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Kristina Costa

@slashklc.bsky.social
482 followers 1K following 128 posts

Private citizen, former White House director for Inflation Reduction Act implementation

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Kristina Costa
Ursula von der Leyen @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu · 13/04/2026
The only lasting way out of the fossil dependency is shifting electricity generation to renewables and nuclear. And electrifying the economy as rapidly as possible. We will present our electrification strategy before the summer. Electrifying Europe means making Europe more independent.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Like not preparing for the possibility of gravity when you step off a bridge.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Having snowball fights in Dupont Circle. Literally.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
There's a certain category of commentator who wants to advocate for ignoring climate change who thinks "but what about the eventual heat death of the universe" is some kind of argumentative trump card and it's embarrassing every time. This is next level, though.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Passed a group of four Guardsmen having a literal snowball fight. Their deployment in DC was always absurd and unjustified but come on, folks.
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Reposted by Kristina Costa
Jonathan Magnolia Gilligan @jmgilligan.org · 27/01/2026
In 2025, more than 10,000 STEM PhDs quit or were fired from federal jobs. That's 14% of the federal STEM PhD workforce, and 17% of STEM PhDs at 14 critical agencies. A huge loss of expertise and institutional memory, representing more than 106,000 person-years of experience.
A bar chart showing the number of STEM PhDs who left 14 federal agencies in 2024.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Back in DC for the week just in time for the most snow we've had in a decade. Since the National Guard is still here loitering around metro stations looking bored, seems to me the least they could do is get some shovels in hand and help dig out.
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Reposted by Kristina Costa
Jeff St John @jeffstjohn.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Great story by @mariagallucci.bsky.social on how Trump forcing all Department of Interior reviews of clean energy projects to get personal approval from DOI Secretary Doug Burgum has stifled 22GW of development in the midst of an energy crisis: www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle... #energysky
canarymedia.com
22GW of renewables thwarted or in limbo under Trump ‘blockade’
An Interior Department memo is hampering wind and solar on public lands. It’s one of many federal actions slowing the build-out of cheap, clean energy.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Going to be hard to provide real assurances while the administration is trying to illegally cancel hundreds of obligated contracts, literally rob a bank to claw back disbursed funds from the financial agent for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, and is defending those attempts in multiple courts.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
National security concerns raised by the Pentagon during the leasing and planning of offshore wind projects south of New England were also fully mitigated, because that’s part of what the much maligned NEPA process does: Balances legitimate competing uses for America’s public lands and waters.
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Reposted by Kristina Costa
Sean Casten @seancasten.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
10. In other words, in 2012 new production benefited domestic producers AND consumers. But today, new production only benefits producers. That's a fundamentally different policy and political environment. And note also that domestic consumption is basically flat for the last 20 yrs.
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Reposted by Kristina Costa
Jonathan Overpeck @greatlakespecktwo.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
This is incredible (good news too): “After a 40% fall in 2024 in battery equipment costs, it’s clear we’re on track for another major fall in 2025…The economics for batteries are unrecognizable, & the industry is only just getting to grips with this new paradigm” www.pv-magazine.com/2025/12/12/b...
pv-magazine.com
Batteries now cheap enough to make dispatchable solar economically feasible
Energy think tank Ember says utility-scale battery costs have fallen to $65/MWh outside China and the United States, enabling solar power to be delivered when needed.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
In March, I was on an "Abundance" panel where I said that if Congressional Republicans repealed IRA credits for building clean energy at a time of skyrocketing demand, they were going to own the blame for rising energy bills. I think some people thought I was engaging in motivated reasoning. Welp!
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
We won’t have all the data for awhile yet but I’m predicting the 30C Alternative Fuel Refueling Credit is going to do way more to expand EV charging nationwide than any other program. (And could have done even more if not for arbitrary geographic restrictions imposed by Congress.)
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Reposted by Kristina Costa
Chicago Council on Global Affairs @global-affairs.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
TODAY: Tune in at 5:30 p.m. CT to hear @slashklc.bsky.social, Susty Vibes's @dzennypha.bsky.social, Creo's Kobi Weinberg, and mHUB's Elizabeth Andrews discuss global lessons in urban climate resilience and Chicago's potential as a climate refuge. 📺⤵️ brnw.ch/21wXgh1
brnw.ch
Built to Last: Creating Climate Resilient Communities
In the lead-up to COP30, Kristina Costa, Jennifer Uchendu, Kobi Weinberg, and Elizabeth Andrews discuss global lessons in urban climate resilience and Chicago's potential as a climate refuge.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
It’s almost as though these competitively awarded grants in a highly oversubscribed program were selected on the basis of merit and need, not politics or ideology. But that was in the olden times of (checks watch) less than a year ago.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
