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Rob

@robertferry.bsky.social
4.1K followers 2.2K following 8.9K posts

Climate policy, society, and the built environment. Architect, LEED AP BD+C. landartgenerator.org

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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 3h
Turn golf courses into solar farms? <Kylo Ren More Meme> 🧵 with numbers...
e360.yale.edu
Short on Land, Japan Is Building Solar Farms on Old Golf Courses
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 17h
It is pretty amazing to listen to someone who spent his life promoting tax cuts and neoliberal deregulation of industry now shouting so loudly for governments (the same ones he helped hollow out) to intervene here has swiftly as possible, and admitting markets and philanthropy can’t solve this one.
podcasts.apple.com
Bill Gates’s Blunt Warning on A.I.
Podcast Episode · The Ezra Klein Show · September 29 · 1h 14m
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 18h
You have to get 2/3 of the way into this article before you see how shaky the whole plan really is. “In any other administration, this would be treated as a monumental scandal,” Mr. Weissman said. “But in this one, it’s just another day.”
nytimes.com
How a Planned Steel Mill in Iowa Reveals Trump’s Midterm Strategy (Gift Article)
As President Trump travels the country, he is expected to focus on his economic accomplishments at a time when Americans have expressed deep frustration with his policies.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If only there were some way to avoid this. “Europe’s next energy crisis will be from a completely new threat: peak oil. An August report from The National Interest warns that Europe’s next energy catastrophe will come from a decline in oil and gas exports from key producers.”
oilprice.com
The Next Global Energy Crisis Won’t Come From Just One Direction | OilPrice.com
Hormuz, record heat, and grid failures show energy threats no longer come one at a time. Here’s why resilience planning needs a systems-wide rethink.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Room and board for his prison stay? We say we want to make good citizens—to reform people into being “productive members of society,“ and when they miraculously do just that we hit their surviving family with a $232,733 bill that means they have to sell their house.
ctmirror.org
They served their time in prison. Then the bills arrived.
Hundreds of CT residents have had money seized through a law that allows the state to charge a fee for every day a person spends in prison.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The plot thickens… Just because the origins of the plagiarism (training data) are not apparent, it doesn’t mean the inference is a novel “discovery.”
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Great long form piece by by Andrea Elliott. “It was here that the war on drugs truly began, with draconian laws enacted in 1973 under Gov. Rockefeller…the late governor’s niece, Abby Rockefeller, is growing marijuana on her farm as she launches a company whose product will be marketed as dime bags.“
nytimes.com
When the Weed Wars Came to Warren Street (Gift Article)
New money and age-old injustice in an American river town.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
@heatmap.news If you are going to platform a powerful fossil fuel ideologue and climate denier, at least have the decency to correct all the lies and inaccuracies they spew while on your stage. If you are incapable of doing that, then at the very least don’t post the conversation to your feed.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Coal and natural gas power plants in the U.S. withdraw approximately 183 trillion liters of water per year or about a trillion liters every two days.
watercalculator.org
The Water Footprint of Energy
Energy production - especially thermoelectric power production - uses a lot of water for once-through cooling. So does refining transportation fuels.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
And for this we will poison our air and water with toxic chemicals including arsenic, mercury, and lead, strip entire landscapes, and remove entire mountaintops. Coal exported to China would keep strip mines open in WV and WY that should be closed and remediated.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
With the cost of fuel so high, why wouldn’t automakers go for 50.4 anyway? “The proposed rule, issued in December, required automakers to achieve an average fuel efficiency of 34.5 mpg for cars and light trucks in model year 2031, down from the standard of 50.4 mpg set by the Biden administration.”
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Plans to Gut Clean Car Rules (Gift Article)
New fuel-economy standards, which President Trump said he finalized Saturday, would kill a federal effort to speed the transition to electric vehicles.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I’ve enjoyed the two weeks I got to spend in rural Vermont pet-sitting as the seasons start to change. It’s a magical landscape. It is also a bit frozen in a 1970s version of how to live with nature.
