iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Things have escalated way past the Constitutional-Calvinball effort during Trump I to revoke California’s Clean Air Act waiver — as I discussed in “Democracy or Carbon Oligarchy?” (Available at link.springer.com/9783032245755 ) 🔌💡

Under Pruitt’s successor, Andrew Wheeler, the major immediate front in the Trump-administration EPA’s campaign to undo Obama-era regulatory policy changes moved to the theater of fuel efficiency and emissions standards. On August 1, 2018, “the EPA and Transportation Department proposed taking away California’s waiver as part of a rule that would freeze mileage standards for these vehicles at roughly 37 miles per gallon from 2020 to 2026,” as opposed to retaining Obama-era standards of over 50 miles per gallon by mid-decade (Eilperin and Dennis 2019). The earlier, more stringent standards has been incorporated into policy at the state level, in California, as part of a “coordinated package” of emission standards
addressing smog and greenhouse gases, along with a mandate for
adopting electric and fuel cell vehicles collectively known as the “Advanced Clean Cars Program” (Grab et al. 2018, p. 3). The proposed revocation would affect not only California, but also 12 other states and the District of Columbia that had adopted California’s standards—as they are explicitly
enabled to do under federal legislation, specifically Section 177 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977; together, these 13 states “account for over a third of U.S. auto sales (Grab et al. 2018, pp. 1, 4)…

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Yeah, that’s part of it. Here’s the chart for total fossil fuel production (equalized in terms of terajoule energy content, and indexed to 1990)

“… British fossil fuel production
was the most volatile over this period: after rising to a peak in 2000, it then declined to less than half of its 1990 level by 2015.

The outstanding performer in decarbonization, as represented in Fig. 1.1, is the United Kingdom. 2022 per capita carbon dioxide emissions in the U.K. were roughly halved—more than 53% lower than they were in 1990.

Moreover, this decline in emissions was relatively steady, in contrast to the reversal of trend in fossil-fuel production shown in Fig. 1.2, from initial growth to eventual decline. As we will see in Chap. 4, sectoral and policy changes in Britain over this period were as influential in generating this outcome as the underlying economic and geological processes of rising costs and depletion, although all of these factors are necessary to understand
how such significant decarbonization was initiated.”

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

I argue in my book — “Democracy or Carbon Oligarchy? Climate & Energy Policy between Crisis & Decarbonization”, available at link.springer.com/9783032245755 — that we can learn quite a bit from 🇬🇧’s relative success in bringing down CO2 emissions. But denialist ‘populism’ sleeps for no one. 🗺️ 🌱 🔌💡

Chart from “Democracy or Carbon Oligarchy?” showing 1990-2023 UK decline in per capita CO2 emissions, which are now lower than those USA, Canada, or Norway.

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Anyway, bipolarity in 🇺🇸 energy policy is, however, not a new phenomenon. Rapid reversals are the norm. Perhaps presidentialist institutions have something to do with this? 🗺️ 🔌💡 link.springer.com/9783032245755 — “Democracy or Carbon Oligarchy? Climate & Energy Policy between Crisis & Decarbonization”

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

It’s easy to forget how different things were in 2012. Mitt Romney ran against the same Obama-era “picking winners and losers” program in which the biggest winner was arguably Tesla, as I also discuss in my book “Democracy or Climate Oligarchy?”, available at link.springer.com/9783032245755 🔌💡

… Given such a rapid increase and scaling-up of financial resources for
what was a relatively small and volatile segment of the energy sector
involving acknowledged risks and unproven technology, it was unsurprising
and inevitable that some of this new money would be spent on
ultimately unproductive ventures such as the solar cell maker Solyndra,
in addition to relative success stories such as electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer
Tesla. …

The partisan split over energy spending was
already developing during the 2012 presidential election campaign and its
televised debates, when Republican Party presidential candidate Mitt
Romney questioned the practicality of government aid for the commercialization
of renewable energy technology, and the wisdom of ‘picking of
winners and losers’ inherent to the conduct of any industrial policy. …

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

How did 🇳🇴 do it? There’s a chapter in the book — now scheduled to be released on July 20. 🌱 🔌💡 🗺️

Section 6.3 — The 1990s and 2000s: Carbon taxes and the environmental politics of natural gas

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Well, I guess we now have the official position of European governments (or at least the serious ones). Hopefully, this’ll shut up Trollmeister Stephen Goebbels — for a while, anyway.