Programmatic review provides a faster permitting process, so this change will result in unnecessary delays for bringing new generation online. In the Biden admin, responsibly expanding programmatic reviews was among many unsung reforms that brought federal permit times down by ~25% from 2022-2024.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
Another day, another packet of evidence that the energy policy of this administration is a world-historic self-own that will leave the U.S. poorer and less competitive in a rapidly changing global economy.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
Two more examples for you: Hillary did a 3-day Appalachia tour during the primary, meeting with voters on energy, jobs, health care, substance abuse. Biden had a massive effort to help fossil communities attract investment. Idea that either wrote off large swathes of “red” America is so frustrating.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Senate environment Dems have held several such hearings, starting around March of this year IIRC, including on the illegal efforts to freeze competitively awarded, contracted federal funds.
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Reposted by Kristina Costa
Prof Sam Illingworth @samillingworth.com · 01/09/2025
🚗⚡ EVs win everywhere A new study shows that in every US county, electric vehicles now emit less greenhouse gas than petrol cars, no matter how you drive them. 🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/... #SciComm #EVs #ClimateAction 🧪
pubs.acs.org
Greenhouse Gas Reductions Driven by Vehicle Electrification across Powertrains, Classes, Locations, and Use Patterns
We assess the cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of current (2025) light-duty vehicles (LDV) across powertrains, vehicle classes, and locations. We create driver archetypes (commuters, occasional long-distance travelers, contractors), simulate different use patterns (drive cycles, utility factors, cargo loads) and characterize GHG emissions using an attributional approach. Driven by grid decarbonization and improved electric vehicle efficiency, we are first to report electric vehicles have lower GHG emissions than gasoline vehicles in every county across the contiguous United States. On average, a 300-mile range battery electric vehicle (BEV) has emissions which are 31–36% lower than a 50-mile range plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), 63–65% lower than a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), and 71–73% lower than an internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV). Downsizing also reduces emissions, with a compact ICEV having 34% lower emissions than an ICEV pickup. We present the first evaluation of LDV emissions while hauling cargo, showing that carrying 2500 lbs. in a pickup increases BEV emissions by 13% (134 to 152 g CO2e/mile) compared to 22% (486 to 592 g CO2e/mile) for an ICEV. Emissions maps and vehicle powertrain/class matrices highlight the interplay between vehicle classes, powertrains, locations, and use patterns, and provide insights for consumers, manufacturers, and policymakers.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
Their antipathy appears limited to the technologies that pose a near-term threat to an unnecessary gas expansion. Existing hydro has mostly already been uprated. SMR, conventional nuke, new hydro, marine kinetic energy sources will all take years to develop. Wind, solar, storage — not so much.
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Reposted by Kristina Costa
Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
Solar executives warn that Trump attack on renewables will lead to power crunch that spikes electricity prices — via @cnbc.com www.cnbc.com/2025/08/24/s...
cnbc.com
Solar executives warn that Trump attack on renewables will lead to power crunch that spikes electricity prices
Renewable power executives say difficulty getting permits, rising costs due to tariffs and the end of key tax credits are making it tough to plan.
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Reposted by Kristina Costa
Emily Johnston @enjohnston.bsky.social · 12/07/2024
Wow: “If you grow an acre of corn, it will produce 900 gallons of ethanol, which will get you about 25,000 miles for a Ford F-150...which is, not bad I guess. But let’s say we put solar on that same acre. It will produce enough electricity every year to drive my Lightning 550,000 miles.”
substack.com
Forty Acres and a Sense of Hope
Sunshine on a Cloudy Week
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Highlighting synchronous compensators is good; unfortunately Bloomberg is again repeating the fallacy that the precipitating event of the Spain blackout was solar failing. Thermal generators went down first, and then Spain’s grid regs (which can also be revised!) took solar offline as a precaution.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Link to the guidance for those who want to start their weekend with wonkery: aboutblaw.com/bjeL /🧵
aboutblaw.com
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
In short, we've once again got further headwinds for clean energy developers, with smaller and tax-exempt players hurt the most, at a time when electricity prices are rising nationwide and we should be deploying all the solar, wind, and storage we can get. 7/
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
The differentiation between 'commence construction' for wind and solar vs other 48E/45Y technologies (plus 45Q, 45V, and 48D) continues to seem on shaky legal ground to me. Not an APA lawyer, but I'd think there are some pretty clear grounds to argue these changes are arbitrary and capricious. 6/
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
And small private developers don't have the market power to out-compete the big guys to take full advantage of physical work safe harbor. If I'm right, we'll see less deployment, less diversification of clean energy resources, and (as always with this administration) higher costs. 5/
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
I'm particularly concerned about what these changes will do to rural co-ops, Tribes, and smaller developers. Co-ops and other entities were going to blend tax credits with grants. If they get tangled in permitting chaos, they may not be able to begin physical work. Tribes may struggle even more. 4/
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
