James J. A. Blair

New report on community benefit agreements!!! It was super fun to work with this amazing team and with @cplusc.bsky.social on a timely and important topic.

Building Community Power: Community Benefits Agreements Across the Global Energy Supply Chain.

Who should benefit from the energy transition? Communities? Workers? Billionaires?

As federal posture toward a clean energy supply chain shifts rapidly, our new report shows that communities are turning to community benefit agreements (CBAs) to gain control over their futures. 👇

Fighting for Fair Development Community Benefits Agreements as a Strategy for Making the Energy Transition More Equitable in the United States

This StoryMap outlines some key case studies from the report: storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a860...

Excited to share our new report for @cplusc.bsky.social

Building Community Power: Community Benefits Agreements Across the Global Energy Supply Chain

This is practically a book’s worth of research and writing. An interactive CBA toolkit is also forthcoming. Grateful to work with such a great team!

Check out our new report!

The Devil Is In The Details: Environmental Health Impacts Of The Hell’s Kitchen Lithium and Power Project

ccvhealth.org/hells-kitche...

OP-ED: Lithium Valley must empower communities and tribes - Calexico Chronicle Dr. James Blair of Cal Polytechnic University, Pomona weighs in on how Lithium Valley must empower communities and tribes.

California’s clean energy goals will only succeed if they include the communities and tribes most impacted. By embracing stronger mitigation measures, Lithium Valley could power a clean energy future that also empowers local residents.

calexicochronicle.com/2025/09/15/o...

San José State University - Details - Assistant Professor - Environmental Studies

The School of Planning, Policy, and Environmental Studies at San José State University is hiring an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies. We welcome applicants from all fields of environmental studies who apply an environmental justice lens to their work. jobs.sjsu.edu/sj/en-us/job...

Name added.

Two copies of a book titled Extraction on a chess table.

Copies just arrived and can’t wait to read *Extraction* by the brilliant @triofrancos.bsky.social

Salvaging Empire by James J. A. Blair | Paperback | Cornell University Press Salvaging Empire probes the historical roots and current predicaments of a twenty-first century settler colony seeking to control an uncertain future through resource management and environmental scie...

My book *Salvaging Empire* and many other great reads are on sale for 50% off this week if you order from the @cornellupress.bsky.social website with the code 095000 today through Friday, June 27th!

www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

Such a great album!

If you’re interested in the history of how the first solar project approved by the Bureau of Land Management, and the California Energy Commission ended up not getting built, and how the largest solar project in the USA got built on farmland instead. This paper is for you. #EnergySky #GreenSky☀️🔌💡

Here's the updated share link to access our Sustainability Science article: rdcu.be/epvQW

Check out our new peer-reviewed article published in Sustainability Science on solar energy development near the Salton Sea in Imperial Valley, California!

Grateful to collaborate with brilliant colleagues @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social and @alidacantor.bsky.social

Thanks for sharing.

Is the list of projects available?

Unseen Connections: A StoryMap Exploring Case Studies in Water-Energy Transitions and Environmental Justice Published in The Geography Teacher (Ahead of Print, 2025)

Our research funding may be cancelled, but I am glad to share this new pub from our work on water, energy, and environmental justice! We created a lesson plan (open access!) with teaching ideas for high school and undergrad geography classes. #geosky @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social @jjablair.bsky.social

Great news, congrats!

Happy birthday!!!

Lithium Valley specific plan for Imperial County extended public comment through May 5. #LithiumValley #SaltonSea #ValleUnido 🏜️🔋🔌💡
imperialcounty.org/lvsp/

Q&A: Electronic Vehicles Battery Recycling - GAIA This GAIA publication answers key questions about what happens to EV batteries after use, the challenges of current recycling technologies, and the solutions needed for a truly circular system. Learn ...

Our collaborators at GAIA have a new publication on battery recycling. 🪫♻️🔌💡 #EnergySky #GreenSky #CircularEconomy #JustTransition
www.no-burn.org/resources/qa...

I'll be speaking here tonight about our report "Green sacrifice zones in Chile? Threats and risks of mining and energy expansion in the territories and ecosystems of the Atacama Desert"

Join here: ucdavis.zoom.us/j/9908011884...

@ffontecillag.bsky.social

Why are minerals so central to geopolitics? How green are electric cars? Why is anti-mining protest increasing? Can the inequalities of the global economy be transformed?

I tackle these topics in my book EXTRACTION: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism

👀 September 2025 @wwnorton.bsky.social

Very exciting and nice cover! Can’t wait!

Dredging Up the Ghostly Secrets of Slave Ships A global network of maritime archeologists is excavating slave shipwrecks—and reconnecting Black communities to the deep.

I dove to the wreck of Brazil’s last slave ship—and wrote about the global network of maritime archaeologists excavating the Middle Passage www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Boiling rocks 1. Soil pellets mosaics.

Boiling Rocks 1 is a series of mosaics featuring compressed pellets made of contaminated soil collected by community scientists in their own yards. Spectrometer.

a. Zeolite remediation

The future of Lithium Valley The race to extract lithium continues, but a federal spending freeze could threaten a $1 billion loan. Plus, how environmental advocates in the Imperial Valley are continuing to fight for protections.

The future of Lithium Valley. 🔋🔌💡
www.kpbs.org/podcasts/kpb... #SaltonSea #LithiumValley #ValleUnido

Moss Landing Battery Fire Leads to Health Fears, Evidence of Contamination and Concerns About Overreaction - Inside Climate News Residents describe experiences of sore throats and other symptoms. The energy storage industry insists that this incident is an extreme outlier.

In the aftermath of the battery plant fire in California, researchers find evidence of heavy metals in the soil and residents describe experiences of sore throats. The energy storage industry insists that this incident is an extreme outlier.