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Sophie Gilbert

@sophielgilbert.bsky.social
1.3K followers 974 following 580 posts

Scientist working to better value and incorporate nature into our decisions. Conservation, Communities, Climate, let's do this! Senior researcher at PERC (Property and Environment Research Center)

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I don’t think this gloss of my story gets it right. The permitting bill would enact the mandatory rules that Democrats say they want. The policy that Schumer is calling for in the screenshot — that data centers must pay for all of their grid upgrades — is what’s required by the new bill.
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
For those curious about what's in the Senate permitting bill (BAAJA 🌴), this breakdown of what's in the bill for non-policy-experts is a nice place to start. www.policyinnovation.org/insights/wha...
policyinnovation.org
What's in the Senate permitting bill — Environmental Policy Innovation Center
A section-by-section guide to the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, the permitting deal released September 30, 2026. Filter by energy type, reform category, bill title, or commit...
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I think getting a permitting deal passed this congress but delaying until post-midterm session, if there is an incoming Dem house majority then, is maximum leverage for getting it passed and signed into law. The new dem-majority house will bow to environmental groups and not pass it at all.
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The world's cutest rock?
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The dam removals that get the most press tend to be superlative western ones, like the Klamath and Elwha—big rivers, big fish. For @biographic.bsky.social, I wrote about some equally vital, under-the-radar projects now restoring eastern streams, one old mill dam at a time. #AlewivesAreTheNewSalmon
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Looking for your next home improvement project? Weirded out by all the headlines about a “monster” El Niño coming? Here are a bunch of home improvements that can actually help keep you safe(er). sophielgilbert.substack.com/p/the-super-...
sophielgilbert.substack.com
The Super Duper El Niño is coming. Is there anything you can do?
Yes, but nobody is talking about it
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
It’s fun watching lions on TV. It’s less fun living with them. 🧪🦁 sophielgilbert.substack.com/p/its-fun-wa...
sophielgilbert.substack.com
It’s fun watching lions on TV. It’s less fun living with them.
For some, losing a cow means a year’s worth of food for a child. If we want more wild carnivores, we need to make up for that.
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Ken Sands @kensands.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Nice story on the controversy over solar in a corner of Idaho. Nice to see the gray areas on issues instead of pretending it can be black and white. (A bit tl:dr though.) 🔌💡 www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
canarymedia.com
An Idaho county banned renewables. It’s having second thoughts.
Solar developments led county officials to ban renewables in 2024. Now, the Republican commissioner who instigated the moratorium is leading the charge to…
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Nick Frass @nickfrass.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
In my most recent essay I argue that balcony solar provides a useful model for decentralized low-power grid resources with direct application to Vehicle-to-Grid. Give it a read and consider subscribing below #energysky nickfrass.substack.com/p/balcony-so...
nickfrass.substack.com
Balcony Solar Proves Vehicle-to-Grid Can Work
A modest proposal for a cleaner future
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
This here, by the way, is one of the biggest reasons people overestimate the potential for ag soils to sequester carbon. It’s easy to build more C back in the soil (and above ground) if land is taken out of farming & restored to a natural state. It’s way harder if the land is kept in production.
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Is the world on fire, or not? Global burned area is going down, at the same time that damages from catastrophic wildfires to stuff people care about is going up. I get into it, including the 🔥🧪🌲, in long-form over here: substack.com/@sophielgilb...
substack.com
Is the world on fire, or not?
Yes and yes.
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The AI NIMBYs are here, and they don’t like solar. We need to reform how we understand and include the preferences of the public in our decision-making. www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
canarymedia.com
As Ohio grapples with fake comments on clean energy, some want…
Apparently fake public input has promoted fossil fuels and attacked clean energy in Ohio and beyond. Here’s what officials could do to try to stymie the…
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Anyone know if wild carnivores can get alpha-gal syndrome (red meat allergy) from lonestar ticks? 🧪🐺
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Fascinating idea...
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Moooooving heat from milk to water is a great idea!
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 10/08/2026
This is absolutely insane.
distilled.earth
Scoop: Amazon Is Behind One of the Largest Planned Gas Power Plants in the US
The company confirmed to Cleanview that it acquired the GW Ranch site in West Texas, where a 7.65 GW gas plant will power its first off-grid AI data center
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I type Dvorak and it is a delight. 12/10 go learn it today!
