iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 39s

Although I guess some states' regulatory law may currently prohibit some of these things, e.g. nondiscrimination rules may prevent states from conditioning service provision to data centers (but not other loads) on paying for any new generation required to cover their load.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 3m

The "states may do stuff if they want" language seems odd, as I don't think anything currently prevents states from doing this stuff? Feels lip-servicey.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 5m

Not from what I've seen, though I've only skimmed the whole thing and carefully read the first half (so far). Data center language mostly allows states to charge data center developers for grid infrastructure if they want to. Optional/non-binding/up to states, as far as I can tell.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 25m

FWIW, most substantial federal legislation is passed via budget reconciliation, which only requires 50 Senate votes. This draft bill is different because it changes federal regulations, rather than only taxation/spending. It would be much harder to repeal than IRA or OBBBA.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 27m

Yeah, probably should have led with that one. If you care about justice or public health or climate or any of 1,000 other progressive priorities, no action is anywhere near as effective as getting Repubs out of power.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 31m

(Dems have had a trifecta + Senate supermajority once in my lifetime, for 72 days of legislative session. It might happen again in my lifetime, but the odds are very low given how stacked the deck of US democracy is against Dems. Functionally, bad-for-Dems things in this bill would be ~permanent.)

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 34m

- A bill this big and complex would no doubt have unforeseen consequences. That's okay-ish for Repubs, who can use captured courts to reinterpret or remove things that end up bad for their fossil donors. It's bad for Dems, who'd need a trifecta + 60-vote Senate supermajority to change anything.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 38m

My lukewarm takes on the permitting bill draft: - It'd accelerate dirty energy and clean energy. - Anyone who claims to know how much it'd accelerate dirty vs. clean is lying to you and/or themself. - Most important consideration is how it'd affect Dems' odds of kicking fascists to the curb.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 44m

Why does waiting mean more natural gas for data centers? As far as I can tell, this bill would make it easier, not harder, to build both data centers and gas infrastructure.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 57m

I guess. Collaborating with a president's lackeys on deregulation seems like a weird way to go about firing a president.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 1h

Pretty effective so far, though. Not sure what the value of Sec. 1402 (ensuring fairness in permitting across tech types) is if a president can just pay developers to stop projects he doesn't like. No need to revoke a permit if you have no shame, scruples, or $ prudence.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 1h

I'm only halfway through a careful read of the permitting bill (thing's a beast), but have not yet seen anything that would stop presidents from using federal funds to pay renewable developers to stop building projects. Trump has spent billions of taxpayer dollars this way to kill offshore wind.

upi.com

Trump administration pays billions to not build wind energy projects - UPI.com

The Trump administration has agreed to pay out about $4 billion to companies to encourage them not to build out offshore wind energy projects.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 1h

Anyway, "deregulation will decrease pollution" and "deregulation will help Democrats win elections" are weird claims that, IMO, require pretty high thresholds of evidence to support. Food for thought as you read coverage of the federal permitting bill draft, which is deregulation legislation.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 1h

Whether the bill would increase or decrease our odds of reclaiming the federal government from right-wing authoritarians is another story, too. Is collaborating with fascists on a bill that would silence community input and worsen public health in areas near new infrastructure... good strategy? 🤔

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 1h

It shouldn't surprise anyone if news outlets that make money by selling ads or subscriptions to energy businesspeople come out in favor of a federal permitting bill that would be good for energy business (both dirty and clean). Whether the bill would increase or decrease pollution is another story.

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 3h

Interesting lack of clarity around whether data centres will benefit or lose from the new US permitting reform bill. As @aaronregunberg.bsky.social points out (and receives a huge amount of abuse on X for saying), the tech industry is pretty happy with the proposed legislation:

Aaron Regunberg
@AaronRegunberg
Here’s my one contribution to the permitting reform discourse: The data center industry *loves* this bill. (This is, I suspect, why so many Big Tech-funded abundance bros are so agog over it.) Any challenger can fairly say voting for this bill is voting to make it easier to put a data center in your backyard.

Best of luck with that!
3:07 AM · Oct 2, 2026
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 2h

2 gigawatts of fossil gas power for data centres in the US. Every day there are just a whole bunch of announcements like this www.enerdata.net/publications...

AB Energy USA announced it secured about 2 GW of on-site power for five data-centre projects in Texas and Oklahoma (01 Oct 2026), describing ECOMAX modular units, waste-heat recovery cooling, and battery energy storage to increase flexibility.

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Brendan Pierpont @brendan.bsky.social · 8h

Nuclear bros spent years talking about how nuclear is the fastest way to scale carbon-free electricity, and yet with massive demand driven by the richest companies in the world, there is little commercial activity. This is a great piece for understanding why: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

carnegieendowment.org

Beyond the Hype: Assessing Hyperscaler Nuclear Commitments Against U.S. Energy Realities

The coming decade will require technology companies to decide how nuclear fits into their energy strategies—and grapple with the obligations that follow.

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David Pomerantz @davidpomerantz.bsky.social · 7h

He signed this!

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J. Mijin Cha @jmijin.bsky.social · 6h

I say this as a climate person, there is more than the energy transition. We don’t get to a just transition by ignoring environmental injustices and just transition is the only way forward. Otherwise, we’re just replicating the failures of fossil fuels. Please don’t have climate myopia.

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Pete Sikora @petesikora.bsky.social · 13h

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 · 17h

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 · 16h

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 · 19h

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 · 17h

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 · 19h

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 · 19h

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 · 22h

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 · 22h

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 · 01/10/2026

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 · 01/10/2026

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 · 01/10/2026

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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