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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

There are many others beyond this, but this is a starter list. Very open to your feedback and thoughts. Thanks

Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

7. Cont: Assign Senate seats based on the square root of population in a state or the log of population in a state. Give small states 1 Senator and the biggest states 3 or 4 Senators. This would still give small states a disproportionately large say, but would make the current system closer to fair.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

7. A More Proportional Senate. The Senate gives additional votes to small states. There are historical reasons for this, and we will likely never end it entirely. But this too can be reformed.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

6. Continued: A better system is Proportional Representation, where elections for House members are done at the entire State level rather than district level. This would end gerrymandering in one fell swoop, and remove the extremist bent of the current system.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

6. Proportional Representation for the House. One-district-one-member-of-congress plus first-past-the-post means that 80% of all House seats are safe for one party. This makes the Primary the only important election in those districts, which encourages extremism.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

5. Stronger State Laws Against Violation of Constitutional Rights. We have Federal laws such as 18 USC 242 that make it illegal to violate constitutional rights under color of law. But DOJ is captured. Every State needs equivalent laws that can charge either State or Federal violations.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

4. Continued: State DOJs ought to be able to press Federal charges in Federal courts. In some cases, Members of Congress ought to be able to step up to press Federal charges when the DOJ is corrupt.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

4. Deputized Subs for a Corrupt DOJ. When the DOJ in particular is seized by a corrupt President, then law becomes lawless. We need to deputize other bodies to step in to press charges for Federal crimes when DOJ refuses to.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

3. Constitutional Independence of the DOJ, Fed, and Other Agencies. The President has too much power over the DOJ and vague power over other agencies that truly ought to be independent. We need an Amendment to make these agencies truly independent of the President.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

2. End the Pardon Power. The Pardon Power, while well-intentioned, is another tool that allows the President and his delegates to be above the law. The President can instruct his followers and appointees to commit crimes, with all parties knowing he'll pardon them. Corrupt.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

1. Limit or End Presidential Immunity. Constitutional Amendment needed. The President cannot be above the law. Very very limited immunity may be required, but the broad immunity for all "official acts" is overly broad and must go.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

The Constitution needs an upgrade. Trump has made clear that the US Constitution & overall system have significant security flaws + traits that benefit extremism. We need structural changes, inc. multiple Constitutional Amendments, to improve resilience to future authoritraians. A starter list: 🧵

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Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 24/01/2026

Federal law enforcement agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis on Jan. 24 according to local police officials. DHS told Fox News that the man was “armed with a gun”. A video of the shooting appears to show that a gun was taken from the man before the first shot was fired. x.com/BillMelugin_...

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Hey, clean energy folks: I recently spoke with Megan O'Rourke, a climate scientist running for Congress in NJ-7, a flippable seat. If I set up a group zoom with her, would you be interested in joining. Feel free to reply here or DM. meganorourkeforcongress.com

meganorourkeforcongress.com

Megan O'Rourke for Congress

NJ-07 is one of the most flippable seats in the country: Join Megan’s campaign to help her do it

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Felix Hamer • electricfelix @electricfelix.eurosky.social · 10/01/2026

@ramez.bsky.social: "The EV revolution will be - and has been - telegraphed years in advance." #alwaysbecharging nitter.net/ramez/status...

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Funny take: "When Trump said 'drill, baby, drill', he didn't specify in the US!" Serious take: US interest in Venezuelan oil also probably won't affect global supply on net, but it might make US oil companies a lot of money.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Thanks, Jehan! Happy New Year!

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

In looking at your analysis at the index you linked to, it seems that the highest emitting oil and gas production seems to be small projects clustered in countries where you'll never get policy to cut off that supply (e.g., Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Libya). Is there a way to group by country here?

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Shutting down coal plants is on the demand side rather than the supply side. And I think the policies that shut them down and replace them with gas or renewables have been a significant win. Though economics is what made that possible. Shutting down coal mines is a different story and futile.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Say more about LNG terminals. The analysis I've read finds that US LNG exports (one of the supply policies that actually does have a significant impact) are very likely a net reducer of global emissions, inclusive of leaks, through their displacement of coal. You disagree? Where can I read more.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

2. Consider the counter-example I gave. Has "Drill, baby, drill" in the US increased global oil supply? No evidence that it has. If national pro-supply policies don't increase global supply, is there reason to believe that anti-supply policies reduce it?

