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@lizpayton.bsky.social

152 Followers  |  754 Following  |  2 Posts  |  Joined: 21.11.2024
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DO NOT LET ANY MEMBER OF CONGRESS WALK AROUND THINKING THEIR CONSTITUENTS DON’T CARE

28.02.2026 13:16 — 👍 1205    🔁 550    💬 2    📌 9
Post image 25.02.2026 20:27 — 👍 3    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

I have devoted much of my weather & climate career to engaging with journalists--including 200-300 news media interviews per year, many of which involve recurring conversations to facilitate timely & contextually accurate coverage. This recent collapse has been stunning and deeply disconcerting.

22.02.2026 20:56 — 👍 277    🔁 90    💬 10    📌 3

This needs to happen.

22.02.2026 16:18 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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The most disturbing part is knowing ICE left a little girl alone and didn’t care.

Annabella was six years old when her dad was detained by ICE while he was picking up their food order. She stayed inside, waiting.

He never returned to her that day.

1/2

22.02.2026 15:11 — 👍 8968    🔁 4513    💬 482    📌 353

"Not evil in some movie sense. Silent partners in a real world sense." well damn

21.02.2026 15:08 — 👍 546    🔁 183    💬 14    📌 5
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Growing evidence points to link between autism and wildfire smoke Two new studies have identified an alarming connection between exposure to wildfire smoke during pregnancy and autism in young children.

Exposure to air pollution from fossil fuels and wildfire smoke is extremely harmful to health, especially for pregnant women and their babies.

@docsforclimate.bsky.social
@gchalliance.bsky.social
@momscleanairforce.org
@fossilfueltreaty.bsky.social
@climate4health.bsky.social

12.02.2026 17:05 — 👍 8    🔁 4    💬 0    📌 1
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How does this year compare to the snow droughts of the past? - Colorado Climate Blog Colorado’s mountain snowpack is in bad shape this year. It’s been extremely warm, and snowstorms have been few and far between. Based on data from the SNOTEL network, the amount of water stored in the...

The mountain snowpack so far this winter is in bad shape. Long-time Coloradans might remember two other terrible winters for snow: 1976-77 and 1980-81. Our latest blog post takes a look at how this year compares to those snow droughts of the past. #cowx

09.02.2026 16:07 — 👍 41    🔁 20    💬 0    📌 3
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209. The Modern Emergency Docket Turns Ten The February 2016 rulings blocking the Clean Power Plan were unprecedented; in retrospect, they were harbingers of a paradigm shift in the Supreme Court's role.

Ten years ago today, #SCOTUS issued five unsigned and unexplained 5-4 rulings granting emergency applications to block President Obama’s Clean Power Plan—a completely unprecedented move that helped to usher in the Court’s modern … (mis)adventures … with its shadow docket.

Me in today’s “One First”:

09.02.2026 12:33 — 👍 1873    🔁 649    💬 30    📌 21
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China's decarbonizing its transport sector WAY FASTER than the US.

06.02.2026 14:29 — 👍 152    🔁 49    💬 6    📌 3
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Data-driven climate action in America can make up for the Trump slump How smarter prioritization of straightforward voluntary actions can slash 20% of global carbon emissions

Climate leadership will not come from the White House or Congress right now. Now it's up to us.

Here, Gavin McCormick from WattTime and I discuss how we can use Big Data — through ClimateTRACE & Drawdown Explorer — to make climate actions far more impactful.

drawdown.org/insights/dat...

05.02.2026 15:34 — 👍 32    🔁 12    💬 0    📌 0

This survey may be poorly sampled, but it is too important to leave to the insurance companies. We need a national/global conversation to rethink our current risk/insurance paradigms. Attempts to privatize climate risks bail out the industry at the expense of homeowners. 360info.org/burned-out-h...

05.02.2026 15:42 — 👍 9    🔁 3    💬 1    📌 1
Research Technician III, Tree Ring Laboratory Duties and Responsibilities:Assisting with the meticulous preparation of samples for radiocarbon analysis following established protocols. This includ...