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
My hot take: Abundance thinking is for environmentalists, too. We should ask ourselves what we want more of, and how we can get it. And we should be willing to work with the Abundance movement to get there. 🧪🌲🦇👷🏡 #EnergySky #GreenSky substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Abundance thinking is for environmentalists, too
We should be asking ourselves what do we want more of and how can we get it?
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Nick Frass @nickfrass.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Is solar the Costco or Whole Foods of energy? It turns out the answer is complicated. Solar can raise or lower electricity bills depending upon how much of it is built and where. I explore these nuances in my most recent post. 🔌💡 #energysky #climatesky open.substack.com/pub/nickfras...
open.substack.com
Is Solar the Costco or Whole Foods of Energy?
How to think about the cost of renewables
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
My hot take: Abundance thinking is for environmentalists, too. We should ask ourselves what we want more of, and how we can get it. And we should be willing to work with the Abundance movement to get there. 🧪🌲🦇👷🏡 #EnergySky #GreenSky substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Abundance thinking is for environmentalists, too
We should be asking ourselves what do we want more of and how can we get it?
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
David_j_roth @davidjroth.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Got a good job down at the Data Center. I work on the line, and it's hard work but it's honest and the wage is fair; my family and I are grateful for it. I rivet the word "absolutely" onto the little apologies that chatbots do when they misunderstand a prompt.
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Ok so this lady says solar panels are getting built on "the most productive farmland" in her area. Which just ain't true at all. It ain't true here in NC either. Where I ALSO hear that talking point over & over again. Smells like astroturf! So let's get the dirt on solar farms & dirt ✨
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
How could we reform the ESA so that it not only works to displace housing from species’ habitat (which is it should work- this is the “stick”), but also incentivizes housing in non-habitat (via regulatory relief for infill, a new “carrot”). marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevo...
marginalrevolution.com
The Endangered Species Act Reduces Housing - Marginal REVOLUTION
Max Tabarrok’s paper on the Endangered Species Act and housing (WP) has just been published in the Journal of Public Economics! It’s a clever paper: Max observed that the moment an animal is put on th...
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Equating the environmental impacts of a data canter and a solar farm is just wild, like saying a grizzly bear and a cow are equally likely to maul you because they are both big and brown. Nice reporting by @jael.bsky.social for @heatmap.news. heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Lissa Harris 🌈🗑️🔥⚔️🐀 @lissaharris.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
I have made this argument on my local solar law volunteer committee farms that get subdivided to build second homes don’t go back to being farmland solar payments can help farmers keep their land
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Hermit crabs and humans are both dependent on scarce housing, and share some solutions, including “vacancy chains” and markets. Hermit crabs can’t vote for abundance policies, but people can. substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Housing for Humans and Hermit Crabs
Musings from Maine on why these coastal crustaceans would vote for Abundance
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Really good explanation of the indirect land use effects (i.e., deforestation and other ecosystem loss) related to crop-based biofuels by @mbolotnikova.bsky.social:
vox.com
This renewable energy source is actually terrible for the planet
America’s biofuels policy is helping destroy the world’s rainforests
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Being able to ride a horse or just hike through beautiful, open forests of the Sierras in California because they were kept open through prescribed burning and natural fire not being suppressed. Now it would be a miserable bush-wack.
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Jim Kane @kanejim.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Wherein private equity closed-end funds discover something called physical risk.
bloomberg.com
Private Equity Turns to Heat Detectives as Climate Risks Intensify
For decades, investment models at the largest private equity funds relied on assumptions of relatively stable weather patterns. Now frequent extreme events are creating new threats for their portfolio...
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
ESA Journals @esajournals.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Wildfire is once again making headlines across the western US and southern Europe. What have we learned from 20 years of the Fire and Fire Surrogates study? Explore this "Ecological Applications" Special Feature, spanning studies of the long-term impacts of forest management: tinyurl.com/46zt776y
Special Feature: Long-term ecological effects of forest fuel and restoration treatments. Ecological Applications, Ecological Society of America
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Interesting call for papers on eco-voltaics: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/... #energysky 🧪🦇🐝🪺🌻
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
WHO'S INTERMITTENT NOW???
