Jeff Goodell

Twee fruit

My Very Dear Ones,

I write to you from near the front lines of war ravaged Portland.

Folding bikes are the Swiss Army Knife of mobility.

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

“Any university leader who signs on to this compact would betray everything good and solid about the university and would do deep and permanent harm to the United States and the world,” writes @sivav.bsky.social in this brilliantly belittling essay. newrepublic.com/article/2013...

I co-wrote Trump’s first anti-terrorism plan in 2017-18. He’s not trying to stop “left-wing” terrorism. He is staging it.

His troop deployments are a false flag — meant to provoke a response in order to justify harsh crackdowns.

This is now very obvious.

The law, like science, depends on a shared reality. But we have a president who invents his own reality.

Yea that too.

This is why Trump is at war with California.

If I were starting a civil war, I would send National Guard troops from one state to another.

Excellent strategy, because here's what's coming soon on campuses that cave to Trump: you want federal money? Then shut up about climate change and sing the gospel of fossil fuels.

Most of the world has recently set all-time heat records Regional exceptions like the 1930s in the continental US notwithstanding

"We focus a lot on global average temperatures, but this masks the real local impacts that climate change is having. The land – where all of us live – is warming about 40% faster than the global average, and high latitude regions are warming even faster." www.theclimatebrink.com/p/most-of-th...

A map of the world showing how levels of worry in most countries are greater than 70%. Source: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, International Public Opinion on Climate Change, 2023.

Two of the most common climate misconceptions I see, even among knowledgeable folks, are that (1) most people aren't worried about climate change, and (2) if they were, they'd act.

Not true! Data show (1) most people are worried, but (2) they won’t act if they don’t know what to do-and most don’t.

New Study Shows Disruption of Ocean Currents That Stabilize the Global Climate - Inside Climate News Clam shell growth rings contain clues about the looming potential for a tipping point into climate collapse.

“Bivalve records are really amazing. They are like the tree rings of the sea. They offer a continuous, annually resolved record of ocean conditions.”
New study finds #AMOC destabilization since 1950 "suggesting that the region is moving toward a tipping point."🌊
insideclimatenews.org/news/0310202...

Texas proudly invading Illinois.

It’s hard to describe the level of potential constitutional crisis here.

'Get On to the Next Fight, Don't Give Up': P.T. Anderson and Leo DiCaprio on 'One Battle After Another' The filmmaker and star open up about finally collaborating together, how not to burn out and fade away, why River Phoenix is the GOAT, and more.

www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv...

We're not debating facts.
We're negotiating power.

Just saw One Battle After Another. None of the reviews I’ve read do it justice. Complicated, funny, timely & powerful in ways that defy simple description.

There is a massive overinterpretation of the 2024 election results in the media as being some huge pro-Trump swing. 2 out of 100 people net switched from the Democrats to the Republicans.

Just wait. There is going to be a big swing back to the Democrats in the upcoming elections and midterms...

Plants understood what is going on before humans did.

Lessons here for climate fight, too.

But texting about sending the 82 Airborne into Portland in plain view of someone able to video the exchanges and capture enough evidence that the @startribune.com could verify isn’t all! There’s also this

They Live Below Sea Level in NYC. Now, the City Could Buy Out 'The Hole' The low-lying neighborhood on the Brooklyn-Queens border will be the first place in New York where officials may buy properties proactively — instead of in response to a disaster.

NEW: A buyout program is coming for homeowners in The Hole, a NYC neighborhood unlike any other.

It’s the first time the city pursues this climate adaptation strategy proactively, instead of after a disaster, and with a focus on inland (not coastal) flooding.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/10/03/f...

Sadly, tragically, I think UT is gonna be the first to cave. And will do so with pride and with gusto.

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion

Next step in this extortion racket: You want federal money, you sing sweet words about fossil fuels and you don't talk about climate change. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...

A postcard from a lost world.

“The effect of these errors is to generate conclusions that cast unwarranted doubt on established climate science. As I’ve said before, the generation of unwarranted doubt is the same strategy that the tobacco industry used to delay regulation in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.”

Once, when I interviewed Jane Goodall, I took my son with me to meet her. She was far more interested in talking to him than talking to me. The way she has her hand on his shoulder in this pic says everything about her. RIP to a great woman, a great scientist, a great human.

Commentary: California is finally quitting coal. Here's what comes next To replace a 40-year-old Utah coal plant, Los Angeles is investing in green hydrogen.

👇
World's fifth largest economy quits #coal:
www.latimes.com/environment/...

Pope Leo hits out at critics of global warming In his first major statement on climate change, the pontiff criticises those who minimise climate change.

Pope Leo XIV has reaffirmed the imperative to act upon climate change and environmental degradation.

This firm response to climate science deniers marks the 10th anniversary of his Predecessor Pope Francis' encyclical "On Care of Our Common Home".

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Bonus 180: "Domestic Terrorism" and NSPM-7 The Trump administration is hoping no one notices that, although federal law *defines* "domestic terrorism," it provides no special authorities against anyone whose behavior *meets* that definition.

Federal law doesn't recognize the concept of a "domestic terrorist organization." That hasn't stopped President Trump from trying to use the concept to authorize investigations of (and necessarily suppress) lots of constitutionally protected speech, protest, and advocacy.

Me in today's "One First":

Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference

The word for this is: extortion. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...