Anthony Burke | Lightnews

Light up
your news

About Privacy Terms Help

Anthony Burke

Anthony Burke

@anthonyburke.bsky.social

3.9K followers 3.4K following 1.9K posts

Australian political theorist & international relations professor. Climate, justice, biodiversity, ecodemocracy. He/him. New book: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262552554/the-ecology-politic About: https://www.anthonydburke.net .. more

Anthony Burke is an Australian political theorist and international relations scholar. He is Professor of Environmental Politics and International Relations at the University of New South Wales. He is co-principal at the Planet Politics Institute. .. more

Political science 69%

Sociology 13%

more

Posts Replies Media Videos

Pinned

Anthony Burke @anthonyburke.bsky.social · Dec 31

Happy 2026 everyone. The geopolitics is real bad and I hope it doesn’t cause you harm, and that your personal worlds are nurturing and caring. I have some leave and while I am writing I may be spending a lot of it with a vibrant nonhuman.

An Australian shepherd dog at the beach with a sandy face after rolling a bazillion times. She had a bath next.

Reposted by Anthony Burke

UN Environment Programme @unep.org · 17h

As extreme heat intensifies across India, public servant Supriya Sahu has been working at the forefront of efforts to help communities adapt to a warming climate in Tamil Nadu.

More on this 2025 #EarthChamps: www.unep.org/championsofe...

Anthony Burke @anthonyburke.bsky.social · 17h

The commonwealth is struggling to fulfil its role already. It doesn’t have the capacity or will.

Reposted by Molly Scott Cato, Anthony Burke, Ian Bruff

George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 18h

1. In 2009 I wrote this. I argued that Peter Mandelson's department “functions as a fifth column within government, working for corporations to undermine democracy and the public interest.”
This thread explains what I saw, and reaches a startling conclusion.🧵
www.monbiot.com/2009/05/04/m...

Mandelson’s Fifth Column

The British government’s business department exists to undermine democracy.

www.monbiot.com

Reposted by Anthony Burke

Kate from Kharkiv @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 20h

Last night saw russia’s most massive combined strike on Ukraine this year.
The approximate routes of missiles and drones:

Anthony Burke @anthonyburke.bsky.social · 20h

Feeling this, even though it’s also a bit silly. We should be proud but that’s not what science is for.

Lissa Harris 🌈🗑️🔥⚔️🐀 @lissaharris.bsky.social · 22h

I feel extremely perceived by this

Matt Henry @menrywy.bsky.social · 22h

I recently heard someone say the key to recovering from deep burnout is becoming comfortable with being unremarkable, which I think is really good advice for former academics coming from spaces where the primary currency is individual accolades within an interminable productivity arms race.

Reposted by Anthony Burke

Lissa Harris 🌈🗑️🔥⚔️🐀 @lissaharris.bsky.social · 22h

I feel extremely perceived by this

Matt Henry @menrywy.bsky.social · 22h

I recently heard someone say the key to recovering from deep burnout is becoming comfortable with being unremarkable, which I think is really good advice for former academics coming from spaces where the primary currency is individual accolades within an interminable productivity arms race.

Reposted by Anthony Burke

Dr Jeremy Walker @jeremywalker.bsky.social · 23h

NY Times:
"the Energy Department violated the law when Sec. Chris Wright handpicked 5 researchers who reject the scientific consensus on climate change to work in secret on a..report on global warming..Koonin.. Christy..Curry..Ross McKitrick..the Cato Institute..coordinated the report" #AtlasNetwork

Reposted by Sherry Hamby, Melanie C. Green, Lesley Bartlett , and 2 more Sherry Hamby, Melanie C. Green, Lesley Bartlett, Anthony Burke, Nathan P. Kalmoe

ProPublica @propublica.org · 23h

Tear gas is banned in international warfare, yet classified as a “riot control agent” that law enforcement can use for crowd control.

“It just doesn’t work well, and it hits the weakest people the most, and causes the most complications in them,” an anesthesiology professor at Duke University said.

Tear Gas Is Way More Dangerous Than Police Let On

In the middle of a respiratory pandemic, law enforcement agencies have used tear gas in especially dangerous ways. The chemical agent also seeps into homes, contaminates food, furniture, skin and surf...

www.propublica.org

Anthony Burke @anthonyburke.bsky.social · 1d

www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Review of Machin and Wissenburg (2025) (eds.), Handbook of environmental political theory in the Anthropocene and Burke and Fishel (2025), The ecology politic: power, law, and earth in the Anthropocen...

