Richard Waite

“Stop burning things and stop cutting trees down” is a good climate mantra for energy systems and food systems but it’s good for transport and urban planning too…

Feels like the world is getting a crash course in the concept of leakage this week

It's a common misconception, "rizz" is actually derived from Tetris

reminded of my most dad coded political opinion which is that we need a universal Naps and Lil Snacks For All program

bsky.app/profile/wait...

Oh look here’s a strategy that nets a climate double win because it reduces fossil fuel use AND also reduces humanity’s land footprint (avoiding ecosystem conversion)!

We should do much more of this!!!

(The palm trees are obviously the ones they bring north for the summer in Ocean City)

This Lego idea is Maryland-coded

I can't compete with this.

Desalination, water, and war Attacks on civilian systems, including water systems, must be condemned and punished under the laws of war.

My new opinion piece on the recently reported attacks on desalination plants in the Middle East.
#water
#desalination
#iranwar

thebulletin.org/2026/03/desa...

And open the windows

78 tomorrow and Wednesday. Nice to turn the heat off a bit

Yes this is my type of content 👍🏼

It's Good

March 2020 awful. 2025 and 2026 ominous. Even 2021 not great as many of us had not yet gotten vax.

Wait it's clear??? I always imagined it was cola-colored

^^^ Extremely well-said

There are no minor nutrition wins from this way of thinking that are worth the long-term downsides for all of public health

Idea: have a March at some point in the near future where the chirping birds, first spring flowers, and pleasant temps aren’t overshadowed by a looming existential dread

Temperatures are in the 60s or near 70 and it’s sunny

A Delightful Monday warning is in effect

Also more housing built near transport. If you want to live somewhere walkable to very good transport, cost of rent or house is more $$$

Yes - although people complain about rising gas prices and it creates pressure on the government, it’s still cheaper here than in many places. And our land use patterns are such that people are hooked on cars. We need more walkable and bikeable cities and suburbs, better public transport etc.

Awesome thank you.

Yeah I still have a gas car because the EVs were too expensive last time I bought a car so had the pleasure of a $30ish fill-up yesterday

But I am going to feel so smug and fancy when I haul my little human-powered reel mower out of the shed sometime next month when the grass turns green

Oh cool. Thanks. Got any good links where I (and others) can learn more about the latest status of electric airplanes?

Long 🧵 tl;dr:

- Global ag commodity markets are integrated
- Biofuel policies raise ag commodity prices, causing ag to expand
- This leads to land-use change emissions
- We need to get off fossil fuels ASAP! But beware “solutions” that just swap fossil emissions for even higher land emissions

Aviation and maritime shipping are both tricky.

We are subsidizing commodity crops & finding new markets & uses for them

Also in mid-2000s, we were worried about energy security. But now we produce more oil so aren't dependent on imports like before, PLUS now we have cheap solar that didn't exist then that we should really be scaling up!

Yes, solar is 100x more land-efficient at producing energy than biofuels

For EVs, because of the additional efficiencies of the engine, the efficiency (miles driven per acre of land) becomes 300:1

We don't have electric airplanes yet tho (and they will probably only be for short haul flights)

Yup all of this