Laos became the second country to ban import of gasoline cars. Ethiopia banned them 2 years ago. In Laos 40% of gas stations had closed and others had lines around the block. The price of gasoline had doubled and was causing inflation. So it was good policy to say "No more ICE cars for a while."
Well worth reading this short piece by Josh Lawlor and colleagues: "Federal scientists, a great American invention: a letter to our federal colleagues". It's a beautiful thank you to US federal scientists. 10,109 PhDs in STEM and health lost their jobs in 2025 alone -- 17% of the workforce gone in a single year. These people have “changed our fundamental understanding of ourselves, the environment, the planet, and the universe and, in the process, have inspired generations of Americans”. I’ll never quite understand the motivations behind attacking science in this way. It’s a short but powerful reflection — well worth your time.
Submitted my comment and alerted both senators re the OMB rule. my message:
"This rule will kill scientific research in the US. It states:
"One or more senior political appointees designated by their agency head must conduct “a pre-issuance review” of all discretionary grants, making sure they follow several principles, including to “demonstrably advance the President’s policy priorities.”"
I submitted a comment today. The text follows.
"This rule subjects every research grant to review by a political appointee who will likely lack qualifications to understand the proposals. This is yet another misguided attempt to throttle scientific research in the US. It effectively kills the goose that lays golden eggs. it will make us less safe, less profitable and less competitive in the international sphere. Moreover it makes our country more ignorant, which seems to be the Trump Republican Regime's primary goal.
It is, like former attempts, susceptible to junk science advocates and misguided underlings who rely on results of a keyword search without considering context.
Reject this ill-considered rule."
Russell Vought must be exposed for the villain that he is."
Political control of science always begins the same way: by claiming it's merely about "priorities"—and ends with inconvenient facts no longer receiving funding.
"Political interference in science discovery is what lead the USSR straight into the Chernobyl disaster. Learn the lessons of history and let scientists decide what science to pursue."
Good article, packed full of valuable information. It's especially good news about the rapid energy transition in Australia. They serve as a role model for the rest of the world.
I’m an editor and I regularly edit academic texts. Last week a 60 page grant proposal to a US government funding agency landed on my desk. It was a great proposal, clearly thought out, seeking funding for a very necessary academic training program. The topic was clearly about a societal impact of climate change. The authors tied themselves up in linguistic knots in their attempt to not use the words ‘climate change’ or anything related. My heart broke for these hard working and clearly ethically driven academics trying to work in a political climate in which their grant proposal could well be tossed aside for mentioning the C words. I would be interested to know how many grant proposals mention climate change this year, relative to previous years.
Your reporting on how China and Australia are moving to renewables is great at motivating confidence by US fans of clean power, but more reporting of local and state pro-electrification projects in the US is needed in order to move the needle of public confidence in a non fossil fuel future. Even more coverage of how individuals and neighborhoods (particularly in red states) are taking pro-renewables action (switching to hybrids and EVs, more efficiency in water use and home HVAC, reducing food waste, putting more veggies in the diet, starting small home gardens, etc., etc.) can influence other individuals to see that reducing dependence on oil and gas means increasing affordability and actually making your lifestyle more enviable and sophisticated, while also saving you money. In other words, more human interest stories, not so many statistics, and maybe even some smiling faces (yes, graphics). But more power to you! Keep up the great work!
It’s so good to hear what other counties are getting done. It’s inspiring and something that hasn’t been done much in the past. We’re all in this together!! No one gets left out.
Thank you so much for your positivity in this sometimes grim space. I really like your portmanteau of scilencing and thoroughly welcome the good news you find - I'm so thankful that at least NOAA had been continued, for now.
It does seem like before they are done every US government department and agency will be run by flunkies and everything done by them will be vetted for political correctness, in order to support the regime. Science will be silenced - at the source rather than more haphazardly via partisan media.
But, critically to the future of the USA, it does look like the agencies that run and vet US elections for fairness and fraud are principle targets for Trump style 'political correction'; whether they win or lose the vote count Trumpists intend to 'win' by any means, fair or foul - almost certainly foul - which isn't so much a novel approach invented by Trump as one with a long and sordid history that is being used more brazenly as the means of checking and balanceing are 'corrected'.
Thanks for the numerous stories and facts showing that renewable power is the econmically prudent way forward. Fossil fuels are being shown costlier in dollars as well as health for people and the natural environment. May politicians add this fact to their platforms. Five months to make rational changes with emotional rhetoric.
When I visited Beijng in 2009 to give a series of lectures on musical and cultural sustainability, there was a law that automobiles could drive on certain days, not all days, on account of the massive air pollution. If your license plate ended in an add number, you could drive on, say, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; if you had an odd number it was Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The air was so polluted that after only a few hours walking around as a tourist my eyes began to burn. It's interesting to hear that China has been taking global heating very seriously and doing some things to reverse it even as it continues to mine and burn coal.
The conclusion to draw from today's letter is this:
The fossil fuel industry is in a fight for its very existence, and the gloves — and the mask — are off.
It's time for the rest of us to stop bringing knives to a gunfight.
It's on.