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Thanks. 1. As one example, consider that Europe broadly bans fracking. Has that reduced total oil supply on the market? I don't see much evidence that it has. It didn't even reduce Europe's consumption, just switched them to imports from non-democratic states.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Thanks. I hadn't seen this analysis and will read it an update my thoughts.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

In any case I trust that we have very similar goals here. My thread was inspired largely by Matt Yglesias's NYT oped, and the core of that, for me, is that Democrats need to win in order to save America. And all other policy is secondary.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

7 (cont). Voters hate supply restriction policies. They tilt voters away from liberals and towards conservatives, and backfire by empowering authoritarians. That is a real problem in this day and age.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

7. Most crucially, the most important political issue of our time is the preservation of US democracy and the prevention and reversal of the authoritarian slide. All policy progress on climate in the US is downstream of that!

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

6. In looking at the relative impact of policies, EVs are now displacing perhaps 2 million bpd of oil, and could hit 5 million bpd by 2030 (IEA - see figure). What has supply restriction done to supply? Zero. In the real world, undercutting demand through tech is what works.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

5. We're approaching the peak of oil demand, not because of supply constraints, but because of new cheaper technology (EVs). As demand plateaus and declines, supply restrictions will make ever less sense.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

4. As a converse example, the Trump admin came in with a policy goal of "drill, baby, drill". And US drilling behavior has actually declined. Why? Because of global oil market dynamics outside of US policy control. Supply-oriented policy just doesn't do much. The market wins.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Where I disagree: 3. The paper you cite on modeling of oil supply elasticity seems to rely almost entirely on OPEC deciding not to increase production. That's... thin. So I stand by my first point, that, in the real world, supply is highly elastic in the long run.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

2. If you can actually pull off shutdowns of supply without generating political backlash that harms other, more effective climate action, and the vital imperative to protect democracy, great. Note, tho, that US production is actually lower than avg in emissions.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Hey, @jgkoomey.bsky.social . Just seeing this as I don't check BlueSky much. And thanks @erikbryn.bsky.social for tagging me. Also cc @ketanjoshi.co So, where I agree: 1. Shutting down higher emissions production is good, as the worst are something like 20% higher total emissions than avg.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Oh, thanks! I misread the threading. My apologies, @ketanjoshi.co

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Ketan, I'm not a senior exec at a gas supplier. I don't work in the fossil fuel industry at all. I do a lot of speaking about the inevitability of solar, wind, batteries, EVs, etc.. and invest in cleantech companies. Not sure where you got this impression of me.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Now that RFK Jr has found the cure for autism, he can retire with our thanks.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

This weekend's episodes of the America show are giving final season vibes.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Donald Trump ordering his Attorney General to prosecute his enemies, on Truth Social. Seems he meant to text or DM her. It's all out in the open. The corruption. The assault on freedom of speech. The weaponizing of the DOJ to prosecute his enemies, even when no crime can be found. All right there.

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Corey Rayburn Yung @coreyryung.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

The number of times an aspiring authoritarian was stopped through capitulation remains 0

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that government officials can't use legal coercion as a way to punish or suppress speech. The decision was unanimous. What Trump and Carr did broke the law and violated the First Amendment rights of multiple parties.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Look, folks, I don't make the rules.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Full charging document: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

documentcloud.org

document (3)

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

I didn't want Charlie Kirk's killer to be a liberal, but that's where we are*. Two excerpts from the charging document. Full document linked below. * - Unless you believe law enforcement is just outright lying here, which seems unlikely, as this will become evidence in the case.

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Sean Casten @seancasten.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Here’s a brief story, with receipts about Trump administration corruption and crypto industry collusion that WILL be investigated once the majority of the House is filled with people who take ethics and the Constitution seriously:

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

Agree. And hi, long time no see.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

It's completely appropriate to criticize extreme things said by leaders and prominent people on the other side. It's incredibly corrosive to amplify and dunk on extremist nobodies on the other side.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

4. High school friend saying he was liberal. We don't know yet. Don't jump to conclusions. There's disinfo on the left out there. Don't fall for it. Don't give in to confirmation bias. And yes, the right jumped to conclusions right away. Doesn't mean we should.

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Ramez Naam @ramez.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

Liberal friends posting that the killer is MAGA or a Groyper: Wait for real info. And understand that it's unlikely. 1. Registered 'unaffiliated'. 2. Casings had anti-Nazi, anti-fascist slogans. 3. Family member says the kid saw Kirk as full of hate and spreading hate.

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