iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Pete Sikora @petesikora.bsky.social · 6h

Holy cow what an amazing transformation for a big co-op in Queens, stimulated in part by Local Law 97 👏👏👏 ✅ lower energy bills ✅ good jobs ✅ less pollution Local Law 97 is helping upgrade NYC’s aging building stock. Check this out, sports fans: www.habitatmag.com/Publication-...

habitatmag.com

Fairview Owners Corp. targets climate goals after Ida flood

Fairview Owners Corp. is completing a massive $20M decarbonization and flood protection project four years after Hurricane Ida.

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Jonathan Koomey @jgkoomey.bsky.social · 10h

People need to stop citing LLMs as credible sources of information. They just aren't. Nobody should believing anything they say without checking with independent sources. Harder to detect the owners of these tools putting their thumb on the scale to warp views of reality, alas.

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Justin Mikulka @justinmikulka.bsky.social · 9h

As the EU continues to rely even more heavily on importing US LNG and is kicking the can on methane regulations to make this happen, perhaps they should ponder the risks of handing this sort of energy dependence to a country that elected Trump. Because it gives him leverage...like with diesel.

yahoo.com

Trump threatens diesel export ban to pressure Europe on reserves

The White House has asked the E.U. to release 120 million barrels of diesel over the next six months, according to Reuters

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John Smillie @johnsmillie42.bsky.social · 13h

Back on my Ethanol soapbox - Even under some generous assumptions, electrifying just 3.6% of the current gasoline-powered fleet would free up enough land to power EVs replacing the entire gasoline fleet with solar.

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Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 11h

Really happy to have @ketanjoshi.co back on the podcast to learn more about all the emissions being generated by the gas plants to power the tech industry’s data centers. There’s no chance of truly addressing climate change if the industry gets its way!

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Inside Climate News @insideclimatenews.org · 12h

Winter is coming: The European Commission plans to postpone parts of its landmark methane regulation amid political pressure, rising energy prices, and energy security concerns exacerbated by the Iran war.

insideclimatenews.org

EU Weighs Delaying Methane Rules as Energy Prices Rise - Inside Climate News

Concerned climate policy experts and investor groups warn against weakening the landmark regulation.

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Josh Lappen @jlappen1.bsky.social · 12h

In the year I've been working w/ air pollution regulators on data center on-site emissions, I've seen almost no acknowledgement of this trend from energy-side advocates of data center buildout. This isn't just bad actors-it's a corporate playbook and a roadmap to a future of unconstrained emissions.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 15h

I haven't read the whole thing carefully yet, but the vibe I get is "outsource generation and review of permit application documents to AI tools," which of course puts a LOT of power in the hands of the tech monopolies who build and manage the AI tools.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 15h

The Senate draft includes $255M per year (plus $200M for historic preservation). If spent on nothing but staff, that could pay 2,550 people $100k per year, but some portion of it would be spent on stuff other than staff. The draft does mandate building AI tools to generate and review env't docs.

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Josh Lappen @jlappen1.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This is a great primer on how the year ended for CA's surviving slate of clean energy bills. I'll admit that it's a better showing overall than I expected!

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Hannah Daly @hannahdaly.ie · 21h

My column in The Irish Times today is about heating oil, and how policy can deal with the awful pain facing households depending on it to heat their homes this winter. www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

irishtimes.com

Cutting fuel taxation in the budget does nothing to cure the disease

Households need help to break free from home heating oil for good

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Hannah Daly @hannahdaly.ie · 20h

Here's the liquid gas industry framing its product as a "just transition". This would be sidesplittingly funny if it was not apparent that this message is getting through to politicians.

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Adrian Hiel @adrianhiel.bsky.social · 18h

870 French households are disconnecting from the gas grid everyday. At the current rate the gas grid will be completely abandoned in 38 years. But the rate will increase. France is entering the gas grid doom loop.

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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Excellent, sensible, and welcome thoughts from @rephuffman.bsky.social, ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, on the Senate permitting deal.

My thoughts on the Senate's permitting reform bill:

Passing a good permitting reform package will be one of my top priorities for the next Congress, so I'm very interested in these Senate negotiations.

From what I've seen, Senators Whitehouse and Heinrich have done some good work, but they've been negotiating from a position of weakness and the tentative deal unveiled today raises significant questions and concerns that would have to be resolved before most Democrats could support it.

I'm all for streamlining transmission and clean energy buildout, but the threshold requirement before making major policy concessions is to actually end Trump's war on renewables so that hundreds of bottled-up clean energy projects can bring that affordable power to the grid. Further, we can't throw states, tribes, impacted communities, and threatened and endangered wildlife under the bus. And as we streamline and cut red tape, we must make sure the American people — not just powerful corporate interests — have a say in government decisions about what happens to our air, water, and public lands. That's what serious, responsible permitting reform looks like.

