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Stephen Leahy

@stephenleahy.bsky.social
8K followers 1.1K following 1.8K posts

Author & Enviro Jurno +25 years | SEAL Award for Enviro Journalism; UN Global Prize for Climate Reporting, etc 3000+ articles @ The Guardian; Nat Geo; Vice; New Scientist; IPS; etc Substack: leahy.substack.com authory.com/StephenLeahy

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Reposted by Stephen Leahy
Jeffrey Vagle @jvagle.me · 18h
My man looks like his next words are "Just sign these financing papers and you can take this bitchin' jet ski home today."
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Canadian Geographic @cangeo.bsky.social · 18h
Share the actions you’re taking, whether that means making your home more energy efficient, buying second-hand, eating more plant-rich foods or finding other ways to live more sustainably. All Canadian households can enter. 💰 You could win up to $5,000! 👉 Learn more: bit.ly/4d8haqL
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Extreme Temperatures Around the World @extremetemps.bsky.social · 18h
EXTRAORDINARY HEAT IN CHINA 40 DEGREES China is living one of its most extraordinary heat waves in history with hundreds of records smashed in the past days. Today 39.4C Yuangjiang,Yunnan Province Monthly record. 37 more October records (18 Tmax+19 Tmins). Deadly heat will go on
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Emily Sanders @emdashsanders.bsky.social · 18h
A glimpse into the stakes of Monday's SCOTUS arguments in Suncor v Boulder for just one community: Colorado ranchers, whose livelihoods have been wrecked by fires & drought. Ranchers depend on local govt services -- unless govts can recover climate costs, they say they may not be able to continue
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Investigative Journalism Foundation @theijf.org · 01/10/2026
Vancouver’s airport said in 2016 that privatization would be an “irreversible mistake.” Now, that’s exactly what the federal government plans to do for YVR and Canada’s other three largest airports. zurl.co/bmDkw
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 19h
Today's jobs report is a reminder that tax cuts for corporations and the rich don’t create jobs or grow the economy. What's required is investment in working people — and better wages. When workers have money to spend, the economy grows and businesses create more jobs. Remember this.
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Climatologist49 @climatologist49.bsky.social · 19h
September 2026 was the second warmest September on record globally according to ERA5 reanalysis. As @khaustein.bsky.social noted yesterday, a cool September in Antarctica kept this September from breaking the record set in 2023.
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Stephen Leahy @stephenleahy.bsky.social · 18h
Important read not just for Canadians -- the power of community finance "With the right tools, Canadians will invest in local projects that make the country more resilient" corporateknights.com/perspectives...
corporateknights.com
We put our elbows up so that we can lock arms | Corporate Knights
Canada can’t outmuscle the U.S., but with the right tools, Canadians will invest in local projects that make the country more resilient
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Stephen Leahy @stephenleahy.bsky.social · 20h
EVs 9X cheaper to operate Driving an electric vehicle is now up to nine times cheaper in the United Kingdom than driving a petrol- or diesel-powered vehicle www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-evs...
carbonbrief.org
Analysis: EVs are now nine times cheaper than petrol or diesel to drive in the UK  - Carbon Brief
The latest surge in fossil-fuel prices means it is now up to nine times cheaper in the UK to drive an electric vehicle (EV) than a petrol or diesel car, shows Carbon Brief analysis.
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David Weiskopf believes in you @dave.bzky.team · 20h
Trump and GOP MOC just raised your bills by $6500. @energyinnovation.org did the math. Read more here:
apnews.com
Households will pay more for energy because of Trump's policy changes, think tank says
Households in the contiguous United States will pay thousands of dollars more for energy through 2040 because of federal policy changes since President Donald Trump returned to office.
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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 20h
@willsommer.bsky.social got his hands on the Daily Wire’s secret pro-ICE movie script, which takes a Renee Good-style killing, rewrites the facts to justify it, and turns the victim into a sneering left-wing caricature.
