Tagged - Environment
Climate Change
We never learned from the Dust Bowl
We teach the Dust Bowl as a cautionary tale. In every American history class, we learn how farmers in the 1920s and 1930s tore up millions of acres of native grassland across the Great Plains to plant wheat, how the deep-rooted prairie grasses that held the soil and trapped moisture were replaced by shallow crops and bare fields, and, when drought came in 1930, how the exposed topsoil turned to dust. Read More
Environment
Renewable energy and the right-wing, as observed by a recent Rochester immigrant
The majority of the populations of both the U.S. and the U.K. evidently understand the need to move towards a renewable energy model for their countries. According to the DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker, 80% of British adults support the use of renewable energy as of the summer of 2025. The Pew Research Center has reported that 86% of American adults support expanding wind and solar power as of May 2025. Read More
Climate Change
The hard truth about decarbonization: why half-measures will not save us
This creates a dilemma. If we only mandate what is easy for companies to implement, emissions keep rising. If we pretend everything can be decarbonized quickly, climate policy collapses under its obvious failures. A serious approach has to accept two tenets at once: we need full decarbonization everywhere that it is possible, and we need honest promises from sectors where it is not. Read More
ai
The United States’ AI dominance starts with a dominant clean energy supply-chain
This imbalance represents a major strategic risk: Without an independent, clean, scalable, and economically viable energy scheme of its own, the U.S.’ lead in energy-intense AI tech will be short-lived. Read More
Climate Change
Why this hurricane season felt off
One quiet season for U.S. impacts does not mean climate scientists were wrong. It means that we got lucky. Scientists predicted favorable conditions for intense hurricanes, and we got three Category 5 hurricanes. Read More
Climate Change
A shortcut on climate science is a dead end
Climate policy will always involve cost tradeoffs. However, we should not tilt the scale by ignoring evidence or skipping review. Read More
corporations
The dirty truth of greenwashing
It goes without saying that greenwashing, or any other form of disingenuous activism, is wrong. Read More
Conservation
The EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding: Why it exists, how it works, and what we lose if it’s rescinded
The Endangerment Finding let the EPA use tools it already had to manage existing risks. Read More
data
When did earth science become controversial?
It is essential that we fund the basics that make science work, like field labs, calibration, and long-term monitoring. Read More
Environment
No more pink soap: Why the University’s decision to implement fragrance-free soap is a move in the right direction
The ubiquitous pink soap in University bathrooms are gone, replaced with Purell “Fragrance-Free” dispensers. Why the change? Read More