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

I’m not sure if it’s widely appreciated *how much* oil and natural gas is now being produced in 🇺🇸. 🔌💡 www.eia.gov/todayinenerg...

In 2024, the United States produced more energy than ever before.

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

The Economic Civil War. www.marketwatch.com/story/here-a...

Map of U.S., divided by states, showing “Contraction or no growth across much of country”.

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Just about to submit my comment. Today’s the last day!

My comment re: Request for Comments, 2025-2026 Formula for COVID-19 Vaccines for Use in the United States: “Please do not go down in history as sponsors of a Ghost-Dance-esque death cult by causing unnecessary deaths via barriers to access for 2025-2026 formula COVID-19 booster vaccines in the United States.”

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

I don’t know about the NYT’s algorithms, but Google’s Chrome browser has an extremely alarming idea of who I am after clicking to the NYT homepage out of curiosity re: Chris’ post. (I have literally never seen a Russian language prompt before.)

New York Times on Chrome browser asking me to sign in, in Russian.

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Chaser: “In our latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we expect that U.S. renewable capacity additions—especially solar—will continue to drive the growth of U.S. power generation over the next two years…” www.eia.gov/todayinenerg...

New solar plants expected to support most U.S. electric generation growth.

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

It’s Fredos, all the way down. I mean, it *is* hard to get the incentives right when you’re in a loyalty- (not merit-) based apparatus and if you’re likely to be an old, white party apparatchik who is used to chasing after a median voter who you assume is just like yourself.

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

I don’t do the hard stuff, but if you’re open to something with an IPE bent, this has been thought-provoking…

Cover of “Global Discord,” by Paul Tucker.

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Yes. Stop performatively beating yourself up on “not doing enough for the less-fortunate,” and focus on shoring up the political institutions & guardrails instead.

…pointing to poor socioeconomic performance by democratic governments and citizen anger about that performance as the primary drivers of democratic backsliding is a mistake…

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Aging population seems to have something to do with it.

Effect of aging on literacy proficiency in New Zealand.

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Hungary represents the crony-ridden, ignorant, and hardscrabble future that national conservatives want. See the rightmost bar on the latest OECD literacy/numeracy proficiency study that just dropped:

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

One of the best books I read last year.

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 06/11/2024

www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/o...

Levitsky and Ziblatt describe societal mobilization.

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 11/10/2024

When do the polls close in Waukesha oblast?

“Ultimately, it all comes down to Waukesha County.”

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 21/07/2024

Calling this “The Kamala”: - Gin - Sweet Vermouth - Peychaud’s - Tonic water, and, of course… - Coconut water To freedom!

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 09/06/2024

There is something near-miraculous about the Bluesky algorithm.

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 27/03/2024

“…Military and defense budgets commanded a 2.1% share, after hitting an all-time high of $2.2 trillion, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East were the key drivers of growth…” about.bnef.com/blog/lack-of...

Figure 1: Selected sectors’ expenditures as a share of global GDP

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 07/12/2023

“Oil fell to the lowest since June as momentum traders and lower market volumes worsened a plunge that has been driven by concerns the market is oversupplied…” www.rigzone.com/news/wire/oi...

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 08/11/2023

Looking forward to today’s workshop on the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in Singapore!

Flyer announcing Energy Studies Institute workshop on CBAM, in Singapore.

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 17/08/2023

You’ve inspired a counter-hot-take: rye, St-Germain, and lime juice. I regret nothing, and can only thank you.

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 02/08/2023

So we’re bringing back cholera? Way to go, humans. www.pbs.org/newshour/health/as-clim…

The Simpsons: Marge reading “Love in the Time of Scurvy”

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 25/07/2023

Why am I thinking about Stalingrad right now?

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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 24/07/2023

“American motorists alone consume 9% of all the world's oil, so the trajectory of U.S. gasoline demand is arguably the most important consumption metric in determining global fuel prices.” 🔌💡 apple.news/ALVhfGynSRfeOMNXrBgIYXQ

U.S. car fleet becoming bigger and bulkier

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