Dennis Pillion

Inject this straight into my veins. Great article, @dennispillion.bsky.social

Thanks to @andrewdessler.com @krisebi.bsky.social and @manuelsalgado.bsky.social for their insights.

Trump Administration Dropped Controversial Climate Report From Its Decision to Rescind EPA Endangerment Finding - Inside Climate News The final EPA rule explicitly omitted the report commissioned last year to justify revoking the endangerment finding, citing “concerns raised by some commenters.”

New from me: The EPA excluded a controversial climate report from its rule repealing the endangerment finding yesterday after widespread scientific criticism and a judge's ruling that the panel that made the report had been commissioned illegally. insideclimatenews.org/news/1302202...

@manuelsalgado.bsky.social I'm a reporter working on a story about this for Inside Climate News. Would you be willing to comment? You can reach me at dennis.pillion@insideclimatenews.org

How George Wallace and Bull Connor Set the Stage for Alabama’s Sky-High Electric Rates - Inside Climate News After his notorious stand in the schoolhouse door, Wallace needed a new target. He found it in Alabama Power.

New from me: Alabama’s civil rights history is inescapable, even in places most people wouldn’t expect. Their electric bills, for example. insideclimatenews.org/news/2612202...

How Alabama Power Kept Bills Up and Opposition Out to Become One of the Most Powerful Utilities in the Country - Inside Climate News In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators.

This deep look at the consumer unfriendly actions of Alabama Power is very much worth your time. Great work from my colleagues @dennispillion.bsky.social and @leehedgepeth.bsky.social:
insideclimatenews.org/news/0311202...

Alabama’s E.O. Wilson Land Between the Rivers Preserve Is a ‘Place That Time Forgot’ - Inside Climate News Dubbed the father of biodiversity, the pioneering author and scientist E.O. Wilson spent his early years exploring the swamps and wetlands of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Now, 8,000 acres of that land wil...

My latest for @insideclimatenews.org goes inside one of the most biodiverse and ecologically important places in Alabama -- the newly dedicated E.O. Wilson Land Between the Rivers Preserve. insideclimatenews.org/news/1910202...

Alabama Town’s Residents Seek Preemptive Strike Against Massive Data Center Project - Inside Climate News “That’s going to be their legacy, to potentially destroy a small town,” said one resident of the landowner and developers of a proposed hyperscale data center.

New from me: Wilsonville (Ala.) residents hope to shut down a huge proposed data center in their small town on the Coosa River. insideclimatenews.org/news/2008202...

Alabama Power Gets Approval to Buy $622 Million Natural Gas Plant, Expecting More Data Centers insideclimatenews.org/news/0508202...

Climate Scientists Look to Fight Back Against DOE’s ‘Antiscientific,’ ‘Deceptive’ Climate Report - Inside Climate News Climate scientist Michael Mann called the report “a deeply misleading antiscientific narrative, built on deceptive arguments, misrepresented datasets, and distortion of actual scientific understanding...

Climate scientists @michaelemann.bsky.social, @andrewdessler.com and others respond to this week's DOE climate report, which they called 'antiscientific,' 'deceptive,' and 'cherry-picked.' insideclimatenews.org/news/3007202...

Climate Scientists Look to Fight Back Against DOE’s ‘Antiscientific,’ ‘Deceptive’ Climate Report - Inside Climate News Climate scientist Michael Mann called the report “a deeply misleading antiscientific narrative, built on deceptive arguments, misrepresented datasets, and distortion of actual scientific understanding...

Climate Scientists Look to Fight Back Against DOE’s ‘Antiscientific,’ ‘Deceptive’ Climate Report insideclimatenews.org/news/3007202...

Capped Alabama Coal Ash Pond Still Polluting Groundwater 7 Years After Closure, Lawsuit Claims - Inside Climate News Coosa Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Alabama Power, alleging significant groundwater pollution violations from the utility’s Gadsden coal ash pond that has been capped in place since 2018...

Capped Alabama Coal Ash Pond Still Polluting Groundwater 7 Years After Closure, Lawsuit Claims insideclimatenews.org/news/2907202...

