Ellie Andrews

My quote from an Axios interview, stating that: People often think of climate change as a separate bucket at the end of a long row of other buckets of problems we're trying to fix that are wrong in the world," Hayhoe told Axios. This includes poverty, disease and access to clean water. "Climate change is not a separate bucket," Hayhoe said. "The reason we care about climate change is that it's the hole in every bucket."

If you take the time to read the whole Gates memo (which I did), the bulk of the content was mostly solid and encouraging. Really!

It was the FRAME that was off--very off, from the first line.

And when your framing is off, then how you make decisions and set priorities is off. THAT'S the problem.

Bill Gates makes a stunning claim about climate change His essay comes ahead of next month's COP30, a global summit focused on battling climate change.

Let's argue about whether it's more effective to fight hunger and poverty or climate pollution once we have exhausted the many ways to fight both at once.

photo of the demolition of the east wing of the white house

@merriam-webster.com, might i suggest "synecdoche" as a word of the day?

Today I learned that animal agriculture mouthpieces who aim to delay climate action fear calls to individual action. Why? While individual action to burn less fossil fuel is fairly constrained by infrastructure - e.g. car-dependent cities - choosing to eat less meat and dairy is much more effective.

"36% of US GDP growth since 2000 is related to climate disasters."

yes! considering wearing academic robes throughout or at least on the first day, to hype up the analog space in a campy sort of way. writing on a scroll with a quill pen, that sort of thing.

The President lives and dies by the numbers. All his claims are about numbers. Suddenly, @nytimes.com is focused on content, not numbers?

Seems like maybe the protest numbers are not things this administration wants us to hear.

Sometimes you just have to report the numbers.

As someone who never switched to a smartphone, I'm counting on the same news being printed about flip phones soon...

comic of conversation: one person is excited about a list of simple things to save the earth; the other is skeptical that those sorts of actions really move the needle.

has anyone used graphic novels to teach on climate change and environmental justice?

i've used excerpts from derrick jensen and stephanie mcmillan's "as the world burns: 50 simple things you can do to stay in denial" but i'm looking for more!

How Climate Change Is Driving Home Insurance Turmoil Climate-fueled storms and wildfires are increasing costs and pushing insurers to the limit. Is the market broken?

In personal news, my homeowners insurance is up 47% this year, in northern Colorado. My insurance broker blamed it on "heavy catastrophic losses" and post-pandemic inflation.

undark.org/2025/09/30/c...

Twitter post by Stephen Lacey regarding the cancellation of the 6.2 GW Esmeralda 7 Project stating: "This is also a story about weaponizing veto points. These cancellations are direct retribution for fights over coal, KeystoneXL & LNG exports. We absolutely need to phase out fossils as fast as possible. But this is the other side of the coin when infrastructure gets political."

It is foolish to contend that we can somehow avoid the hard politics of climate action by rendering the challenge into a bloodless infrastructure problem somehow immune to the power & influence of the fossil fuel industry.

... can you share the syllabus? i just taught one called "becoming an agent of social change," sounds like there would be some synergies.

texas' loss.

Headed to #AAG2026 and have something to say about discretion in natural resource management and environmental governance? Check out this CFP (Adrianne Kroepsch, Jill Harrison, and me): docs.google.com/document/d/1...

@cape-aag.bsky.social
@politicalgeography.bsky.social
@geographers.bsky.social

See also "Moving from Individual Change to Societal Change" (Annie Leonard) and "Forging Hegemony: How Recycling
Became a Popular but Inadequate Response to Accumulating Waste" (Jaeger)

... 2. We shouldn't blame individuals and instead focus on collective and government action ("Forget Shorter Showers")... to 3. Individuals do have some power and influence; different strategies can maximize it (see work on behavioral contagion).

"Individualization: Plant a Tree, Ride a Bike, Save the World?" (Maniates), "Forget Shorter Showers" (Jensen).

I lecture about this and trace the trajectory from 1. Individuals are responsible for environmental degradation through what they drive, buy, eat, etc. (e.g., "carbon footprints").... to

Critics of renewables often point to land use as a reason not to invest in wind & solar. Land use IS a real issue for all energy assets incl renewables (unless on-site).

But what critics conveniently forget is the huge land impact of fossil fuels. Aerial view of fracking sites in Wickett, Texas. 👇

sadly (happily, oddly, perfectly?), my dissertation was on beekeeping.