We're hiring a full-time technician to support radiocarbon analyses. If you have some experience with analytical instruments and background in chemistry, earth sciences, archaeology, and/or ecology, this could be the job for you! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

05.02.2026 14:40 — 👍 23    🔁 27    💬 0    📌 1

What a surprise. knock me down with a feather.

04.02.2026 18:59 — 👍 21    🔁 7    💬 0    📌 1
"On December 2, 1783, then-Commander-in-Chief George Washington penned: “America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions.”1
 More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington’s vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a (TPS statute). It provides humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. It also brings in substantial revenue, with TPS holders generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually. See Part VI.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has a different take. [screenshot of tweet].

"On December 2, 1783, then-Commander-in-Chief George Washington penned: “America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions.”1 More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington’s vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a (TPS statute). It provides humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. It also brings in substantial revenue, with TPS holders generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually. See Part VI. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has a different take. [screenshot of tweet].

So says the official responsible for overseeing the TPS program. And one of those (her word) “damn” countries is Haiti. Relevant here, three days before making the above post, Secretary Noem announced she would terminate Haiti’s TPS designation as of February 3, 2026. See 90
Fed. Reg. 54733 (Nov. 28, 2025) (Termination).

Plaintiffs are five Haitian TPS holders. They are not, it emerges, “killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies.” They are instead: Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer’s disease, Dkt. 90 (Second Am. Compl. (SAC)) ¶ 1; Rudolph Civil, a software engineer at a national bank, id. ¶ 2; Marlene Gail Noble, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department, id. ¶ 3; Marica Merline Laguerre, a college economics major, id. ¶ 4; and Vilbrun Dorsainvil, a full-time registered nurse, id. ¶ 5. They claim that Secretary Noem’s decision violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706(2), and the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Government counters that the Court does not have jurisdiction, and, in any case, the Secretary did not violate the law.

Plaintiffs seek to stay the Secretary’s decision under 5 U.S.C. § 705 pending the outcome of this litigation. See Dkt. 81 (§ 705 Mot.). To decide their motion, the Court considers first whether it has  jurisdiction. It does. See Part II. It then considers: whether Plaintiffs have a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; whether they will be irreparably harmed absent a stay; and whether a merged balance of the equities and public interest analysis favors a stay. See Part III. Each element favors Plaintiffs. See Parts IV, V, and VI.

Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. This seems substantially likely. Secretary Noem

So says the official responsible for overseeing the TPS program. And one of those (her word) “damn” countries is Haiti. Relevant here, three days before making the above post, Secretary Noem announced she would terminate Haiti’s TPS designation as of February 3, 2026. See 90 Fed. Reg. 54733 (Nov. 28, 2025) (Termination). Plaintiffs are five Haitian TPS holders. They are not, it emerges, “killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies.” They are instead: Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer’s disease, Dkt. 90 (Second Am. Compl. (SAC)) ¶ 1; Rudolph Civil, a software engineer at a national bank, id. ¶ 2; Marlene Gail Noble, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department, id. ¶ 3; Marica Merline Laguerre, a college economics major, id. ¶ 4; and Vilbrun Dorsainvil, a full-time registered nurse, id. ¶ 5. They claim that Secretary Noem’s decision violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706(2), and the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Government counters that the Court does not have jurisdiction, and, in any case, the Secretary did not violate the law. Plaintiffs seek to stay the Secretary’s decision under 5 U.S.C. § 705 pending the outcome of this litigation. See Dkt. 81 (§ 705 Mot.). To decide their motion, the Court considers first whether it has jurisdiction. It does. See Part II. It then considers: whether Plaintiffs have a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; whether they will be irreparably harmed absent a stay; and whether a merged balance of the equities and public interest analysis favors a stay. See Part III. Each element favors Plaintiffs. See Parts IV, V, and VI. Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. This seems substantially likely. Secretary Noem

