to date 🏭 gas down ~10% 🚢 >100 LNG cargoes avoided
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Scornflake Ghhhoul @scornflakegrrrl.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
So apparently immigrants are both expected to stay transient and to integrate and I don’t know how to put it without shouting expletives but that stance is fucking idiotic
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Michael Liebreich @mliebreich.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
My favourite chart from the @IEA special report on electrification. Electricity is only 23% of Final Energy (No big deal), but it's 37% of Useful Energy (What?) and delivers 46% of GDP (Wow!) And it's going clean, fast. Still think there's no transition? iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/1c696...
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David Bent @davidbent.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
#highlight teaching @scenarios analysis & #sustainability to 18/19 yo from @emoryuniversity.bsky.social (as part of IES studying abroad programme). Seriously impressive group; nuanced questions; challenging in a good way. Lesson for me: many different kinds of people from Southern US states.
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David Bent @davidbent.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
DOCTORATE UPDATE. A summary of my Inquiry Proposal. "I am studying my own attempt to change the world for the better." -Whispers from the future.. -Towards practices of ‘Deep Transforming’. -My domains of practice. -The ‘Full Stack’ framing device. exploringwhatsnext.substack.com/p/doc-update...
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I await the first time a politician proposing some nuts new immigration restriction is asked what is otherwise the media’s favourite question: how are you going to pay for it??
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David Bent @davidbent.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
For those of us who’ve been working on #climate, same dynamic applies to a huge portion of investment & government policies for 20+ years. ‘Let’s invest in / subsidise fossil fuel dependency, knowing that each 0.1C of warming is extremely harmful to millions, even billions.’ AI just more brazen.
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David Bent @davidbent.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I was thinking more about senior decision-makers in politics & business, rather than end customers. My experience: many senior folk can only imagine linear improvements, & invest on that basis. Then are surprised by the massive unit cost reductions. Locked us into the wrong infrastructure.
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David Bent @davidbent.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Electrotech Revolution is moving so fast that people's knowledge goes out of date quickly. This @volts.wtf episode tackles the question of how we can build a decarbonized energy system that relies on inherently variable wind and solar power. (It is 3 years old.) www.volts.wtf/p/what-the-s...?
volts.wtf
What? The sun isn't always shining?!
Having recently learned that the sun isn't always shining & the wind isn't always blowing, I turned to Princeton professor Jesse Jenkins to help explain how we can build a robust energy system around ...
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David Bent @davidbent.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
In 2017, I heard recent Chancellor George Osborne said that renewable electricity would *never* be cheaper than gas. Forgetting that mass production leads to massive reduction in unit costs has had *massive* negative repercussions. Good on @timleunig.bsky.social for being public with his error!
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David Bent @davidbent.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"As an...economic historian...I know that “anything that can be mass-produced will fall in price dramatically when it is mass produced”....And yet I forgot it." @timleunig.bsky.social on battery prices & path to Net Zero. So. Many. People. Make. This. Mistake. timleunig.substack.com/p/i-was-wrong
timleunig.substack.com
I was wrong
And what I learned from it.
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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Fundamentally, the median voter has had a tax cut since 2010 and the result is that nothing works.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Also under current proposals they won't be allowed to be social care workers after 2028. Ministers still don't seem to understand their own plan.
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This is a low key tragedy. A broad consensus torched by a handful of ideologues and opportunists who do not even understand what net zero target is and why it was adopted. The reality is temperatures will continue to spiral until we reach net zero or civilisation collapses, whichever comes first.
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Kenny Stewart @kennystew.art · 24/09/2026
I know it’s a pretty tired and far from original point by now, but consider this versus someone holding up a Palestine Action sign and muse on which this government considers support for terrorism.
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Legal C @legalclaret.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Ten years ago, Mr Brexit left his wife because his drunk mate down the pub convinced him he would be totally free and spending his evening with dazzling models who were all desperate to date him. In the past decade, Mr Brexit has moved into a bedsit above a branch of Greggs,
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Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
England is a made up thing. It has no basis in the ineluctable laws of nature. Its extent is defined by Edward II getting his arse handed to him. Athelstan conquering York. The Welsh of Cumbria were incorporated, the Welsh of Gwynedd were not. It is a political idea, an aspiration - not taxonomy.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
trump can solve this by renaming "disapproval rating" to "approval rating"
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Nick Davies @njdavies.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Great to hear the PM say “We are going to be much prouder in standing up for our values and the rule of law” re foreign information warfare. I wonder if he or the Home Secretary might consider doing the same when it comes to masked vigilantes shutting down infrastructure and harassing the RNLI
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Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 23/09/2026
Can't help but dwell on how the very same media and politicians whipping up this sort of thing celebrated with glee when Just Stop Oil protestors were imprisoned for years...
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Tony Yates @t0nyyates.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This is a really good leaflet. Unfortunately Labour’s PM and Home Office are not upholding the values expressed here.
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