Perfect light orange mushroom in the foreground surrounded by leaves of various colors from green to red-brown to yellow. In the distance an out of focus cocker spaniel runs toward the camera.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
How is a plant based diet like an electric vehicle? Energy conversion efficiency!
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
What the conversation skirted around are the two main camps in interpretation of what neural networks are. Huang’s perspective is that they are a large technological step change but not different in kind to any other engineering process. Klein’s, though he didn’t say so explicitly is more mystical.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Ezra Klein: What if there really is no way to completely ensure rogue AI agents won’t act in ways that are misaligned with society? Jensen Huang: “The answer is we have to shut the labs down.” What are we waiting for?
podcasts.apple.com
Jensen Huang Thinks A.I. Alarmism Has Gone Too Far
Podcast Episode · The Ezra Klein Show · September 23 · 1h 48m
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
“One of the first intended uses is Alba, a training vessel operated by the Bastia Maritime High School. The vessel has a hydrogen propulsion system, giving the project a local maritime application through which to test the steps from solar generation to hydrogen use.”
interestingengineering.com
New 150-kW electrolyzer uses surplus solar energy to make hydrogen
France’s Folell’Hy pilot converts surplus electricity from a Corsican solar plant into hydrogen for local use.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Yet another solar cobenefit! “Existing solar farms around the Gobi Desert can therefore reduce springtime dust emissions from the region by about 352,400 metric tons per month.”
phys.org
Solar farms could do more than generate clean energy—they could also cut dust pollution
Solar farms built around China's Gobi Desert could have the unexpected benefit of reducing the dust pollution reaching cities across northern China.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Again, “states’ rights” are only good when states want to discriminate against minorities, but not when states want to hold companies accountable for pollution. It’s looking like we need a federal level climate superfund because judges are on the side of the oil companies on the state version.
nytimes.com
A Second Judge Strikes Down New York’s Climate ‘Superfund’ Law (Gift Article)
A federal judge ruled that the new law, which would force fossil fuel companies to pay $75 billion to help cover the costs of climate change, was unconstitutional.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
DOGE may come and DOGE may go but we’ll always have the GAO.
nytimes.com
Unused Tents and Uneaten Food: Watchdog Finds ‘Waste’ in Immigration Crackdown (Gift Article)
In a report Thursday, the Government Accountability Office said the Trump administration squandered millions of dollars to expand detention.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
For all the hype and for a neural network trained on the sum of all human knowledge one might have thought we’d have gotten more than a wrinkle by now. “It’s not yet a breakthrough,” said Philip Kranzusch, a microbiologist at Harvard Medical School. “It’s a wrinkle on what we know in the field.”
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
We could have chosen to invest in a clean energy future and save ourselves from the runaway climate feedbacks we were causing. Instead we chose to take that money and spend it on a fun machine that might kill us even faster. Collectively we’re like a meth addict with a gambling problem basically.
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Lauri Myllyvirta @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The solar panels, electric vehicles, EV batteries and wind turbines exported by China in 2025 will avoid annual emissions equal to those of the UK and Portugal combined, according to my new estimates. Avoided emissions increased 30% compared with 2024 exports.
