Kristina Pistone
@kristinapistone.bsky.social
Climate science PhD and aspiring polyglot. I study the atmosphere (aerosols/clouds/air quality) and the Arctic, not always at the same time. Still trying to figure out life, the universe, everything. I’m not as Online as I once was. she/her/ella .. more
Climate science PhD and aspiring polyglot. I study the atmosphere (aerosols/clouds/air quality) and the Arctic, not always at the same time. Still trying to figure out life, the universe, everything. I’m not as Online as I once was. she/her/ella
Environmental science
51%
Geology
20%
Not a done deal- baynature.org/magazine/win... and www.vallejosun.com/poll-shows-o...
Underneath California Forever
Tech billionaires are fighting for their proposed 400,000-person city in Solano County. At least 21 imperiled species depend on the ecosystems where the new city could be built.
baynature.org
credit where it’s due: bsky.app/profile/ms-b... (with another article with a very interesting map about 2/3 down showing how much of the area would *not* be designated as open space; it’s mostly mixed use, with commercial, industrial, and manufacturing). Not much ecosystem left if they do this…
Well, I’m sure these dudes will have very tidy construction sites, definitely won’t roll bulldozers all over everything; the salamanders can just be patient and move into backyards when they’re done.. 🙃🙄
Thanks for confirming what I thought re: the impact to endangered species and the ecosystem!
Thanks for confirming what I thought re: the impact to endangered species and the ecosystem!
And HepB.
We knew someone who died extremely suddenly at 34 and it was because he had neonatal exposure and we didn’t vaccinate newborns for it in the 90s. HepB -> liver cancer is one of the very few bright red causal lines in medicine.
We knew someone who died extremely suddenly at 34 and it was because he had neonatal exposure and we didn’t vaccinate newborns for it in the 90s. HepB -> liver cancer is one of the very few bright red causal lines in medicine.
I’m #notanecologist but yeah isn’t connectivity v important in addition to total area? They’re literally building a giant overpass over a SoCal freeway (similar to the widened freeway they propose to accommodate this project?) because it was so catastrophic to a particular charismatic megafauna?
But also I’m not a builder, so what do I know. Alls I know for sure is that sure sounds like a miserable commute, none of this is passing the sniff test, and quite a few recent examples have demonstrated that the judgment and motivation of billionaires is… let’s say questionable at best.
Is one of them with the original soundtrack and the other one is whatever music they replaced it with on streaming?
I’d be surprised if at least some benefit of scale isn’t countered by being in the middle of nowhere/away from existing supply chains/labor. Surely it would be the same or better to build e.g. some quadplexes here + the same on the other side of town? Apartment buildings already all look alike!
Oh, didn’t Alexis Madrigal also just have a whole book about West Oakland and how there’s *so* much opportunity for investment (when done justly in conjunction with the community) there?
They could *just as easily* use their vast wealth to invest in many smaller areas within existing cities. Or lobby for bike lanes. Or invest in any of our struggling public transit systems. Or, I dunno, get that Dixon train station open! But they want to get the credit for A Whole Thing instead.
I think that kind of goes to my other point: the billionaires want a Big Flashy ***THING*** they can point to to show how cool they are, and definitely care about climate.
Underneath California Forever
Tech billionaires are fighting for their proposed 400,000-person city in Solano County. At least 21 imperiled species depend on the ecosystems where the new city could be built.
baynature.org
Someone else linked to this one: baynature.org/magazine/win... although I’m sure actual ecologists can correct me (@christinatoms.bsky.social ?) if there’s better info out there.
Ah reddit. Of course it’s on reddit.
Oh for sure. And also, fill in an existing rail line, rather than extend it into undeveloped spaces. But I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here.
That’s so sad… Wait, so Union Pacific wouldn’t stop trains there because they didn’t also put in grade separation, on the tracks that UP own and they were already running trains on?
Also, sounds like they started on that about the time we all voted for CAHSR….
Also, sounds like they started on that about the time we all voted for CAHSR….
I’m sure someone has done a podcast about (the multiple?) now-defunct trains that used to be awesome?