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
An environmental group that’s explicitly helping build clean energy as a core part of their mission? Yep. It’s Audubon, and they’re 50% of the way to helping build 100 GW. I spoke with a leader there yesterday, and they are for reals. More here: sophielgilbert.substack.com/p/more-egret... #energysky
sophielgilbert.substack.com
More Egrets, More Energy
How one of the nation’s oldest conservation groups is actively helping build energy and transmission infrastructure, and what they could do next
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Conservation/environmental groups are helping build clean energy. Audubon is a real leader here- one of their 4 long-term goals is to support the buildout of clean energy, and they report on annual progress, in GW! sophielgilbert.substack.com/p/more-egret...
sophielgilbert.substack.com
More Egrets, More Energy
How one of the nation’s oldest conservation groups is actively helping build energy and transmission infrastructure, and what they could do next
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Lissa Harris 🌈🗑️🔥⚔️🐀 @lissaharris.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
they should call them cheat pumps they’re stealing heat from outdoors to pump up their numbers
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Just Kevin @kevinleecaster.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Medford Irrigation District reservoir in Southern Oregon now hosts more than 1,700 solar panels mounted on floating platforms. It will only power about 60 homes, but it should save 1.5 million gallons of water annually! #EnergySky
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Help! Trying to find a good attempt at re-constructing how many people-hours per year were spent on ecosystem management/stewardship by indigenous/tribal folks before colonization in N. America? Obviously a hard thing to estimate, but has anyone tried? 🧪
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
!!!!!
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Incentives matter for conservation, and in this case, captive breeding created gecko abundance and affordability for EU pet owners (price dropped from $1500 to $40!), easing pressure on wild populations. 🧪🦎 news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-...
news.mongabay.com
How trade bans and local conservation helped save a dazzling blue gecko
Beauty is a curse — at least for the turquoise dwarf gecko of central Tanzania. Between December 2004 and July 2009, demand for this gecko from collectors in Europe boomed, leading to the capture and ...
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Good news on mangroves! They are awesome, protecting coasts from storm damage, and ppl took notice (i.e., their ecosystem service is an incentive to locals to stop cutting >> benefits from cutting them down to do fish farming), and once we stop the chop, they recover. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Mangrove forests are healing after decades of human destruction
Swampy mangrove forests are staging a surprise comeback - which is good news for coastal communities and the climate.
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
I quit my tenured professor job in 2022. Change makes us deeply uncomfortable, which is why it mostly happens when it’s the only acceptable option. I’m sharing my own change journey over the last 5 years, now with the benefit of hindsight. sophielgilbert.substack.com/p/on-a-quest...
sophielgilbert.substack.com
Change happens when it's the only acceptable option
How my journey from wildlife ecologist to climate bro and back again forced me to change, and even made me like it.
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Communications Sustainability @commssustain.nature.com · 26/05/2026
▶️AI‑generated #climate #disaster images look persuasive but don’t boost climate action. Across 3 experiments, they raised emotions but also reactance, lower trust, and reduced willingness to act when people suspected the images were AI‑made. 🧪https://www.nature.com/articles/s44458-026-00092-0
nature.com
Realistic AI-generated climate disaster images decrease support for climate action when artificial origin is suspected - Communications Sustainability
Support for climate action decreases when highly realistic disaster images are suspected to be generated by artificial intelligence, as shown by three large experiments testing emotional and resistanc...
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
This is my first time reviewing a paper where the authors are english-as-a-second-language and say they edited with ChatGPT, and the resulting writing is technically correct but absolutely exhausting to read and comprehend, far beyond the average...are others experiencing this? 🧪
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Kids are rad, because they are tiny people (minus the inhibitions and prejudices, and plus some wild creativity), oh and people are rad too.
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
One year preprint ban for failing to capitalize on an obvious pun opportunity.... still insufficient punishment?!
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Cool math trick: $0*2 = $0, so he's right.
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Maybe we should just do this instead of 30x30 Old Skool protection?
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Is the looooong mullet the human equivalent of a beaver's tail?? www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDtq...
youtube.com
Beavers
YouTube video by Jesse Welles
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Sophie Gilbert @sophielgilbert.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Coal is dirty, and it makes solar less effective, especially if located close together. Aerosols (which include more stuff than coal) reduced solar energy production by almost 6% in 2023!
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Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 15/05/2026
Grid-scale batteries are going in an absolutely wild pace. Every whingey objection to renewables you've ever heard is basically solved by batteries. This is happening whether any of the hopeless dipshits running the US want it or not.
canarymedia.com
The world is installing grid batteries at a blistering pace
A total of 112 gigawatts of batteries were deployed around the world in 2025 — 10 times the amount added just four years prior.
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