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Stephen Leahy @stephenleahy.bsky.social · 20h
Our choice is between “deep, rapid, and fair decarbonization of modern society”, or more talk and delay leading to a “revolutionary style change that will be both chaotic and violent,”
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Stephen Leahy @stephenleahy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Billionaires are funding climate-denying misinformation. “They do it because they don’t want people to act collectively; they want people to feel powerless,” said one of 1,250 invitation-only attendees leahy.substack.com/p/an-uncomfo...
leahy.substack.com
An uncomfortable look at where we are headed--and what can be done
Highlights from the UK’s National Emergency Briefing
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The Economist @economist.com · 01/10/2026
“It is no coincidence that authoritarians the world over have targeted mayors,” writes the broadcaster. In a guest essay, he explains why populists run into a brick wall when they try to capture local government bit.ly/4dNIivl Illustration: Dan Williams
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
J.D. Vance has been a breathless supporter of Neo-Nazis at home and abroad, promoting their fascist ideas and ideology to a jaw-dropping degree. But he has the fucking nerve to say someone tied to *socialists* doesn't belong in America. *You* are the un-American ideologue, you goose-stepping dork.
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The Economist @economist.com · 29/09/2026
His government’s own figures show the cost of electricity from onshore wind and solar over their lifetime is now lower than that of natural gas. Yet Donald Trump is unconvinced
bit.ly
Donald Trump’s least favourite thing
The president’s disdain for wind is not killing it, yet
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Ali Grotkowski @alikira.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I really enjoyed the talk by @doctorow.pluralistic.net in Edmonton supporting the Edmonton Public Library. I only wish I could be more optimistic about the direction the world were going.
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InfoWars @realinfowars.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Your son's playdates are LOST CAPITAL. Listen to Jay Weingarten, a man very comfortable around information.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 29/09/2026
Jack Smith: "History teaches that the rule of law is rarely destroyed all at once. It's often weakened by attacks on the institutions and the public servants sworn to uphold it. Since January 2025, we have witnessed precisely such an effort."
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
If you love words, read this.
thewalrus.ca
Wild Buffalo Make a Comeback on the Canadian Plains | The Walrus
Herds are returning to lands they haven’t roamed in generations
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Trump continues to steal your money to pay for political ads while media companies continue to be co-conspirators to a crime by accepting the stolen funds.
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The Real News Network @therealnews.com · 28/09/2026
ICE agents terrorized this suburban neighborhood in Frederick, Maryland, and beat peaceful protestors while local cops just watched. @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social speaks with an eyewitness who saw and filmed everything.
therealnews.com
'Like the Gestapo': ICE brings terror and violence to Maryland
ICE agents terrorized this suburban neighborhood in Frederick, Maryland, and beat peaceful protestors while local cops just watched. We speak with an eyewitness who saw and filmed everything.
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Jezebel @jezebeldotcom.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"Instagram decided to block my post from getting in front of the right people. Tut tut tut. Oh dear. That doesn’t look great does it?" Pugh wrote www.jezebel.com/florence-pug...
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Read Settlers da Silva @cyberstalin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
its not simply about boycotting meta. one company has made their products indispensable for communication in the modern world. they blocked lulas electoral ads the week before the election. theyre trying to sway public opinion against the victim of a gangrape. states need to intervene.
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Truthout @truthout.org · 28/09/2026
A small group of formerly incarcerated women have won a major lawsuit against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice after a federal judge ruled that the state must air-condition all Texas prisons by the end of 2029.
truthout.org
Formerly Incarcerated Women Sued to Get Air Conditioning in TX Prisons — and Won
Many people in prison have physical conditions that make them more susceptible to extreme heat.
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The Weather Network @weathernetwork.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
New peer-reviewed research published in Atmospheric Pollution Research shows that Fort Mckay faces disproportionately high levels of dust pollution, with levels frequently exceeding regulatory guidelines for air quality. ow.ly/ZHwE50ZSjTB
ow.ly
Severe dust pollution blowing into Alberta community downwind of the oilsands, study warns - The Weather Network
A new study warns that continuing to rely on standard air monitoring measures will leave the true impact of dustfall pollution on Fort McKay — and other communities downwind of intensive resource development — uncertain.