has terminated every TPS country designation to have reached her desk—twelve countries up,
twelve countries down. See Section IV.A.2. Her conclusion that Haiti (a majority nonwhite
country) faces merely “concerning” conditions cannot be squared with the “perfect storm of
suffering” and “staggering” “humanitarian toll” described in page-after-page of the Certified
Administrative Record (CAR). See Section IV.A.3.a. She ignored Congress’s requirement that
she “review the conditions” in Haiti only “after” consulting “with appropriate agencies.” 8
U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(3)(A); see Section IV.A.1. Indeed, she did not consult other agencies at all.
See id. Her “national interest” analysis focuses on Haitians outside the United States or here
illegally, ignoring that Haitian TPS holders already live here, and legally so. See Section
IV.A.3.b. And though she states that the analysis must include “economic considerations,” she
ignores altogether the billions Haitian TPS holders contribute to the economy. See id.
The Government’s primary response is that the TPS statute gives the Secretary
unbounded discretion to make whatever determination she wants, any way she wants. And, yes,
the statute does grant her some discretion. But not unbounded discretion. To the contrary,
Congress passed the TPS statute to standardize the then ad hoc temporary protection system—to
replace executive whim with statutory predictability. See Section I.A.
As to irreparable harm, the Government contends that, at most, the harms to Haitian TPS
holders are speculative. But the Department of State (State) warns [screenshot]

has terminated every TPS country designation to have reached her desk—twelve countries up, twelve countries down. See Section IV.A.2. Her conclusion that Haiti (a majority nonwhite country) faces merely “concerning” conditions cannot be squared with the “perfect storm of suffering” and “staggering” “humanitarian toll” described in page-after-page of the Certified Administrative Record (CAR). See Section IV.A.3.a. She ignored Congress’s requirement that she “review the conditions” in Haiti only “after” consulting “with appropriate agencies.” 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(3)(A); see Section IV.A.1. Indeed, she did not consult other agencies at all. See id. Her “national interest” analysis focuses on Haitians outside the United States or here illegally, ignoring that Haitian TPS holders already live here, and legally so. See Section IV.A.3.b. And though she states that the analysis must include “economic considerations,” she ignores altogether the billions Haitian TPS holders contribute to the economy. See id. The Government’s primary response is that the TPS statute gives the Secretary unbounded discretion to make whatever determination she wants, any way she wants. And, yes, the statute does grant her some discretion. But not unbounded discretion. To the contrary, Congress passed the TPS statute to standardize the then ad hoc temporary protection system—to replace executive whim with statutory predictability. See Section I.A. As to irreparable harm, the Government contends that, at most, the harms to Haitian TPS holders are speculative. But the Department of State (State) warns [screenshot]

Dkt. 100 (§ 705 Reply) at 20–21.4 “Do not travel to Haiti for any reason” does not exactly
scream, as Secretary Noem concluded, suitable for return. And so, the Government studiously
does not argue that Plaintiffs will suffer no harm if removed to Haiti. Instead, it argues Plaintiffs
will not certainly suffer irreparable harm because DHS might not remove them. But this fails to
take Secretary Noem at her word: “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” See Section
IV.B.2.b.
Finally, the balance of equities and public interest favor a stay. The Government does not
cite any reason termination must occur post haste. Secretary Noem complains of strains
unlawful immigrants place on our immigration-enforcement system. Her answer? Turn 352,959
lawful immigrants into unlawful immigrants overnight. She complains of strains to our
economy. Her answer? Turn employed lawful immigrants who contribute billions in taxes into
the legally unemployable. She complains of strains to our healthcare system. Her answer? Turn
the insured into the uninsured. This approach is many things—in the public interest is not one of
them.
For the reasons below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion for a Stay Under
5 U.S.C. § 705, Dkt. 81.

Dkt. 100 (§ 705 Reply) at 20–21.4 “Do not travel to Haiti for any reason” does not exactly scream, as Secretary Noem concluded, suitable for return. And so, the Government studiously does not argue that Plaintiffs will suffer no harm if removed to Haiti. Instead, it argues Plaintiffs will not certainly suffer irreparable harm because DHS might not remove them. But this fails to take Secretary Noem at her word: “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” See Section IV.B.2.b. Finally, the balance of equities and public interest favor a stay. The Government does not cite any reason termination must occur post haste. Secretary Noem complains of strains unlawful immigrants place on our immigration-enforcement system. Her answer? Turn 352,959 lawful immigrants into unlawful immigrants overnight. She complains of strains to our economy. Her answer? Turn employed lawful immigrants who contribute billions in taxes into the legally unemployable. She complains of strains to our healthcare system. Her answer? Turn the insured into the uninsured. This approach is many things—in the public interest is not one of them. For the reasons below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion for a Stay Under 5 U.S.C. § 705, Dkt. 81.