"... clean energy meets an ever-higher proportion of global energy demand" The Hormuz mess "may well have set in motion a chain of events that pushes the fossil fuel industry into retreat in the next few years" reports https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/liebreich-the-great-clean-energy-acceleration-2-0/
In fact, emissions just fell. “Global greenhouse gas emissions decreased 0.1% vs. March 2025. As China peaks, the world peaks. China's emissions declined 0.8%. https://climatetrace.org/news/climate-trace-releases-march-2026-emissions-data
Laos became the second country to ban import of gasoline cars. Ethiopia banned them 2 years ago. In Laos 40% of gas stations had closed and others had lines around the block. The price of gasoline had doubled and was causing inflation. So it was good policy to say "No more ICE cars for a while."
Well worth reading this short piece by Josh Lawlor and colleagues: "Federal scientists, a great American invention: a letter to our federal colleagues". It's a beautiful thank you to US federal scientists. 10,109 PhDs in STEM and health lost their jobs in 2025 alone -- 17% of the workforce gone in a single year. These people have “changed our fundamental understanding of ourselves, the environment, the planet, and the universe and, in the process, have inspired generations of Americans”. I’ll never quite understand the motivations behind attacking science in this way. It’s a short but powerful reflection — well worth your time.
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.70050
Submitted my comment and alerted both senators re the OMB rule. my message:
"This rule will kill scientific research in the US. It states:
"One or more senior political appointees designated by their agency head must conduct “a pre-issuance review” of all discretionary grants, making sure they follow several principles, including to “demonstrably advance the President’s policy priorities.”"
I submitted a comment today. The text follows.
"This rule subjects every research grant to review by a political appointee who will likely lack qualifications to understand the proposals. This is yet another misguided attempt to throttle scientific research in the US. It effectively kills the goose that lays golden eggs. it will make us less safe, less profitable and less competitive in the international sphere. Moreover it makes our country more ignorant, which seems to be the Trump Republican Regime's primary goal.
It is, like former attempts, susceptible to junk science advocates and misguided underlings who rely on results of a keyword search without considering context.
Reject this ill-considered rule."
Russell Vought must be exposed for the villain that he is."
Political control of science always begins the same way: by claiming it's merely about "priorities"—and ends with inconvenient facts no longer receiving funding.
My comment to the feds...
"Political interference in science discovery is what lead the USSR straight into the Chernobyl disaster. Learn the lessons of history and let scientists decide what science to pursue."
I sent a comment, I said science solves human problems and problems and is vital for our shared earth! And then I attached this article! 🙋♀️
Good article, packed full of valuable information. It's especially good news about the rapid energy transition in Australia. They serve as a role model for the rest of the world.
Thwaites glacier has a crack and it's about to collapse, so sea-level rise might be several meters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz-AKBbxAR8
3.3m--horrific for many coastal cities
I’m an editor and I regularly edit academic texts. Last week a 60 page grant proposal to a US government funding agency landed on my desk. It was a great proposal, clearly thought out, seeking funding for a very necessary academic training program. The topic was clearly about a societal impact of climate change. The authors tied themselves up in linguistic knots in their attempt to not use the words ‘climate change’ or anything related. My heart broke for these hard working and clearly ethically driven academics trying to work in a political climate in which their grant proposal could well be tossed aside for mentioning the C words. I would be interested to know how many grant proposals mention climate change this year, relative to previous years.
Your reporting on how China and Australia are moving to renewables is great at motivating confidence by US fans of clean power, but more reporting of local and state pro-electrification projects in the US is needed in order to move the needle of public confidence in a non fossil fuel future. Even more coverage of how individuals and neighborhoods (particularly in red states) are taking pro-renewables action (switching to hybrids and EVs, more efficiency in water use and home HVAC, reducing food waste, putting more veggies in the diet, starting small home gardens, etc., etc.) can influence other individuals to see that reducing dependence on oil and gas means increasing affordability and actually making your lifestyle more enviable and sophisticated, while also saving you money. In other words, more human interest stories, not so many statistics, and maybe even some smiling faces (yes, graphics). But more power to you! Keep up the great work!
It’s so good to hear what other counties are getting done. It’s inspiring and something that hasn’t been done much in the past. We’re all in this together!! No one gets left out.
Parking lots with solar panels like the French are doing. It’s now a law. Providing shade and power.
Thank you so much for your positivity in this sometimes grim space. I really like your portmanteau of scilencing and thoroughly welcome the good news you find - I'm so thankful that at least NOAA had been continued, for now.
It does seem like before they are done every US government department and agency will be run by flunkies and everything done by them will be vetted for political correctness, in order to support the regime. Science will be silenced - at the source rather than more haphazardly via partisan media.
But, critically to the future of the USA, it does look like the agencies that run and vet US elections for fairness and fraud are principle targets for Trump style 'political correction'; whether they win or lose the vote count Trumpists intend to 'win' by any means, fair or foul - almost certainly foul - which isn't so much a novel approach invented by Trump as one with a long and sordid history that is being used more brazenly as the means of checking and balanceing are 'corrected'.
Thanks for the numerous stories and facts showing that renewable power is the econmically prudent way forward. Fossil fuels are being shown costlier in dollars as well as health for people and the natural environment. May politicians add this fact to their platforms. Five months to make rational changes with emotional rhetoric.
When I visited Beijng in 2009 to give a series of lectures on musical and cultural sustainability, there was a law that automobiles could drive on certain days, not all days, on account of the massive air pollution. If your license plate ended in an add number, you could drive on, say, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; if you had an odd number it was Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The air was so polluted that after only a few hours walking around as a tourist my eyes began to burn. It's interesting to hear that China has been taking global heating very seriously and doing some things to reverse it even as it continues to mine and burn coal.
... ended in an even number, you could drive on, say, Monday...