McKenzie Johnson

DOGE Visit to USIP On the afternoon of Friday, March 14, 2025, several members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), arrived at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) unannounced accompanied by two FBI...

This is the first time I can recall hearing the FBI assisted with an attempted DOGE attack.

EnPax and CEOBS logos

On 10/03 we're co-convening a Zoom discussion with @enpax.bsky.social on the destructive cuts to foreign aid and their impact on humanitarian-environmental activities.

We'll discuss the implications, and the ways in which civil society can support each other. us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Evaluating the Justice and Risk Dimensions of Ethylene Oxide Governance in the US - Environmental Management We investigate the governance and environmental justice (EJ) outcomes from the hazard reclassification of ethylene oxide (EtO) by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2016. In response to EtO pollut...

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

New pub by PhD student Jane C. Gross on EtO governance in the US! #environment #pollution @illinoisnres.bsky.social

Finds that the US response to EtO pollution alleviated public pressure without mitigating risk, and that outcomes are worse for EJ communities.

Congrats to Dr. Jesann Gonzalez Cruz! She’s embarking on a journey as an Energy Fellow with the DOE! @illinoisnres.bsky.social @illinoisrbml.bsky.social

YET AGAIN, I must reiterate my Unifying Theory of Politics, which is: all human problems are caused by the fact that we effectively cannot count past twelve

Limitarianism - Astra Publishing House “A powerful case for limitarianism—the idea that we should set a maximum on how much resources one individual can appropriate. A must-read!” —Thomas Piketty, bestselling author of Capital in the […]

astrapublishinghouse.com/product/limi... Been meaning to read this — I think Robeyns proposes and defends a cutoff of 10M €

Chile's renewable energy surge pushes coal to new lows Chile is on track to get to over 90% renewable power by 2030, according to modelling by the International Energy Agency.

Chile is a leader in the energy transition.

Renewables accounted for 67% of electricity generation in the first 10 months of 2024, and the country's on track to phase out coal within a few years thanks to an ongoing solar and batteries boom.

theprogressplaybook.com/2024/11/26/c...

Response to coups by elected leaders:

- South Korea: blocked by mass mobilization of citizens

- Brazil: coup leader indicted, barred from politics

- United States: coup leader re-elected with majorities in the legislature and a compliant Supreme Court

Here's a quick chart from my CCS project data - it shows, for each year's global CCS report, the USA's planned capture capacity for ethanol CCS projects.

Pretty wild example of CCS facilitating a deeply problematic energy industry, even if it isn't fossil fuels!

@gruberte.bsky.social

Job announcement!
"Associate Professor/Professor - Environment and Climate in Caribbean Studies" See link below for full info 👇
jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-... #climatesky #geosky #greensky @geographers.bsky.social @lag-uk.bsky.social @jlatamgeog.bsky.social

Why Are Women Less Likely to Use AI? AI’s early adopters are disproportionately men, a disconnect that could exacerbate the gender pay gap.

They call hesitant attitudes toward AI "risk averse" & "fearful"; others might call them "thoughtful" & "careful."

They call enthusiasm for it "appetite" & "willingness"; others might call it "susceptibility to marketing" & "disregard for costs & consequences."

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

North Dakota Wants Your Carbon, But Not Your Climate Science A $9 billion plan to entomb CO2 emissions has a distinctly non-environmental attraction for the people of the Great Plains: It could allow the region to keep pumping oil and burning coal.

Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick for Interior Secretary, and other proponents of using CCS to continue fossil fuel usage: "What’s so bad about fossil fuels if they don’t come with carbon emissions?"

Air pollution from combustion kills 7-9 million people every year!

www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Show Your Stripes Visualising how the climate has changed for every country across the globe

You can now share the Warming Stripes directly to BlueSky, such as these for my town of Reading:

showyourstripes.info/s/europe/uni...

(Find the graphic you want to share, click the blue options button - the one with three horizontal lines - and select the butterfly!)

30 Years of Toxic Water: How Wichita Failed its Black Community Industrial use led to multiple carcinogens seeping into the groundwater in predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods.

'Industrial use led to multiple carcinogens seeping into the groundwater in predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods.'
wordinblack.com/2024/11/toxi...

Just in time for Thanksgiving, here's my (actually short!) open access manifesto on why carbon markets & taxes are silly. When the target is 0, not fewer, emissions, we don't need a financial sorting function to find the "best" emissions to keep. The order of phase-out is a planning need.

Reality check on technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the air An MIT Energy Initiative study finds many climate-stabilization plans are based on questionable assumptions about the future cost and deployment of “direct air capture” and therefore may not bring abo...

Okay, I have to do a thread on this pretty amazing article because it is just seriously chockers with eye-opening stats about 'direct air capture' - ie, sucking up air and trying to remove carbon dioxide from it

news.mit.edu/2024/reality...

This summarises how carbon offsets work to ensure continued fossil fuel addiction.

Where Do We Go From Here? A Post-Election Assessment An urgent conversation with Naomi Klein, Astra Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, and Chenjerai Kumanyika.

I’ll offer more later in articles and interviews but these are some of the things I’m thinking about.

I’ll be talking about this (and more!) on Thurs, Nov 21 with some of my favourite people to think with - join us!

RSVP for the online event, hosted by @haymarketbooks.bsky.social

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Flashback post.

Hosted Andrea Sempértegui from Whitman College yesterday. Her talk - Fighting Extractivism as War: Mujeres Amazónicas' Forest Politics in Ecuador - was amazing. Check out the work of this fantastic scholar and activist! #environmentaldefenders #amazon

www.andreasempertegui.com

One of the topics I'm thinking about these days...why is Colombia doing this? Can it be successful?

Mountain Lions Coexist with Outdoor Recreationists by Taking the Night Shift Mountain lions in greater Los Angeles are proactively shifting their activity to avoid interacting with cyclists, hikers, joggers and other recreationists, finds a UC Davis study.

Urban mountain lions don’t want to run into you, either. A UC Davis study of LA’s mountain lions shows they are becoming more nocturnal to avoid interacting with people. “Coexistence is happening, and it’s in large part because of what mountain lions are doing.” www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news...

Lots of new people joining Bluesky in the clean energy and climate worlds over the last few days. I know there are starter packs, but also why don't people introduce themselves? Reply here to say hi!

would love to be added: I work on energy infrastructure and carbon sequestration. thank you!