Even if you don't have time to read all 83 pages of Judge Reyes's opinion barring the Trump administration from rescinding Temporary Protected Status for 350,000+ Haitians, please at least check out the four-page introduction.

It's a tour de force:

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

03.02.2026 01:06 — 👍 4490    🔁 1749    💬 143    📌 151
“Unconscionable,” Jon thought as he found an email address online for the lead prosecutor, Joseph Dernbach, who was named in the story. Peering through metal-rimmed glasses, Jon opened Gmail on his computer monitor.

“Mr. Dernbach, don’t play Russian roulette with H’s life,” he wrote. “Err on the side of caution. There’s a reason the US government along with many other governments don’t recognise the Taliban. Apply principles of common sense and decency.”

That was it. In five minutes, Jon said, he finished the note, signed his first and last name, pressed send and hoped his plea would make a difference.

Five hours and one minute later, Jon was watching TV with his wife when an email popped up in his inbox. He noticed it on his phone.

“Google,” the message read, “has received legal process from a Law Enforcement authority compelling the release of information related to your Google Account.”

“Unconscionable,” Jon thought as he found an email address online for the lead prosecutor, Joseph Dernbach, who was named in the story. Peering through metal-rimmed glasses, Jon opened Gmail on his computer monitor. “Mr. Dernbach, don’t play Russian roulette with H’s life,” he wrote. “Err on the side of caution. There’s a reason the US government along with many other governments don’t recognise the Taliban. Apply principles of common sense and decency.” That was it. In five minutes, Jon said, he finished the note, signed his first and last name, pressed send and hoped his plea would make a difference. Five hours and one minute later, Jon was watching TV with his wife when an email popped up in his inbox. He noticed it on his phone. “Google,” the message read, “has received legal process from a Law Enforcement authority compelling the release of information related to your Google Account.”

A retiree wrote this email to a DHS attorney. Within five hours, DHS demanded Google turn over records for his account.

A Kafkaesque form of domestic surveillance, intimidating Americans for lawful speech.

New from us at the Post: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio... @johnwoodrowcox.bsky.social

03.02.2026 15:15 — 👍 2757    🔁 1298    💬 44    📌 72
(around an image of a masked ICE agent holding a gun) Republicans "One Big Beautiful Bill' nearly tripled funding for ICE. That money came from your benefits:

paid for by cuts to reproductive health care

paid for by cuts to Medicare & Medicaid

paid for by cuts to SNAP

paid for by cuts to clean energy projects

paid for by cuts to obesity prevention

paid for by cuts to disaster response

paid for by cuts to energy tax credits

(around an image of a masked ICE agent holding a gun) Republicans "One Big Beautiful Bill' nearly tripled funding for ICE. That money came from your benefits: paid for by cuts to reproductive health care paid for by cuts to Medicare & Medicaid paid for by cuts to SNAP paid for by cuts to clean energy projects paid for by cuts to obesity prevention paid for by cuts to disaster response paid for by cuts to energy tax credits

31.01.2026 02:11 — 👍 1757    🔁 975    💬 34    📌 30
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Trump's economic numbers are the worst of any President since 1960.

h/t @matthewstoller.bsky.social

01.02.2026 16:35 — 👍 445    🔁 194    💬 19    📌 8
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Peaceful protests are working. The resilience of people in Minnesota is putting Republicans on the defensive. Join us tomorrow to make your voice heard and help stop the murder: Sign up at www.mobilize.us/indivisible/....

30.01.2026 23:28 — 👍 5    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

A standing reminder: a small handful of Republicans in Congress could stop this chaos tomorrow. They simply choose not to.

21.01.2026 14:29 — 👍 497    🔁 153    💬 15    📌 11
Professional portrait of atmospheric scientist Susan Solomon. She has short, tousled gray hair, wears large round dark-framed glasses, and is smiling gently. She is dressed in a textured navy-blue blazer over a black top, with a bright multicolored floral/paisley scarf tied at the neck. Her arms are crossed confidently in front of her chest. She wears a silver watch on her left wrist. The background shows a softly blurred indoor space with warm architectural tones.