Download Citation | On Jan 19, 2026, Jonathan Pickering published Review of Machin and Wissenburg (2025) (eds.), Handbook of environmental political theory in the Anthropocene and Burke and Fishel (20...

www.researchgate.net

Anthony Burke @anthonyburke.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you to Jonathan Pickering for this review of The Ecology Politic, which annoyingly asks the hardest question! and to the 1200 peeps who downloaded the volume last year. It’s also a beautiful book on the shelf.

mitpress.mit.edu/978026255255...

The Ecology Politic

In The Ecology Politic, Anthony Burke and Stefanie Fishel contend that the roots of our planetary crisis lie in the modern state: in its destructive entangle...

mitpress.mit.edu

Reposted by Anthony Burke

John Fodi @j-fodi.bsky.social · 1d

Brazil's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan includes the goal of conserving 80% of the Brazilian Amazon by 2030. It is easy to announce targets, but another thing to achieve them. I hope that Brazil succeeds. 🌍

#amazonrainforest #amazonia #amazon

news.mongabay.com/2026/01/braz...

Brazil sets out its strategy for nature

Brazil is the world’s most biodiverse country, and the title is not closely contested in absolute numbers: between 10% and 15% of all known species live within its borders. The country contains nearly...

news.mongabay.com

Reposted by Scott C. Doney, Gavin L. Foster, Stephen D. Murphy , and 3 more Scott C. Doney, Gavin L. Foster, Stephen D. Murphy, Anthony Burke, Tim Stephens, Peter Jacobs

Eos @eos.org · 1d

There’s no tipping point beyond which ocean acidification kills corals, new research shows. With every creeping bit of acidification, corals just continue to die off. 🧪🌊 eos.org/articles/cor...

Coral Diversity Drops as Ocean Acidifies - Eos

As seawater becomes steadily more acidic, complex branching corals die off and are replaced with hard boulder corals and algae.

Reposted by Ken Caldeira, Richard Waite, Stacy D. VanDeveer , and 1 more Ken Caldeira, Richard Waite, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Anthony Burke

Climatologist49 @climatologist49.bsky.social · 2d

January 2026 temperature rankings compared to all Januarys since 1895.

Reposted by Anthony Burke

Renew Economy @reneweconomy.com.au · 5d

Very close to 100% #renewable electricity is feasible for Australia’s main #grid at reasonable cost using just several hours of storage. Four years of #data proves this is so.

Near 100 pct renewable electricity for Australia’s main grid is achievable and affordable: Year 4 update

Very close to 100% renewable electricity is feasible for Australia’s main grid at reasonable cost using just several hours of storage. Four years of data proves this is so.

reneweconomy.com.au

Reposted by Anthony Burke

Alex Steffen @alexsteffen.bsky.social · 5d

NEW: When it comes to climate foresight, the small stuff really adds up.

alexsteffen.substack.com/p/things-fal...

Things fall apart; the maintenance schedule cannot hold.

Climate foresight at a small scale.

alexsteffen.substack.com

Reposted by Anthony Burke

Sacha @sachadylan.bsky.social · 5d

Government rejecting solid business cases for climate resilience, loading costs onto local councils.

New emergency response system will cost local govt $82m

Local and central government hope to save money by investing in resilience, and will split the cost of implementing a new response system

Reposted by Anthony Burke

Michael Feola @feolski.bsky.social · 5d

Coolcool. But who really needs a habitable planet? Probably worth it to churn out some sick memes, fake photos, and plagiarized papers. Right?

US leads record global surge in gas-fired power driven by AI demands, with big costs for the climate

Projects this year expected to triple global gas capacity, forecast finds, as concerns grow over impacts on planet

www.theguardian.com

Anthony Burke @anthonyburke.bsky.social · 6d

Anodyne word for fascism?

Reposted by Caroline Krafft, Rebecca Tushnet, Michael D. McDonald , and 7 more Caroline Krafft, Rebecca Tushnet, Michael D. McDonald, Julia M. Wright, Nelson Flores, Anthony Burke, Joanna L. Grossman, Peter Gratton, Sarah Brouillette, Peter Bergman

James Brandt @jamesbrandt.bsky.social · 6d

I will simply never recover from reading this sentence:

"Since Georgia implemented work requirements in 2020, they have spent twice as much on Deloitte consultants and administrative costs as on healthcare for people."

LPE Blog @lpeblog.bsky.social · 6d

Today, Luke Farrell (@lukef.bsky.social) explains how complex eligibility requirements have turned America’s safety net into a lucrative revenue stream for monopolistic private contractors.

The Means-Testing Industrial Complex

As Republicans tightened work requirements and eligibility rules for Medicaid and SNAP last year, Equifax’s CEO openly celebrated the profits to be made from administering this deprivation.

George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 6d

Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem.
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I'm not surprised | George Monbiot

It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindication, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Anthony Burke

Senator Lidia Thorpe @senatorthorpe.bsky.social · 7d

Albanese must lead a strong response to the Boorloo Day of Mourning bomb attack.