It’s maybe kind of a tangent but I wish this country did trains better… and as much as I love new electric caltrain, if I had to commute 1h each way on it each and every day, I wouldn’t last long.
It’s maybe kind of a tangent but I wish this country did trains better… and as much as I love new electric caltrain, if I had to commute 1h each way on it each and every day, I wouldn’t last long.
It sounds great to build a totes sustainable standalone community but if you ignore the reality of the systems we already have (where cities are porous, jobs are dispersed, people need to get around), it won’t be; you have the wrong boundary conditions. Also, destroying endangered species habitat.
I always try to hold in my head the two concepts of “here’s how I really wish the world to be” and “here’s the (awful, messed up, nonsensical) world in which we find ourselves.” Yes you need the principles of the former, but if you ignore the latter you may do more harm than good.
1.5h drive to Berkeley. 2+h drive to downtown SJ. Google Maps “can’t find a way there” via transit, but for context the ACE rail takes >2 hours to get from Stockton to SJ.
This is a terrible place for a terrible plan and won’t be car-free unless, again, they’re planning to reinvent company towns.
This is a terrible place for a terrible plan and won’t be car-free unless, again, they’re planning to reinvent company towns.
I do not see how any standalone city in middle-of-nowhere can be actually sustainable. Part of the challenge of the bay area is the porosity of the cities/jobs/commute interaction. Unless their plan is to reinvent the concept of a company town, in which case I have even more problems with this.
The great lengths billionaires will go to try to invent a “sexy” egotistical climate solution when really what we need is someone doing the quiet, boring work of making denser (and better insulated, electrified, etc) multifamily housing and public transit in the cities we already have…
Reposted by Kristina Pistone
Underneath California Forever
Tech billionaires are fighting for their proposed 400,000-person city in Solano County. At least 21 imperiled species depend on the ecosystems where the new city could be built.
baynature.org
Not a done deal- baynature.org/magazine/win... and www.vallejosun.com/poll-shows-o...
It’s great that there’s so much outreach to get more homeowners to switch to heat pumps and induction, but as someone who will be renting… forever(?), I’m really looking forward to hearing what strategies might work when I am unfortunately not in charge of my apartment’s infrastructure!
The Buzz on Multifamily Electrification
Join our Sustainability Speaker Series event with speaker, Nick Dirr, as he discusses how to make apartment buildings all-electric.
www.eventbrite.com
I know everything is terrible everywhere right now (thus me mostly quitting the socials), but I hope people will check out this webinar on Wednesday on how to decarbonize apartments etc: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-buzz-o...
Both events will have live audience Q&As, but both will also be recorded for later viewing. Hope you can attend!
2) the next Sunnyvale Sustainability Speaker Series event is Monday October 27, on disability rights and climate justice. Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/united-for... Look for the rest of the series for this next year to be announced shortly, as soon as we confirm dates!
www.nationalacademies.org
1) this year’s Ramanathan Climate Conversation is happening *tomorrow* afternoon, at SIO and online everywhere! www.nationalacademies.org/event/45367_.... Topic is air pollution in India. Will you see me in the room? Probably not but that’s because the panelists/moderator are all pretty great!
Hey all! How’s everyone’s apocalypse going? (sigh) Just dropping in to share a couple of events coming up that may be of interest:
Jacquelyn Gill
@jacquelyngill.bsky.social
· Feb 18
Firings are happening right now at the National Science Foundation. Essential staff are being cut.
This isn’t about the budget. If it was, they’d be going after the military (17%) or state appropriations (38%). NSF is 0.7% of the federal budget. All federal employees make up only 4% of the budget.
This isn’t about the budget. If it was, they’d be going after the military (17%) or state appropriations (38%). NSF is 0.7% of the federal budget. All federal employees make up only 4% of the budget.
Hey y’all. Everything continues to be a mess and I can’t really look at the news. But in the interest of local action making us feel less hopeless, maybe people are interested in our next Sustainability Speaker Series webinar about preventing pollution runoff? www.eventbrite.com/e/cleaner-st...
Happening tonight! Or register for the link to the recording!
And yes, I will also be at one of the anti-fascism (et al) protests on Saturday, because we can care about more than one thing at once.