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Reposted by Rob
Carbon Brief @carbonbrief.org · 24/09/2026
NEW – Analysis: EVs are now nine times cheaper than petrol or diesel to drive in the UK ✍️ Written by @mollylempriere.carbonbrief.org 📊 Data analysis by Ho Woo Nam Read here: buff.ly/VpxOLE5
EVs are now up to nine times cheaper per mile than diesel cars. Pence per mile. A chart shows diesel highest at around 21p, petrol at 20p, EV at price cap at 7p, and EV off peak lowest at under 2.5p. Source: Carbon Brief analysis, DESNZ, Ofgem, Zapmap. - (alt text generated by Google Gemini)
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George Pearkes @peark.es · 24/09/2026
Huge day for enhanced geothermal: $FRVO has delivered power to the grid from Cape Station, a first for EGS. Congrats to @timlatimer.bsky.social and the rest of the team. h/t @isaiahbishop.bsky.social
fervoenergy.com
Fervo Energy Achieves First Power at Cape Station, a Landmark Moment for the Future of Enhanced Geothermal Systems - Fervo Energy
HOUSTON, September 24, 2026 – Fervo Energy (Nasdaq: FRVO), a global pioneer of next-generation geothermal energy, today announced that Cape Station, its
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The first person to ever make whipped cream must have been working some shit out. Imagine at the dawn of agriculture tens of thousands of years ago sitting next to a bucket of milk (a relatively new invention) and deciding to go to town on it furiously with a stick for like 15 minutes straight.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Health insurance premium growth since 1999 has been a staggering +444.6%, outpacing worker earnings by 3.3 times and general inflation by more than 6.1 times over the last 27 years. It’s a tumor growing on the American economy.
The Widening Gap: Cumulative Growth
Since 1999

Total family premiums:
444.6%

Mean worker earning:
134.6%

Overall inflation:
72.3%
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Different kind of vibe coding is going to raise our premiums even more. “Coding is changing because of this technology…By describing patients as having more complicated conditions and adding a secondary diagnosis, like anemia…the hospitals were paid an average of nearly $12,000 more per case.”
nytimes.com
Battle of Hospital A.I. vs. Insurer A.I. Is Pushing Medical Costs Higher (Gift Article)
The use of artificial intelligence by hospitals and health insurers is escalating their longstanding feud over paying for medical care.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Little known scientific fact: Godzilla El Niños years tend to coincide with Tsunami blue wave elections. The last politically progressive victory as big as this November’s will be took place in 750 CE.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
It turns out we could have implemented a ~$450 per ton carbon tax all this time without a populist backlash. It’s just that it would have had to come under the policy guidance of a right wing administration being consulted by the Heritage foundation.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Slab of stone in the sidewalk into which has been etched, “Nothing is written in stone.”
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Hey! Good news. We don’t have to worry about climate change anymore because A.I. will kill us all before 2050 anyway. 🤷‍♂️
nytimes.com
The Big Threat Has Been Climate Change. Now Comes A.I. (Gift Article)
Both are human-caused, both are frightening, and one of them has raced to the forefront of the global conversation.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
If we save ourselves by installing slightly more total panels at less optimal solar orientations that’s OK. Maybe it’s better because the energy transition is something we all do together that way rather than it being perceived as something being done for us—or in the worst political framing—to us.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This new era of patronage, graft, spoils, and corruption we have entered into would make Boss Tweed blush.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
New sign to point at daily—> We do not need A.I. to tell us how to solve climate change. We already know how. Electrify everything and phase out fossil fuels to zero by 2050. It is suicide to justify even one new gas turbine sale in the year 2026 because “A.I. will help solve climate change.”
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Historic preservationists: Here is a great idea to bring back traditional awnings to our cities. Keep apartments cool with a photovoltaic shade structure that can be dropped down like a shutter during weather events. Balcony solar in costume as historically accurate embellishment.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Wherein climate scientist Wally Broecker compares the climate system to an angry beast we are poking with sticks. Another analogy might be a lifelong chain smoker at middle age. Will cancer or emphysema strike us in 2050, 2100? Most likely. One thing is certain: quitting asap is a very good idea.
nytimes.com
Opinion | Climate Catastrophe Is Still on the Table (Gift Article)
Harrowing temperature increases remain unnervingly possible.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This whole debate is showing that no one has any idea how these things actually work. “Mr. Suleyman argued that Anthropic, along with others across the tech industry, is ignoring the danger that comes when A.I. systems are pushed too hard to explore the idea that they are humanlike.
nytimes.com
Are A.I. Models Being Misled to Act Too Human? (Gift Article)
A corporate spat between two tech giants last week was just the latest volley in a conflict over whether dangerous mistakes are being made in A.I. training.