There's a way to get there, and parts of this deal are helpful, but some of it concedes too much. Hollowing out the Endangered Species Act through the delegation of authority and problematic definitions, for example, is so extreme that a milder version of it spooked several House Republicans off of Bruce Westerman's ESA bill earlier this year, so you can imagine how it's going to land with the American people who overwhelmingly support protecting wildlife. And the provisions that seek to guarantee fair treatment for wind, solar, and battery storage are novel, untested, and don't really end the war on clean energy, but they will still trigger cries of "Green New Deal" and fierce opposition from the House Freedom Caucus, clouding any path to pass this deal through the House unless it gets much worse. And knowing the GOP players, that's exactly what will happen if this bill advances in the lame duck.

The bottom line for me, and I believe most Democrats, is that November 3rd is coming and we are likely to soon have a far better negotiating position. Folding our hand now or in the lame duck makes no sense when we can keep working on this and, in a few more months, have a much better deal that works for everyone.

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Danny Cullenward @ghgpolicy.org · 01/10/2026

Can anyone explain to me why a national permitting deal is best negotiated now, mere weeks from an election that is likely to reshape federal power? Let’s stipulate that a deal of some kind is necessary and good; my question is what about the situation makes now more desirable than, say, Q1 2027?

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Justin Gundlach @justingundlach.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This is a meaningful accelerant for building electrification and a good reclamation of "choice" from the gas utilities that have long tried to make an exclusive claim to that term.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 01/10/2026

...just slow down their replacement timelines a lot so they can keep households on gas and avoid having to cough up $ to help them electrify (and thereby exit the gas system). As ever, getting good behavior out of monopoly utilities requires a big, skilled, skeptical, well-funded regulatory staff.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 01/10/2026

Leaving this up to gas utilities to implement is recipe for failure. Gas utilities replace things on fast schedules today because every $ they spend on pipes is a $ they can rate-base and earn shareholder profits on. If forced to give $ to households for electrification instead, I imagine they'll...

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 01/10/2026

This is great! Replacing gas service (smallish pipe connecting building to big pipe under street) can cost $10k or more, a sizable chunk of the cost of just upgrading gas appliances to electric versions. Using that $ for electrification is a good idea, though we'll see how implementation goes.

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Josh Lappen @jlappen1.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This is a big deal for building decarbonization! AB 2313 has the potential to both speed up appliance replacement and help shift the incentives that keep gas utilities from coming to the table to confront long-term decline. Congratulations to all the advocates!

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William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

remember: it saved no net money, social services US citizens are getting cut, and left the US in a weaker place geopolitically. none of the debates about fiscal responsibility, obligation to US citizens first, or 'hard choices' actually apply. they're all bullshit. killed people for nothing at all.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 30/09/2026

A bill this big and complex will inevitably have unforeseen consequences. If those consequences are bad for fossil fuel companies, their owners/execs/major shareholders have a good chance of changing the bill scope or implementation by working lawsuits up to the Supreme Court. But Dems? No chance.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 30/09/2026

One thing to bear in mind about a federal permitting bill is that its mistakes would be essentially permanent - Dems could only reverse mistakes with a filibuster-proof 60-vote supermajority in the Senate. Repubs, on the other hand, could use captured courts to shave off bits their donors dislike.

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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 30/09/2026

A big day for @cmu.edu, for Miami, & for Pittsburgh! One of the grand challenges the CMU-Miami campus will work on, together with regional institutions, is energy & climate resilience. Having energy & climate as a focus for all universities to work on, is essential. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/u...

nytimes.com

Donor Gives $3 Billion to Carnegie Mellon, the Largest University Gift Ever (Gift Article)

The donation by Kenneth Griffin, intended mostly to help build a campus in Miami, was the biggest single gift in the history of U.S. higher education.

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Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I’ve been reminiscing with friends about Take Back the Night rallies we did at Cornell in the late 90s, and how now it’s our high school daughters planning rallies and signing petitions and it’s just incredibly demoralizing how little has changed.

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Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) @doctorvive.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

None of the cheerleaders of the Permitting Reform bill are talking about the fact that it establishes a 150-day statute of limitations for lawsuits under *any* federal law challenging authorizations for coal, oil, and gas extraction. Forever. 150 days is no time at all.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 30/09/2026

As far as I can tell, the total funding in the Senate permitting bill is $255M/yr (0.0036% of 2025 $7T federal spending), not counting $200M/yr for historic preservation. $255M is enough to pay 2,550 people $100k. You'd think a bill meant to expedite permitting would hire/pay people to do the work.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 30/09/2026

Particularly cute is the requirement to use AI tools "in the assessment of areas of poor performance among... each key permitting agency for the purpose of providing additional support and oversight." AI surveilance of agency staffers.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 30/09/2026

Not a lawyer, but "SEC. 209. ENEPA TECHNOLOGIES" (pages 74-94) appears to require creation of AI tools for a) company use to generate environmental docs and b) agency use to review environmental docs. AI-generated forms reviewed by AI tools in understaffed/underfunded agencies! What could go wrong.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 30/09/2026

The Secretary of Defense is exempt, of course!

