Jesse Damiani

Quite an opening paragraph.

Polymarket pulled nuclear detonation markets after public backlash. There's a right way to forecast existential risks and a wrong way. The right way: aggregate judgment for reliable foresight. The wrong way: let anonymous wallets profit from mass death--or worse, corrupt the decisions themselves.

The fate of fossil fuel systems in the "mid-transition" I talk with Emily Grubert about the hidden dangers of letting the free market manage the decline of our legacy energy infrastructure.

Today on Volts: for the next few decades, we'll be in the "mid-transition," with clean energy systems growing as FF systems decline. Those FF systems will not decline smoothly -- there will be thresholds, "cliffs," where they suddenly crumble -- so maybe we should, I dunno, plan for it?

Is this good, chat?

RFK Jr. wants Dunkin’ to prove drinking its iced coffee is safe - The Boston Globe The warning comes as Kennedy is leaning heavily into his agenda to improve American diets.

Congratulations to 2028 Democratic National Convention keynote speaker Ben Affleck www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/04/n...

Should we be gambling on war? For so many reasons, no.

holy fuck holy fuck holy FUCK

Vehicle fuel economy and vehicle miles traveled: An empirical investigation of Jevon’s Paradox There has been, in recent decades, a concerted effort to promote energy efficiency as a means to reduce energy consumption. The general thesis is that…

STUDY: Despite conventional wisdom that increases in vehicle fuel efficiency results in decreased gasoline consumption, Jevons’ Paradox holds. For every 1 mile per gallon of increased fuel efficiency there’s an associated 1.2 mile increase in vehicle miles travelled.

Better cars = higher emissions.

I will continue the fight for environmental justice in Black communities Nicknamed the father of environmental justice, Robert Bullard argues that researchers in the field have more reason than ever to back up their work with action.

“I might have written 18 books over the past four decades, but it’s really all just one book on fairness, justice and equity,” @drrobertbullard.bsky.social, the father of environmental justice.

His nature.com interview ends the Changemakers Q&A series, started by @kendallsciwrite.bsky.social.

Cover of The Lancet:

@thelancet.com
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

I first thought "there aren't words" when I first saw this story. but there are

Quite a flex to host Brendan “We Can Do This the Easy Way or the Hard Way” Carr as the headline speaker for your ‘Restoring Trust in Media’ conference…

Here’s my ask: if you’re a climate denier, please explain this.

The ICE Contractor Down the Hall A tour through the Midtown intelligence firms and courier services that help keep the agency running.

new from me at @curbed.com: everyone ICE did business with in New York City last year www.curbed.com/article/ice-...

Excellent work from excellent team. And let's be sure to not bury the headlines here: coral reefs are GONE. Beyond 1.5°C we should expect >90% dead. North Atlantic currents very vulnerable at this temp. These are potentially v fast tipping points that could cause havoc with weather, farming. 1/5

Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus.

FOSS nerds: the Torment Nexus cannot be ethical until it is Open Source

these people treat being called racist like it is a slur, and treat slurs like they're mere differences of opinion

Biodiversity on the Brink: Ecological Rhythms & Human Urgency - Jonathan Tonkin | Rapid Response #20 Biodiversity underpins life on Earth as we know it—ecologist Jonthan Tonkin lays it all out, including his research on freshwater biodiversity and climate extremes.

I had the chance to join @jessedamiani.bsky.social for a Substack Live conversation last week. We covered a lot of ground — from ecological rhythms to extreme events. We talked rivers, a bit about my back story, and even the importance of finding joy.

YouTube link: youtu.be/sTv7L4xfeVY?...

The hidden ICE blueprint that should horrify every American | Will Bunch An internal Department of Homeland Security document shows how ICE plans to cram thousands of detained human beings inside a Georgia warehouse.

What's more shocking than ICE's plan to cram as many 8,500 humans into massive, soul-crushing warehouses?

Seeing the actual DHS floor plan that echoes slavery ships and history's worst gulags with no rec space but a gun range for guards

My new column on the camps www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...

Appropriating NIMBYism for good 🤌

Extreme events and river biodiversity under climate change - Nature Reviews Biodiversity Extreme events — such as floods, droughts and heatwaves — are escalating in frequency, magnitude and duration. This Review discusses the implications of these global changes for biodiversity in rivers...

Rivers aren’t just warming: they’re being reshaped by extreme events
Our new paper in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com shows how floods, droughts & heatwaves are pushing ecosystems past their limits, with recovery no longer guaranteed
We can build resilience, but it requires a shift in how we manage rivers

DHS is holding a 2-month-old BABY at a detention facility in Texas.

Last night, Juan Nicolás was rushed to the hospital after choking on his own vomit & being unable to breathe.

This demands accountability — not a blank check for more cruelty.

Algorithm-based tool for home support funding is ‘cruel’ and ‘inhumane’, Australian aged care workers warn Mark Aitken, who worked in the sector for 16 years, said eight times out of 10 he disagreed with the integrated assessment tool

Aged care clinicians and carers say an algorithm-based assessment tool that determines federal home support funding packages is “cruel” and “inhumane”, stripping away clinical expertise and leaving elderly people with inadequate support www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Thank you! They won’t disappoint!

Calling it now: the US political media's treatment of AOC is going to make their treatment of Hillary Clinton or Al Gore look like a model of balance and discretion.

The key to defeating Trump? Mass non-cooperation | Mark Engler and Paul Engler Our studies in civil resistance offer insight into the level of popular organizing needed to repel assaults on democracy

This new piece by @markengler.bsky.social and Paul Engler in The Guardian provides valuable insights into the role that non-cooperation and popular defiance must play in pushing back to the growing autocracy in the US. Read the whole piece here: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

With Latest Rollback, the U.S. Essentially Has No Clean-Car Rules

Nobody’s going to buy US cars outside the US www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/c...

Gotta say, in some ways it's quite useful to humanity that the anti-science guys, the white supremacists, the fossil fuel boosters and the pedophiles are *the same people*

Recognizing this reality does not discount the efforts of public officials, civil society, researchers and academic experts who are participating earnestly to advocate for rights respecting frameworks in AI. However, the very design of this summit and the overall context in which it is taking place may not value their intent or labor. Any claims of AI solving for population scale problems must be matched against the reality of the Global South, in which young boys were applying enamel paint on the railings in Mathura Road in peak morning traffic with their bare hands to prepare for the arrival of Silicon Valley CEOs.

As the India AI Impact Summit gets underway, thinking about this anecdote from Tech Policy Press fellow and Internet Freedom Foundation founding director Apar Gupta, who travels every other day on Mathura Road to reach the High Court and Supreme Court in Delhi. www.techpolicy.press/indias-ai-im...