After the horror at Bondi we saw that leadership on violence and racism is possible with political will.

The same urgency is needed on rising threats against First Peoples.

My response:

nit.com.au/28-01-2026/2...

Lidia Thorpe urges decisive response to attack on First Peoples and supporters at Boorloo rally

Senator Lidia Thorpe has urged the federal government to respond as decisively to the rising threats against First Peoples as it did to the antisemitic attack at Bondi.The Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab...

Anthony Burke @anthonyburke.bsky.social · 7d

I’m starting to see more literature and events on #climate apartheid. Well yes, we should, but why are the only moral referents human? There are 8.7 million other species and 1 million are at risk.

Reposted by Anthony Burke

Mr and Mrs Trellis @thenorfolkcoast.bsky.social · 7d

A major agreement to protect the Amazon is falling apart after 20yrs. One of the world’s most effective zero-deforestation policies is hanging by a thread as Big Ag lobbyists and soy giants are walking away to protect profits....

sentientmedia.org/major-agreem...

A Major Agreement to Protect the Amazon Is Falling Apart After 20 Years

Amid changing political headwinds, the moratorium on soy-driven deforestation is in danger. What now?

sentientmedia.org

Reposted by Anthony Burke

nyc.thesocial.news @nyc.thesocial.news · 7d

‘Doomsday Clock’ moves closer to midnight over threats from nuclear weapons, climate change and AI

‘Doomsday Clock’ moves closer to midnight over threats from nuclear weapons, climate change and AI

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists cited risks of nuclear war, climate change and more.

www.nydailynews.com

Reposted by Anthony Burke, Karen O’Leary

Ingrid M @ingridm.bsky.social · 7d

can’t see federal Labor politicians dressed in the colours of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags to express their solidarity and collective outrage at this terrifying attack at a First Nations event.

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

Device allegedly thrown into Invasion Day crowd designed to 'explode on impact', say police

A 31-year-old man is charged with making explosives in suspicious circumstances after a device was allegedly thrown into a crowd of hundreds of people attending an Invasion Day rally in central Perth ...

Anthony Burke @anthonyburke.bsky.social · 7d

Kruger generously allowed me to use this work on the cover of my book in 2006. I never thought I would see it in such a setting.

Shot On 35mm @shoton35mm.bsky.social · Aug 15

Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino and federal agents stop in front of artist Barbara Kruger's iconic mural outside of MOCA while waiting for a traffic light to change.

The mural reads, "Who is beyond the law? Who is bought and sold? Who is free to choose?"

@lataco.bsky.social

Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino stands at Alameda and Temple Streets surrounded by mostly masked Border Patrol agents dressed in green and camouflage uniforms. In the background is artist Barbara Kruger's iconic mural outside of MOCA. The mural reads, "Who is beyond the law? Who is bought and sold? Who is free to choose?"

Reposted by Naomi Priest, Anthony Burke

Professor Euan Ritchie @euanritchie.bsky.social · 8d

Another totally messed-up act in colonial Australia.
First Nations peoples disregarded and sidelined, again.
Wongari (dingoes) murdered.
Shame on all responsible.

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

Traditional owners heartbroken by dingo cull after Piper James's death

The Queensland government euthanises six dingoes involved in Piper James's death on K'gari, and is expected to cull more in the coming days.

Reposted by Anthony Burke

Tasmanian Inquirer @tasinquirer.bsky.social · 8d

“We are essentially at the stage where the waters in south-eastern Tasmania aren’t fit for purpose for salmon” — marine ecologist Prof Stewart Frusher

▶️ www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Four million salmon died prematurely at Tasmanian fish farms in 2025, government data reveals

Death toll sparks calls for companies to be fined under animal welfare legislation over mass fish deaths

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Anthony Burke

Anne Norton @annenortonnow.bsky.social · 9d

Exactly. As Tom Paine said we need to take an axe to the root and teach governments humanity.

Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 10d

Also, may I say that I don’t agree with people saying ICE and CBP need “more training.” They’re doing exactly what this administration has trained them to—impose a reign of fear in blue cities. They don’t need more training. They need to be ripped up root and branch.

Reposted by Anthony Burke

Science Magazine @science.org · 9d

Researchers in Science have mapped Antarctica’s hidden subglacial bedrock landscape—one of the Solar System’s least mapped planetary surfaces—in unprecedented detail, revealing previously unseen geological structures shaping the ice sheet from below. https://scim.ag/4sNqQgf

Complex mesoscale landscapes beneath Antarctica mapped from space

The landscape shrouded by the Antarctic Ice Sheet provides important insights into its history and influences the ice response to climate forcing. However, knowledge of this critical boundary has depe...