Randy Watkins
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bluetortoise3.bsky.social
Randy Watkins
@bluetortoise3.bsky.social
1.2K followers 690 following 240 posts
Lead Field Biologist on large water and power projects in the Eastern Mojave, from 1999-2010 for the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Link: https://www.snwa.com/infrastructure-improvements/intake3-pumping-station/index.html
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bluetortoise3.bsky.social
Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · Oct 5
The ESA protects wildlife and its habitat by preventing illegal “Take“, a legal word meaning “harass, harm, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect or attempt to engage in any such conduct“ except by federal permit. Removing HARM protection will increase their greatest threat: habitat loss.
sierramagazine.bsky.social Sierra Magazine @sierramagazine.bsky.social · Oct 5
The Endangered Species Act has protected species and their habitats for over 50 years. A single word change could significantly alter the way the law is implemented. The only beneficiaries of this plan are extractive industries. 🌎 by @morgansjogren.bsky.social
This One Word Change Could Gut Our Strongest Conservation Law
The bipartisan Endangered Species Act is on the line as the federal government proposes a new change
www.sierraclub.org
Reposted by Randy Watkins
dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
I wrote this piece on federal/public lands management last December. A year later, much of it has materialized in 2025 through policy and administrative action. 🏜️
thebulletin.org/2024/12/the-...
The future of extraction, energy dominance, and federal lands under Trump
Trump's second term promises to pit industry interests against conservation, environmental laws, and species protections.
thebulletin.org
December 30, 2025 at 1:31 AM
bluetortoise3.bsky.social
PEER’s Executive Director is Tim Whitehouse, a former senior enforcement attorney with the U.S. EPA. PEER argues that the Congressional Review Act (CRA) stipulates that an agency action of this type must be submitted to Congress before it can take effect and Congress can move to block it 🌎
peer.org Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility @peer.org · 4d
Today, PEER sent a letter to Congress warning that the Department of the Interior’s abrupt halt of offshore wind projects already under construction is not legally defensible and raises serious conflict of interest concerns.

https://ow.ly/eqXk50XQ2Qv
Burgum’s Offshore Wind Halt of Questionable Legality
Interior Department Riddled with Conflicts of Interest and Ethical Challenges
ow.ly
December 29, 2025 at 4:31 PM
bluetortoise3.bsky.social
Gold Butte absolutely deserved National Monument status to help protect it , including from illegal cattle grazing by Cliven Bundy which is still unfortunately going on.

Just look at all the petroglyphs.
A petroglyph panel from the Gold Butte National Monument
December 29, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
driscience.bsky.social
🏆 #9 Top DRI Story of 2025:
Tiffany Pereira Blends Art and Science in New Mojave Seedling Guide

Read the full story ➡️ https://bit.ly/driseedlingguide
December 27, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
deserttortoise.bsky.social
Happy Holidays from the Desert Tortoise Council. We hope the season has been a bright one for you and yours!

Photo: Sarah Berryman
Happy Holidays from the Desert Tortoise Council. We hope the season has been a bright one for you and yours! Photo: Sarah Berryman. Joshua Tree covered in snow.
December 26, 2025 at 5:44 PM
bluetortoise3.bsky.social
As Mr. Garrison from South Park would say, “Merry f$&@ing Christmas to yoouu”!!!
The POTUS wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, except to all of the radical left scum!
December 25, 2025 at 2:57 AM
bluetortoise3.bsky.social
The Colorado River is in crisis due to climate change, worsening regional drought conditions, and reducing the amount of water entering the river basin. The extreme water level drop at the Lake Mead reservoir can be seen in these two photographs from 1999 and 2010 🌎

lasvegassun.com/news/2025/de...
Saddle Island in 1999 Saddle Island in 2010
December 24, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
ylepidemiologist.bsky.social
1/ Last week, you probably heard about RFK Jr.'s sudden plan to move the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule to Denmark’s. He was supposed to have a press conference on Friday, but it was canceled for legal and political concerns. For now, that move is off the table, but this idea isn’t going away...👇
December 23, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
heatmap.news
NEW on SHIFT KEY:

2025 isn't quite over yet, but we've already moved on to 2026!