What's new is old . . . (-1916-)
#EnergyTransition

my takeaway from climate week nyc is that "climate storytelling" is a little too much "we must reimagine our deepest souls in relationship to mother nature and the moral abyss of the polycrisis into which we must now stare" and not enough "ok but get a heat pump"

Fossil fuel billionaires are bankrolling the anti-trans movement An investigation shared exclusively with Atmos and HEATED finds that 80% of anti-trans organizations receive fossil fuel funding.

Excellent reporting from Heated and Atmos.

It looks like some of the biggest investors in the anti-trans movement are fossil fuel billionaires who are trying to use trans issues to ensure that Republicans pass policies favorable to their industry.

heated.world/p/fossil-fue...

yes! i have a kid, august / gus, and we almost exclusively use "gus" so i write down things like "diapers for G" -- but it doesn't feel right! gus should only be oral, august (A) written.

"Our measurements show that wheat and grass-clover mixtures grow just as well between vertical solar panels as in open fields. At the same time, the panels produce electricity in a daily pattern that better matches energy demand. It's a win-win,"

Get these to Kansas ASAP

When someone says one thing to gain power and then a contradictory thing when exercising that power, the most useful lens for understanding it is power, not hypocrisy.

this is incredibly true and tracks with a basic dynamic we've seen all along: the people who were cowed into submission by Trump's win were elites. regular people have never given an inch

you should! i've been editor between other jobs and can help cheaply because i'm a big fan. (just preordered your book yesterday.)

FOSSIL FUEL HARMS ON THE HUMAN BODY GLOBAL CLIMATE & HEALTH ALLIANCE Brain and Nervous System Cognitive decline, developmental delays, lower IQ, dementia. Parkinson's disease, depression Liver and Kidneys Kidney disease, liver toxicity, organ damage Lungs and Airways Asthma, COPD, lung cancer, reduced lung function, chronic bronchitis Heart and Cardiovascular Heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure Reproductive Systems Male: Reduced fertility. hormonal disruption Female: Infertility, miscarriage, preterm birth, birth defects Immune System Weakened immunity. higher infection risk Blood/Bone Marrow Leukemia, lymphoma, other blood cancers Mental Health Anxiety, depression, PTSD (disasters, displacement), developmental impacts #Cradle2Grave

Key health impacts include: Extraction (e.g., fracking, coal mining, offshore drilling) releases benzene, heavy metals, radioactive materials, and particulates, driving up rates of respiratory disease, cardiovascular illness, cancers, adverse birth outcomes, and neurological disorders in surrounding populations. Refining and processing have been shown to emit carcinogenic chemicals such as benzene, toluene, and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), posing serious risks to workers and nearby residents, especially in densely clustered industrial zones. Transport and storage involve risks of chemical leaks and spills, which contaminate air and water and trigger acute and chronic health effects, including respiratory and neurological damage. Combustion, whether in power plants, vehicles, or homes, generates particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), nitrogen oxides, and other pollutants, significantly increasing risks of asthma, heart disease, stroke, cancer, dementia, and premature mortality. Post-combustion waste (e.g., coal ash, gas flaring) continues to expose communities to heavy metals and toxins, contributing to long-term environmental degradation and chronic disease. Legacy pollution from abandoned fossil fuel sites causes sustained harm decades later. Fossil fuels are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, driving the climate crisis that fuels extreme weather, spreads disease, and causes lasting and devastating harm to human health. It’s crucial to note here that many health harms remain dangerously understudied—often unfolding over decades, by which time the damage is irreversible. Worse still, the cumulative toll of multiple projects in the same region is rarely accounted for, leaving entire communities exposed without adequate scrutiny or protection

Fossil fuels are harmful in a million different ways, but the immediate impacts they have has been broadly understated

If climate change were a hoax their severe, deadly health impacts would alone be enough justification to still get rid of them

climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/u...

"The poor ... help to keep the aristocracy busy [and] play a similar function for philanthropic enterprises, including the mass of middle-class civic organizations and women's clubs engaged in volunteer work" (Gans, 1972, "The positive functions of poverty").

Fair!

I've always like @nathanielstinnett.bsky.social's line, "The greatest trick the fossil fuel industry ever played was convincing us that the climate crisis is a suicide, rather than a homicide.”