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Stephen Leahy @stephenleahy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Just one of the many health violations from tar sands operations over decades of poor enforcement
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tomwellborn3rd @wellborn.net · 28/09/2026
AOC's point lands harder than the usual slogan: a privatized detention system with quarterly profits to hit will always need more bodies to fill beds, and the members funding it are invested in the stocks that profit from it. That's not law enforcement; that's a feeding ground.
dailykos.com
Watch AOC break down why ICE ‘should not exist’
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared at the More Perfect University’s fourth “Students vs. Billionaires” town hall, where she discussed the need to abolish the wasteful…
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Stephen Leahy @stephenleahy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Still no Atlantic hurricanes -- latest ever However, in the North Pacific a whopping 19 hurricanes (typhoons) and counting. Here's why leahy.substack.com/p/el-nino-hu...
leahy.substack.com
El Niño: Hurricane Destroyer and Typhoon Maker
The Pacific in midst of record typhoon season
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Stephen Leahy @stephenleahy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"Great concentrations of wealth and power tend to be built through morally odious if not outright illegal means, and being able to whitewash that reality is a perpetual interest of the powerful, just as exposing it is a perpetual interest of the press."
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 27/09/2026
"Authoritarian, conservative, and reactionary networks have been among the principal drivers of the surge in distrust, conspiracism, and anti-scientific sentiment." Yes: contemporary polarization is driven by a deliberate campaign to destroy trust in core institutions & epistemic standards.
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Stephen Leahy @stephenleahy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
obviously illegal
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Extreme Temperatures Around the World @extremetemps.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Europe is living its most extreme heat event in its history with 6 days >40C at the end of September 41,3C yesterday at Seville Thousands of stations up to 5C above their late September records 4000+ stations in Western,Central and Northern Europe will break records next days.
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Jeff Berardelli @weatherprof.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
That means there’s still 2 months left of intensification in the 2026 event. And all meteorological signs show it will continue. It’s headed past the record, and to heights we’d never imagined it could reach. #elniño #elnino
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The techbros don't want you to see this trailer. Pass it on.
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Cyclone Tracking @cyclonetracking.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Within 24 hours, Hurricane #Polo is expected to make landfall in Baja California Sur, potentially delivering MAJOR IMPACTS. Once the system reaching Arizona and New Mexico, the system could deliver MAJOR IMPACTS in the form of flooding. Will have a stream up later this evening #hurricane
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Brooke Harrington @ebharrington.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The image of deceased writer Maya Angelou is now an advertising puppet for a theft-based product: This will be played off as "a regrettable error in judgment," instead of what it actually is--a vivid and accurate representation of all that is wrong with AI, from theft to obliteration of consent.
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A 5,000 year-old arrow has emerged from melting mountain ice in Norway, offering a glimpse into prehistoric hunting in the high mountains 🏹❄️ archaeologymag.com/2026/09/5000...
archaeologymag.com
5,000-year-old arrow emerges as Norway’s melting mountain ice reveals older archaeological finds | Archaeology News Online Magazine
A 5,000-year-old arrow is among 48 prehistoric finds recovered as melting ice reveals older archaeology in Norway’s Jotunheimen mountains.
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Climatologist49 @climatologist49.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Month-to-date temperature departure for the Contiguous U.S. Still on track for the warmest September on record (+3.0F in 1998). 🔥
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In Otter News @in-otter-news.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
After a long day at the aquarium, the otters help tidy their toys away. Payment is made promptly and entirely in ice cubes.
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Jonathan Koomey @jgkoomey.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
No forgiveness for this nonsense. Investigate. Prosecute, Arrest. Try. And if convicted, imprison these fascists.
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Chris Conaton @conatonc.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
A familiar story for anyone who follows @volts.wtf. “The Chronicle spoke to more than half a dozen grid experts…to try to understand why Texas’s notoriously unreliable grid had a remarkably reliable summer. The answer was unanimous: solar panels and batteries.”
houstonchronicle.com
Texas shattered energy demand records this summer. Here's why the grid held up.