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 30/09/2026

The Senate's permitting bill text is up. It's way too big/complex for anyone who didn't have early access to digest today, so beware hot takes, but this bit (p. 54 line 9) is funny: If an agency misses a deadline, the agency head can't travel >25 miles from their desk til the agency submits the doc.

energy.senate.gov

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isaac @sevier.io · 30/09/2026

🥳🥳🥳 Shoutout @cmmonwealth.bsky.social for their immense work to make this happen. In the US we lack organizations of their size + political parties capable of using their capacity but we are on the same path.

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isaac @sevier.io · 30/09/2026

In Lyon, France, activists for public ownership of the water system won their decades long struggle, along with enormously reduced water rates, better pay, and stronger unions. When the right took over, public ownership had such broad support from the community & workers that it has stayed public.

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Josh Lappen @jlappen1.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Honored to have won this year's John Reps Prize from the Society of American City and Regional Planning Historians for my work on how electrification shaped greater Los Angeles! I'm likewise honored to be in such excellent company! Take a look at the full set of winners: sacrph.org/awards/past2...

sacrph.org

2026 Awards

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Erik Nordman @eriknordman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Michigan's utility regulator has proposed steps to contain rising costs & break the "seemingly endless litigation over rates." The article below features insightful commentary from two longtime @ipu-msu.bsky.social guest instructors, Mark Newton Lowry and Paul Alvarez. #EnergySky 🔌💡

utilitydive.com

Affordability concerns drive momentum for performance-based ratemaking

Michigan is among the states weighing reforms to rate case planning and utility profits. Experts and stakeholders told Utility Dive what works — and what doesn’t.

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 30/09/2026

Today on Volts: Heat-pump water heaters use a fraction of the energy of the conventional kind, but they've often been bulky, loud, & a hassle to install. A company called Reservoir has made one that's smaller, quieter, & much smarter, installed in hours by their own plumbers. I talk with the CEO.

volts.wtf

What’s up with heat-pump water heaters?

A conversation with Luke Winston-Almanzar of Reservoir.

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Kashmir Hill @kashhill.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Meta is using a radical interpretation of a tax credit for “research and experimentation” to get billions of dollars off GPUs for its A.I. data centers. My latest with Jesse Drucker, @elitan.bsky.social and @mikeisaac.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/t...

nytimes.com

How Meta Uses A.I. Data Centers to Avoid Billions in Federal Taxes (Gift Article)

Meta is exploiting a lucrative tax break intended to support research and experimentation. Its own accountants say the gambit is risky.

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Brendan Pierpont @brendan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

⚡⚡ Want to help policymakers understand the best ways to meet growing electricity demand, clean up the grid, and lower electricity bills for customers? Do you have deep grid expertise and experience managing research and analysis projects? Join our team! energyinnovation.org/about/career...

energyinnovation.org

Careers

We are committed to creating a diverse environment and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

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Justin Mikulka @justinmikulka.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The Cornell Daily Sun: "This is not a dark chapter in Cornell’s history, it’s a morbid pattern, only rectified with thorough criminal investigations in the hands of parties independent of the University — the Ithaca Police Department and the Tompkins County district attorney."

cornellsun.com

EDITORIAL | Cornell Won’t, We Will

The Editorial Board demands that Cornell stops protecting the alleged Chi Phi rapists through the University's opaque sexual assault policies.

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

@pkrugman.bsky.social on the political transformation underway due to AI and data centers. "Even the usual argument for pro-oligarch policies — job creation! — falls flat because hardly any jobs are being created even in the short run." Cites BLS stats on the job category including data centers.

BLS employment figures in the category that includes data centers

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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 30/09/2026

"Only 28 percent of Americans believe that AI technology should move full speed ahead. Everyone else wants it slowed down or stopped, temporarily or permanently." paulkrugman.substack.com/p/one-more-r...

paulkrugman.substack.com

One More Reason Americans Hate AI: It Does Nothing for Them

Trillions of dollars in spending, higher interest rates, hardly any jobs

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Omigod, this is the most heartwarming story possible! Backpack (bear 89) is the son of the 2019 winner of Fat Bear Week, Holly (bear 435). In 2007, he injured his foot & a practice of riding on momma's Holly's back had a new meaning: he was mobility-restricted while it healed. So Holly moved him.

From DISCVR blog's Facebook page, a momma bear & a yearling cub on her back in the shallow water. I think the background has been swapped out, and I can't rule out some AI use there? God, Facebook has become the social media for AI slop : (

The title of the article, which I link below, is "How Bear 89 earned the name Backpack"

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