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Reposted by Rob
Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Good news corner. Semafor reports that a US district court has ruled that the Trump administration must reinstate a $7 billion grant program that funded solar panel installations for middle- and low-income families.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
If only this were how all data centers were powered. “Solar facilities routinely waste as much as 20% of the electricity they generate, adding up to more than 50 TWh yearly nationwide. RELIC pulls straight from the source, avoiding metering, utility fees, and grid limitations slowing AI growth.”
techradar.com
RELIC use direct current from solar panels without conventional conversion.
Rune wants to turn wasted solar power into GPU capacity while traditional AI data centers spend years getting connected
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Some kinds of energy abundance come with an abundance of poison in our drinking water. “The state became a destination for wastewater because decades ago it received permission from the federal government to regulate its own injection wells. As a result it’s easier to drill them in Ohio…”
nytimes.com
Toxic Fracking Waste Bubbling Up in Ohio Is Becoming a Political Issue (Gift Article)
The Democratic candidate for governor backed restrictions on disposal of fracking wastewater around a hard-hit town, and called for a “thorough investigation” of the dangers.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
If you were wondering why the IPCC has seemed as focused on carbon capture as on carbon avoidance, this helps it all make sense. Oil importing countries will be the ones to save us by transitioning away from buying the products oil exporting countries are selling. IPCC has outlived its usefulness.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I saw an ad and asked a search engine about it: Your reaction is completely valid. The commercial you saw is Hyundai’s "Little Warrior" campaign, narrated by Scarlett Johansson, which features a young girl dressed as a gladiator fighting a monster to represent a child's battle with cancer.
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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The world’s largest battery-electric aircraft flew for the first time on the 12th of August, a 27-minute test flight over upstate New York that cost about five dollars in electricity. Heart Aerospace’s 30-seat prototype is a big step toward a commercial version. buff.ly/i3f0PhR #ShareGoodNewsToo
techspot.com
The largest all-electric plane ever flew for 27 minutes, on $5 of electricity
Heart's X1 demonstrator flew for 27 minutes from a regional airport in upstate New York, running on battery power the entire time. The aircraft reached 1,100 feet...
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
“Andrew Peterson, a political economist who coined the term “knowledge collapse,” told me that a model reaches for the most likely answer. In so doing, it leaves out fringe perspectives — but fringe perspectives, historically, are often the ones that lead to social and political change.”
nytimes.com
Who Gets to Decide A.I.’s Moral Code? (Gift Article)
A small number of people are shaping what chatbots value. Those choices are already influencing how people think.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Some mushrooms from today’s forest walk.
Mushroom (amethyst deceiver) with purple edges. Also a dog face.Mushroom (shaggy scalycap) with orange raised spotsMushrooms (red banded polypore) on a tree with dog Puffball mushroom
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
In the hot and dry conditions that we are headed towards due to climate change, we can save water, keep yields up, and draw down emissions all with agrivoltaic systems.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
These are the sorts of economic reforms we need actually. It’s time to get real. Don’t be afraid of change. Model it out and make sure it won’t hurt anyone first, but by all means let’s not get stuck just because proposals sound too different.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
OK then. Let’s pause until this is in place. “Kill switches could be embedded in the underlying computer chip hardware that powers A.I…it would take years to build such switches into chips, and an even more difficult task might be getting the U.S. and China to coordinate their efforts.”
nytimes.com
Creating a Kill Switch to Shut Down a Rogue A.I. Is Harder Than It Sounds (Gift Article)
A bipartisan group in Congress and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California have floated ideas for building a mechanism that would instantly power down an A.I. system. Only no one really knows how.
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Roko's Basilisk but for climate: Future humans could punish individuals who were aware of climate change but did not contribute to net-zero. Maybe if we had a secular nerd cult who blogged about this kind of stuff we could get some media attention on climate P(doom)?
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Rob @robertferry.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
From the hysterical climate activists at ExxonMobil.
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