The guidance eliminates the cost safe harbor (previously 5%) altogether for everything except very small ( < 1.5 MW) solar projects. This is going to create chaos for segments of the market that cannot easily meet the physical work test, raise costs even for those who can, and reduce deployment. 3/
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
It clearly undermines Congressional intent and goes against the text of the GOP bill. The law as actually passed provided a (shorter than optimal) transition period using the longstanding commence construction standard. These changes go against that, and arbitrarily shorten the transition. 2/
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Earlier today, Bloomberg published what appears to be updated 'commence construction' guidance for wind and solar projects seeking to claim tax credits under the GOP megabill. BLUF: We should take no comfort that it "could have been worse" and there is very little to celebrate. 🧵:
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Literally lighting taxpayer dollars on fire, in pursuit of ignorance.
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Reposted by Kristina Costa
Environmental Voter Project @environmentalvoter.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
"It hasn’t attracted much attention, but a document filed by the Trump administration last week admits to something important: The Trump administration believes that it is going to make gasoline more expensive for Americans." — @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social heatmap.news/politics/tru...
heatmap.news
Donald Trump’s Backdoor Gasoline Tax
Overturning the basis for America’s tailpipe emissions rules could actually raise prices at the pump — according to the Trump administration itself.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
~17,000 Tribal homes in the U.S. still do not have electricity, including many in the Southwest. Off-grid solar and storage is by far the most cost-effective way to electrify these homes. Just needlessly, recklessly, pointlessly cruel to deny Tribal families access to power and refrigeration.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
Sixth IRS commissioner in seven months unwilling to face jail time when directed to share confidential taxpayer data. Never thought I’d say this, but kudos to Billy Long. Political appointees violating federal law at other agencies should probably take a good look in the mirror.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Renewables saving the day during record heat is THE story of the summer.
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Reposted by Kristina Costa
Felix Hamer • electricfelix @electricfelix.eurosky.social · 07/08/2025
@ramez.bsky.social: "Wow. 12 GWs of natural gas plants have unplanned outages in Texas right now, more than twice the amount the grid is supposed to be able to handle. Batteries keeping the lights on as we speak."
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
The “markets should reflect the full cost” people also often conveniently tend to forget that we are not pricing the externalities of fossil production and generation.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Yesterday Real World: Boston cast member / acting NASA head Sean Duffy said he wants to build a nuclear plant... on the moon. Vogtle cost $30B without having to escape Earth's gravity. Average cost of a resi system that can bring your grandma's power bill to zero = $15-$25k Make it make sense.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
The remarkable work EPA regulations have achieved over 50 years to improve air quality and public health in the U.S. being steadily undone by climate-fueled wildfire disasters both here and in Canada.
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Reposted by Kristina Costa
kate conger @kateconger.com · 25/07/2025
Between Musk & the Trump administration, Media Matters has been squeezed to the brink. In settlement discussions, lawyers for X demanded the organization hand over all its cash and shut down — all because MM reported ads appeared on X next to antisemitic content. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/u...
nytimes.com
Under Siege From Trump and Musk, a Top Liberal Group Falls Into Crisis
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
The other Kristina Costa is a seemingly very rad baker in San Francisco and every so often I think I probably owe her an apology.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Going to staple this to the forehead of every Wall Street type who keeps claiming without evidence that this administration is interested in pursuing serious permitting reform. This is an unprecedented and unnecessary amount of new bureaucracy, all to raise transaction costs on disfavored sectors.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Major questions doctrine for thee but not for me
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Reposted by Kristina Costa
Lizzie O'Leary @lizzieohreally.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/c...
On July 5, as floodwaters were starting to recede, FEMA received 3,027 calls from disaster survivors and answered 3,018, or roughly 99.7 percent, the documents show. Contractors with four call center companies answered the vast majority of the calls.

That evening, however, Ms. Noem did not renew the contracts with the four companies and hundreds of contractors were fired, according to the documents and the person briefed on the matter.

The next day, July 6, FEMA received 2,363 calls and answered 846, or roughly 35.8 percent, according to the documents. And on Monday, July 7, the agency fielded 16,419 calls and answered 2,613, or around 15.9 percent, the documents sho
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Canary Media Inc. @canarymedia.com · 08/07/2025
As temperatures soared in New England, solar panels and batteries kept ACs flowing — and may have saved customers millions of dollars.
canarymedia.com
A heat wave hit New England's grid. Clean energy saved the day.
On the hottest day this year, behind-the-meter solar panels and a growing network of batteries helped prevent blackouts and saved consumers millions of…
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
At least we're also going to crater investment in domestic clean energy generation and manufacturing at the same time.
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Kristina Costa @slashklc.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
Particularly since we also had to do the actual work.
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