Jeremy Wallace

Picture how big the Hoover Dam is. An absolute unit. The Hoover Dam has a power capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW).

The solar farm that the Admin just cancelled could have produces 6.2 GW of power. That's more than 3 Hoover Dams.

China expands rare earth restrictions, targets defence, semiconductor users China tightened its rare earth export controls on Thursday, saying it planned to limit exports to overseas defence firms and semiconductor users and adding five rare earth elements to its list.

1/ New rare earth restrictions mark escalation in China’s weaponization of interdependence — adopting US extraterritorial permission structures. This is not just an export ban but regulated how global firms use Chinese equipment and material.
www.reuters.com/world/china/...

Well, that is a connection I wasn’t expecting!

China Is Deciding Not to Decide on a New Green Future The country’s underwhelming new climate pledge is more than just bad news for the world — it reveals a serious governing mistake.

What do China's new climate pledges show us about the future? The putative electrostate elected to punt -- it isn't ready to commit to a non-coal future. Xi's government is unambitious, and seems to be falling into the very middle income trap that it says it fears.

heatmap.news/ideas/china-...

You know that feeling after you accomplish a series of household tasks that you COULD have put off forever but you did them right away? What's that feeling called?

I remember answering a Unix sysadmin question in Usenet alt/sewing. The asker knew that a female coded group would answer the question faster and without hectoring. She got multiple correct responses within 10 minutes. Early 1990s

this is a great anecdote

should I start a bsky book club? one book a month, say, and then we do a big megathread to discuss it.

thanks!

As has become my wont, when I write something for someone else, I save some details of the sausage making for my newsletter. A perhaps surprising appearance by Justin Yifu Lin and @eosnos.bsky.social

thechinalab.substack.com/p/the-age-of...

China Can’t Decide if It Wants to Be the World’s First “Electrostate” The country’s underwhelming new climate pledge is more than just bad news for the world — it reveals a serious governing mistake.

"The leadership seems unwilling to jettison older industries in favor of the higher-value added industries of the future," writes @jeremywallace.bsky.social of China's refusal to double down on its green tech lead. heatmap.news/ideas/china-...

Thanks, Jeff!

China Can’t Decide if It Wants to Be the World’s First “Electrostate” The country’s underwhelming new climate pledge is more than just bad news for the world — it reveals a serious governing mistake.

Great new piece on China's climate ambitions, or lack thereof, by @jeremywallace.bsky.social
heatmap.news/ideas/china-...

The new pledge — known in UN jargon as a nationally determined contribution, or NDC — reveals a disconnect between the government’s official position and the optimistic discourse that now surrounds China’s clean energy sector. China today is described as the world’s first electrostate; it stands at the vanguard of the solar and EV revolution, some say, ready to remake the world order against a coalition of petrostate dinosaurs. The NDC makes it obvious that the Chinese government does not yet view itself in such a fashion. China might look like an adult, but it more closely resembles a gangly teenager who is still getting used to their body after a growth spurt. As the analyst Kingsmill Bond recently put it on Heatmap’s podcast Shift Key, Chinese clean tech manufacturers have unlocked a cleaner and cheaper path to economic development. It isn’t yet clear that China is brave enough to commit to it. If China is the adult in the room, in other words, we’re screwed.

from @jeremywallace.bsky.social’s new essay at @heatmap.news, on China’s new UN climate pledge: heatmap.news/ideas/china-...

China Can’t Decide if It Wants to Be the World’s First “Electrostate” The country’s underwhelming new climate pledge is more than just bad news for the world — it reveals a serious governing mistake.

We have a fantastic new essay on China’s new climate pledge by @jeremywallace.bsky.social at @heatmap.news this morning. He argues the country’s indecision about its green future is more than just an environmental disappointment — it is a serious governing mistake.

heatmap.news/ideas/china-...

China Is Deciding Not to Decide on a New Green Future The country’s underwhelming new climate pledge is more than just bad news for the world — it reveals a serious governing mistake.

What do China's new climate pledges show us about the future? The putative electrostate elected to punt -- it isn't ready to commit to a non-coal future. Xi's government is unambitious, and seems to be falling into the very middle income trap that it says it fears.

heatmap.news/ideas/china-...

In which Harvard’s Enos & Levitsky call on Harvard to lead the way, coordinating with other universities in fight for academic freedom. Our civil institutions will need to learn that power is harnessed through coordination. Protecting oneself will never be enough.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Trump Fires Black Officials From an Overwhelmingly White Administration

yeah, trump has made very clear that he doesn’t think black people deserve to be in jobs of influence! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

There’s always a grift.

open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

Goosebumps watching this. Chicagoans fighting for this country. Mass collective action is the only thing that can keep fascism away.

There was a post about ideal public transit frequency floating around a while ago, and I realised I had no idea how often these ran, because in three years of living there, I just never had to think about it. So I looked it up: every five minutes standard, every minute peak. Fare's ~US$1. Amazing.

I am so much on Team Editor

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

Siva Vaidhyanathan on the Trump admin’s proposed “compact” for universities (to give up academic freedom in exchange for favorable treatment by the Trump government): “This ‘compact’ is more like an invitation to borrow money from the mob, with substantial control and future penalties assured.”

[relevant?]
bsky.app/profile/jere...

Johns Hopkins political scientist Hahrie Han receives MacArthur genius grant Han, who studies political organizing and collective action and who has led the university's SNF Agora Institute since 2019, among 22 individuals to receive coveted MacArthur Foundation recognition

Wow!! Congrats @hahrie.bsky.social

hub.jhu.edu/2025/10/08/h...

Solar is crushing gas power in California this year The state’s combination of solar and battery plants has pushed clean generation of electricity to new heights, offering a welcome reprieve from high gas…

Solar is crushing gas power in California this year #energysky -- via Canary Media:

lemon squeazy?

Zohran sits on a bus talking to a rider sitting behind him.

I'm on the slowest bus line in the city with the slowest buses in the nation to talk to New Yorkers about what it would mean for their lives if we made them fast and free.