Texas repeatedly broke electricity demand records this summer, but ERCOT avoided emergencies as booming solar and battery capacity helped keep the grid stable.
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Jorie Graham @joriegraham.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Watch NAZA as soon as you can. x.com/mosababutoha...
x.com
Mosab Abu Toha (@MosabAbuToha) on X
An israeli telegram channel posted this new photo from the Bani Suheila area, east of Khan Yunis.
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Luke LeBrun @lukelebrun.ca · 26/09/2026
Today, on Ottawa’s 200th birthday, I reflect on our city’s proud heritage
WHISKEY AND WICKEDNESS
A BASTION OF TAVERNS AND BROTHELS

From the earliest days of Bytown, Lowertown had been a bustling row of taverns, inns, and brothels.
These trades catered well to the largely seasonal workforce of lumbermen and navies in Bytown.
Every spring, having spent several cold months in the woods, hundreds of lumberjacks would arrive in Bytown with half a year's wages in their pockets and eager for the diversions that Bytown had to offer.
As early as 1832, Bytown had nine licensed drinking establishments and countless illegal operations, many selling raw white whiskey known as poitín. This number ballooned to over 70 taverns and inns by 1852. Taverns such as Isaac Bérichon's City Hotel operated in Lowertown. Richmond Landing, just west of modern-day Parliament Hill, and Corktown near the canal, were home to more colourful establishments like Mother Firth's Inn. Many workers drank a gallon of whiskey a week. The streets were often filled with drunkenness, dancing, and fighting. Violence was commonplace.
In Corktown, Irish workers frequented Mother McGinty's tavern. Like Mother Firth, Mother McGinty was known as a formidable matron who could more than hold her own against unruly patrons. Said to have been armed with a winning smile and backed by an arm that she was reputed to swing with great potency, Mother McGinty ensured that the beer, rum, and poitín flowed freely. McGinty, who catered to often cash-poor labourers, kept track of her patrons' tallies on a chalkboard behind the bar; a short stroke for a half-pint, a full stroke for a quart, and an eagle's talon for a gallon!
ALCOOL ET AGRESSIVITÉ
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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Cyclists vs REM
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tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
As the diesel shortage worsens and a Super El Niño threatens worldwide weather anomalies, a growing crisis may lie ahead. My new essay explores what that might mean for the food supply. https://tomjohnsonwriter.substack.com/p/839?r=buanz&utm_medium=ios
tomjohnsonwriter.substack.com
$8.39
The fuel most of us never buy—and all of us use
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andybrwn @andybrwn.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026
El Niño threatens the beloved Pacific Surfliner. Can the iconic train survive the winter? www.latimes.com/california/story/20…
latimes.com
El Niño threatens the beloved Pacific Surfliner. Can the iconic train survive the winter?
A section of railway in San Clemente, as well as other portions in coastal Orange County, have repeatedly shut down for landslides, coastal erosion and rockfalls. Another stormy winter is coming.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 26/09/2026
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “The solution to the whole ever-expanding A.I. terror starts with remembering the lessons of the 2008 crisis: No company should be too big to fail,” Bethany McLean writes in a guest essay.
nyti.ms
Opinion | What Happens if the A.I. Bubble Bursts
It’s as though 2008 never even happened.
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Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
But for good measure: “Air pollution from gas-fired power plants to run data centers is expected to add at least $20 billion in annual health care costs by 2028.”
nytimes.com
A.I. Boom Poses Growing Public Health Threat, Former E.P.A. Officials Warn
Air pollution from gas-fired power plants to run data centers is expected to add at least $20 billion in annual health care costs by 2028, the group warns.
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Dr. Jonathan Foley @globalecoguy.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Did you know that producing one pound of beef is 25-50x worse for climate change than burning a pound of coal? In fact, it’s one of the most polluting things we can consume. And grass-fed beef is usually *even worse* — thanks to its much higher land use and methane emissions.
Bar chart showing greenhouse gas emissions for different food items. Beef is the worst, by far.
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