On this week's episode, Heatmap's @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social, @emilypont.bsky.social, @zeitlin.bsky.social, and @goodjillian.bsky.social share their predictions for next year:

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
The Biggest Energy and Climate Stories of 2026
Podcast Episode · Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse Jenkins · 12/23/2025 · 45m
podcasts.apple.com
December 23, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
heatmap.news
NEW in Heatmap AM:

🚫 Trump orders pause on all offshore wind construction
🔋 Feds green light 217-mile transmission line
💸 Google buys energy infrastructure developer intersect for $5B

Catch up on the latest with @alexckaufman.bsky.social:

heatmap.news/am/trump-off...
Trump Halts Construction on All Offshore Wind Projects
On Google’s energy glow up, transmission progress, and South American oil
heatmap.news
December 23, 2025 at 4:31 PM
bluetortoise3.bsky.social
wapo.st/4saipLS
The Colorado River is on the verge of crisis. No one has a solution.
The Colorado River faces a crisis as seven states struggle to agree on water-sharing rules.
wapo.st
December 23, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
costasamaras.com
Bob and I were among the hundreds of researchers that were supposed to conduct the 6th U.S. National Climate Assessment. Now it looks like they're gonna produce it with a few people and Grok? Communities need rigorous and accurate information about climate change. This will put communities at risk.
Maue did not respond to requests for comment from E&E News. But he wrote on X that he was enlisting artificial intelligence to help with the latest National Climate Assessment. He cited the Gemini 3 Pro program as well as Grok, an Al chatbot developed by xAl, the artificial intelligence company led by tech tycoon Elon Musk. https://www.eenews.net/articles/its-the-gold-standard-of-us-climate-research-contrarians-could-write-the-next-one/
December 22, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
bobkopp.net
I look forward to the legally required, transparent peer review process required by the US Global Change Research Act and the Information Quality Act. I always thought they would try to do a NCA with Judith Curry, five old men and a LLM.
It’s the gold standard of US climate research. Contrarians could write the next one.
Researchers who have downplayed the threat of global warming have been asked to author the next National Climate Assessment.
www.eenews.net
December 22, 2025 at 12:37 PM
bluetortoise3.bsky.social
“There was pressure to rescind decisions or accelerate decisions, or withhold decisions, or to not attend public meetings,” he said, noting that his dismissal “didn’t come as a complete surprise, but it was a shock.”
December 21, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
charliesaito22.bsky.social
Nefarious USFWS bureaucrats/political appointees take 1st step towards selling/giving away National Fish & Wildlife Refuges & National Fish Hatcheries