Professional portrait of atmospheric scientist Susan Solomon. She has short, tousled gray hair, wears large round dark-framed glasses, and is smiling gently. She is dressed in a textured navy-blue blazer over a black top, with a bright multicolored floral/paisley scarf tied at the neck. Her arms are crossed confidently in front of her chest. She wears a silver watch on her left wrist. The background shows a softly blurred indoor space with warm architectural tones.

Atmospheric chemist Susan Solomon was born #OTD in 1956.

Solomon, working with colleagues at NOAA, proposed/confirmed the cause of the Antarctic ozone hole, chlorofluorocarbons. She led the Nat'l Ozone Expedition to Antarctica to collect evidence & was the only woman on the team. #WomenInSTEM (1/2)

19.01.2026 19:51 — 👍 934    🔁 189    💬 10    📌 5
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The Looming Data Loss That Threatens Public Safety and Prosperity - Eos Cuts to funding and staff needed to maintain trusted datasets of reference Earth system observations could limit their availability and quality, undermining hazard predictions and risk assessments.

Reference quality datasets are foundational to hazard prediction and planning, designing safety standards, planning agricultural operations, and performing insurance and financial risk assessments, among many other applications. eos.org/features/the...

16.01.2026 19:35 — 👍 10    🔁 6    💬 0    📌 0

Go away, Susan Collins. We need NCAR to remain

15.01.2026 22:47 — 👍 63    🔁 12    💬 1    📌 0
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In a newly published paper, we find that in 2025 human emissions of greenhouse gases added around 23 billion trillion joules of heat to the world's oceans – 39 times as much as the annual energy produced by all human activity on Earth. link.springer.com/ar...

13.01.2026 00:31 — 👍 204    🔁 97    💬 9    📌 17
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Globally, no single day in 2025 was cooler than its 1991-2020 average.
climate.copernicus.eu/global-clima...

14.01.2026 12:44 — 👍 1014    🔁 681    💬 20    📌 74

They are not.
In 1916 the U.S. entered an agreement w/Denmark in which in exchange for taking control of the islands of St. Croix, St. John, & St. Thomas (then the “Danish West Indies”), the U.S. would pay $25 million & not object to Danish control of Greenland.

history.state.gov/historicaldo...

07.01.2026 15:39 — 👍 839    🔁 338    💬 80    📌 21
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FOLKS NEED TO REALIZE HOW HUGE THIS IS

For the first time in modern Texas history, Dems have candidates running in every state and federal race on the 2026 ballot.

That includes all congressional seats, every state House and state Senate race, plus statewide judicial and State Board of Education.

03.01.2026 04:33 — 👍 15155    🔁 4135    💬 460    📌 331

WHO GIVES A DAMN?

It’s a public service, right there in the name. It exists as a public good for all the people in this country. It’s not supposed to turn a profit, you dolts.

Go audit the Pentagon and see what kind of return on investment we’re getting there.

24.12.2025 17:52 — 👍 5182    🔁 1178    💬 187    📌 46
Map from coolwx.org showing locations currently experiencing record highs. Red dots are daily record highs; pink dots are monthly record highs. There are numerous red and pink dots in the central and western United States.

Map from coolwx.org showing locations currently experiencing record highs. Red dots are daily record highs; pink dots are monthly record highs. There are numerous red and pink dots in the central and western United States.

An even more ridiculously warm day across most of the central and western United States, with numerous locations seeing not only calendar date record highs but in many cases all-time December monthly records. Wow. 🫠 #AZwx #NMwx #TWwx #COwx #OKwx #WYwx #KSwx #NEwx #UTwx

22.12.2025 23:24 — 👍 79    🔁 18    💬 5    📌 1
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The Trump regime stated that they plan to dismantle and shutter the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder. Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, announced on X that they “will be breaking up NCAR”. They claim it is a source of “climate alarmism”.

20.12.2025 00:50 — 👍 4    🔁 3    💬 1    📌 0