My colleague @dennispillion.bsky.social and I were the first reporters to sit down at length with Cynthia Almond, the new president of the Public Service Commission. The image she projects is much different than that of her predecessor, Twinkle Cavanaugh: insideclimatenews.org/news/2107202...

Alabama’s New Utility Commission President Wants to Hear From ‘All Sides’ as She Assumes New Role - Inside Climate News Cynthia Lee Almond spent four years in the Alabama Legislature and 16 years on the Tuscaloosa City Council before being appointed president of the state’s Public Service Commission.

New Alabama PSC President Cynthia Almond has won praise from both sides of the aisle, and projects a very different image from her predecessor Twinkle Cavanaugh. @leehedgepeth.bsky.social and I sat down with Almond in her first interview in her new post. insideclimatenews.org/news/2107202...

Alabama environmental groups secure rare win in fight to update water toxicity standards | Alabama Reflector The decision was a rare win for environmental groups operating in the deep-red state, from a board that rarely votes against the department’s recommendations.

Via @dennispillion.bsky.social and @insideclimatenews.org: Alabama environmental regulators have agreed to update standards used to limit the amounts of 12 toxic and carcinogenic substances in the state’s waterways.

How Much Energy Does AI Use? The People Who Know Aren’t Saying A growing body of research attempts to put a number on energy use and AI—even as the companies behind the most popular models keep their carbon emissions a secret.

One of the biggest frustrations I have is the lack of transparency around AI's energy use and environmental impacts. I know the numbers are out there... but somehow we're not seeing them 🫠

Thank you @wired.com for covering this topic in such depth and detail !

www.wired.com/story/ai-car...

Canceled Climate Grants Would Have Cut Pollution While Boosting Production, Jobs at Two Alabama Ironworks - Inside Climate News BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Two iron pipe manufacturers in Alabama learned last week they lost a combined $150 million in promised federal funding that would have increased productivity and employment while slas...

Canceled Climate Grants Would Have Cut Pollution While Boosting Production, Jobs at Two Alabama Ironworks insideclimatenews.org/news/0606202...

Alabama Power threatened with lawsuit for contaminating groundwater with coal ash | Alabama Reflector Coosa Riverkeeper has filed a formal notice of intent to sue Alabama Power over the groundwater pollution from a pond near the site of the Gadsden Steam Plant.

Via @leehedgepeth.bsky.social & @dennispillion.bsky.social: Coosa Riverkeeper has filed a notice of intent to sue Alabama Power over groundwater pollution from a coal ash pond near the old Gadsden Steam Plant site, based on groundwater testing results Alabama Power must post twice per year.

‘The Earth Loses a Defender’: Pope Francis Fought for the Poor and the Planet - Inside Climate News A leader on climate action, Francis will be remembered as an ally to Indigenous, poor and working people.

Without Pope Francis, “the world is a little lonelier and more unjust.” insideclimatenews.org/news/2104202...

Trump Announces ‘Termination’ of ‘Illegal DEI’ Settlement Over Raw Sewage in Poor, Majority-Black Alabama Communities - Inside Climate News The Trump administration announced Friday that it was terminating a historic settlement aimed at improving wastewater treatment services for Alabamians in majority-Black communities harmed by raw sewa...

In 2023, Biden promised to fix sewage woes that have plagued Alabama's Black Belt for decades. Today, the Trump administration 'terminated' the agreement that was supposed to do that. insideclimatenews.org/news/1104202...

NOAA cuts weather balloon launches due to staff shortages after DOGE layoffs • Alabama Reflector Weather forecasts in media are almost certainly derived from data and model computations made by the National Weather Service using weather balloons.

Via @dennispillion.bsky.social and @insideclimatenews.org: Any weather forecast made available via broadcast news, a commercial app or other media is almost certainly derived from data and model computations made by the National Weather Service using weather balloons.

NOAA Cuts Weather Balloon Launches Due to Staff Shortages After DOGE Layoffs - Inside Climate News The president-elect of the American Meteorological Society compares the situation to bolts in a steel office building, warning: “Nobody can say how many bolts you can leave out or remove before the st...