573 Refuges & Nat Marine Monuments (856 million acres)
71 Nat Fish Hatcheries 13 Fish Tech & Health Centers

api32.ilovepdf.com/v1/download/...
December 20, 2025 at 3:08 PM
bluetortoise3.bsky.social
Agree w/ the Center for Biological Diversity, calling this review “insidious.”
FWS has fired science experts and undermined the agency. The review is to “look for refuges or hatcheries established for a purpose that no longer aligns with the mission”, and close them. 🧵
www.eenews.net/articles/fws...
FWS chief orders ‘comprehensive’ review of wildlife refuges
This includes looking for refuges or fish hatcheries run by the Fish and Wildlife Service "established for a purpose that no longer aligns with the mission"
www.eenews.net
December 20, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Solar power is expected to become the world's largest source of electricity by 2033. ☀️🔌💡
Solar generation is set to quadruple by 2030, sending coal power tumbling Global electricity generation by source,
December 19, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
weatherwest.bsky.social
This is not just "NCAR boosterism," folks. There are multiple empirical measures by which this is correct--and also, if you took a random sampling of atmospheric & Earth scientists from around the world, I'd bet that a substantial majority of them would agree. NCAR is truly irreplaceable.
ceciliakeating.carbonbrief.org Cecilia Keating @ceciliakeating.carbonbrief.org · 15d
Bucalacchi stresses NCAR's reach is unique globally: "if you look at the totality of activities from weather, water, climate, space, weather, atmosphere, chemistry- no one single institution covers that breadth and depth of across observation, high performance computing and modelling and tradition."
December 18, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
colincarlson.bsky.social
NSF is about to dismantle NCAR at Russell Vought's direction to protect the fossil fuel industry. It's hard to communicate just how much NCAR does, so let's take a look: I've never worked at NCAR, and I've worked with NCAR researchers once ever. What scientific discoveries has NCAR made possible? 👇
Russ Vought (piss man) tweet about doing piss man shit: The National Science Foundation will be breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. This facility is one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country. A comprehensive review is underway & any vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location.
December 17, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
marisakabas.bsky.social
feels stupid to say at this point but how the fuck isn't anyone invoking the 25th amendment.
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16d
Trump: "Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled ... It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the USA all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us."
Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us. The illegitimate Maduro Regime is using Oil from these stolen Oil Fields to finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping. For the theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking, the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. Therefore, today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela. The Illegal Aliens and Criminals that the Maduro Regime has sent into the United States during the weak and inept Biden Administration, are being returned to Venezuela at a rapid pace. America will not allow Criminals, Terrorists, or other Countries, to rob, threaten, or harm our Nation and, likewise, will not allow a Hostile Regime to take our Oil, Land, or any other Assets, all of which must be returned to the United States, IMMEDIATELY. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
December 17, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
marisakabas.bsky.social
"trump just declared war with venezuela via truth social" is a real sentence i just said out loud
December 17, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
markhisted.org
Well, this is an utter disaster for science.

This gutting of peer review is very likely driven by Project 2025/OMB/Vought, very likely is about funding junk science, and very likely is coming for #NIH and biomedical research next.
🧪
Science in reviewing grant proposals. The changes permit as few as one outside review rather than the current minimum of three, end the routine use of expert panels to discuss those individual reviews, and give program managers greater authority to recommend which proposals should or should not be funded. They are described in an internal 1 December staff memo that Science has obtained and mentioned briefly in an update to NSF's grantmaking manual posted on 8 December. A major reason for the smaller staff is the elimination of hundreds of so-called rotators, scientists on loan from academia who served as program managers as well as higher level administrators. Their absence, combined with the new review policy, represent a major change in how NSF
December 16, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
marisakabas.bsky.social
I wrote about the multiple tragedies of the last few days, Hanukkah, Trump and how the forces of light and dark are trapped in a battle for our souls.
Flaming out
Trump may beckon darkness, but he can never extinguish the light.
www.thehandbasket.co
December 16, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Reposted by Randy Watkins
michaeljclifford.bsky.social
Our paper looks at the build-out of lithium mines in CA and NV on imperiled and vulnerable species. Key points:

54 vulnerable species occurred on proposed mine sites, 20 with their entire range within the mine site.

Avoidance and mitigation will be important.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Potential impacts to biodiversity of rare and vulnerable species from proposed lithium extraction
Lithium batteries are currently used in most mobile devices, electric vehicles, and utility-scale battery storage systems. The demand for lithium is e…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 15, 2025 at 11:16 PM
bluetortoise3.bsky.social
Such terrible news re Rob and Michele Reiner. I went to a live taping of “All In The Family” when I was living in LA between 1977 - 84, and the whole cast was amazing. Rob attended UCLA and was classmates with Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek at UCLA's film school:
newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/reme...
Rob Reiner’s UCLA journey: From theater student to the university’s highest honor
Learn more about the legendary actor, director and political activist's decades-long connection to and support for the university.
newsroom.ucla.edu
December 15, 2025 at 9:19 PM