Some of the world's oldest weather and climate knowledge comes from weather balloons. This is another egregious attack on science, IMO ...

Great reporting by @dennispillion.bsky.social

Alabama’s Celebrity Weatherman Pleads for the National Weather Service - Inside Climate News Meteorologist James Spann appeals to his 1.3 million Facebook followers to support the agency, threatened by Trump cuts, that produces the data he relies upon for his forecasts.

“I think they need a publicist." Alabama's most famous meteorologist James Spann @spann.bsky.social on the National Weather Service's importance to local forecasting and severe weather preparedness. insideclimatenews.org/news/1803202...

Taking It to the Streets: Scientists Mobilize to Fight Trump’s ‘Unprecedented’ Anti-Science Agenda - Inside Climate News Scientists turned out at rallies from coast to coast and in Europe to “Stand Up for Science,” revitalizing a movement to defend scientific integrity that started during Trump’s first term.

From Birmingham to San Francisco, Raleigh to New York, and even Vienna where EU scientists showed solidarity, @lizagross.bsky.social @dennispillion.bsky.social @bberwyn.bsky.social and @insideclimatenews.org colleagues captured Stand Up For Science! insideclimatenews.org/news/0703202...

DOGE Quietly Deletes the 5 Biggest Spending Cuts It Celebrated Last Week The cuts, highlighted on an earlier version of the “wall of receipts” posted by Elon Musk’s team, contained mistakes that vastly inflated the amount of money saved.

Musk's DOGE group deleted all of the 5 biggest “savings” on its “wall of receipts” list after media outlets pointed out they were riddled with errors. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/u...

Federal funding restored for low-income Alabama utility assistance after outcry • Alabama Reflector ADECA did not respond to multiple requests for more information or answer whether it had received guidance from the federal government to reinstate the program.

Via @dennispillion.bsky.social and @insideclimatenews.org: A program meant to help low-income Alabamians pay their utility bills has resumed two weeks after it was canceled due to an executive order from President Donald Trump.

Federal Funding Restored for Low-Income Alabama Utility Assistance After Outcry - Inside Climate News A program meant to help low-income Alabamians pay their utility bills has resumed two weeks after it was canceled due to an executive order from President Donald Trump.  The Alabama Department of Econ...

Updating my previous story, Alabama officials now say these grants to help low-income residents pay their electric bills have been reinstated. The grants were halted two weeks ago to comply with a Trump executive order. insideclimatenews.org/news/2102202...

Trump Executive Order Takes Back Funds to Help Low-Income Alabama Residents Pay Electric Bills - Inside Climate News Many of the 2,000 Alabama households impacted had already seen the funds credited to their accounts and will have to pay the money back on their next bill.

About 2,000 Alabama households were set to receive assistance and many of those had already seen the credits hit their account. Now they’ll have to pay it back on their next bill. insideclimatenews.org/news/1402202...

‘It’s Worse Every Day’: Environmental Justice Staffers at EPA Face Uncertain Future as Potential Layoffs Loom - Inside Climate News Former EPA regional administrators worry the actions will unravel decades of work protecting public health from pollution.

“They wake up every day, and it’s worse than the day before.” Environmental Justice Staffers at EPA Face Uncertain Future as Potential Layoffs Loom By my colleague Aman Azhar
@insideclimatenews.org
insideclimatenews.org/news/0602202...

This is the front page of a fraudulent research article that purported to show a link between vaccines and autism. The word "RETRACTED" is written across it in large red letters. Wikipedia: On 28th February 1998, a fraudulent research paper by physician Andrew Wakefield and twelve coauthors, titled "Ileal-Lymphoid-Nodular Hyperplasia, Non-Specific Colitis, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder in Children", was published in the British medical journal The Lancet.[1] The paper falsely claimed causative links between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and colitis and between colitis and autism. The fraud involved data selection, data manipulation, and two undisclosed conflicts of interest.

Today is Retraction Day, when we observe the anniversary of the retraction (Feb. 2, 2010) of the fraudulent paper that purported to show a link between vaccines and autism. 🧪#medsky