Colin Meehan
@colinme.bsky.social
@WWF always looking for ways to accelerate the transition to clean energy. Former DOE/Texan now near Baltimore. Sometimes technical analyses, often advocacy. Every once in a while parenting/biking/music/mental health/adventures in a blended family.
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Colin Meehan
@colinme.bsky.social
· May 7
Critical Minerals at a Critical Moment | Publications | WWF
World Wildlife Fund - The leading organization in wildlife conservation and endangered species.
nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
It's an exciting day over here at the WWF Renewable Energy Transition HQ - we're releasing our first report, this one on the impact of the growing demand for "Energy Transition Minerals" on wildlife across the globe. This is a bit of a long one, with lots of details and stats for those interested.
Reposted by Colin Meehan
Just a few weeks ago, the administration cancelled all remaining department of energy grid resilience projects in Puerto Rico. All of them. www.latitudemedia.com/news/the-end...
The end of DOE’s grid work in Puerto Rico
The Trump administration has canceled all eight of the remaining awards devoted to distributed energy on the island.
www.latitudemedia.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Just a few weeks ago, the administration cancelled all remaining department of energy grid resilience projects in Puerto Rico. All of them. www.latitudemedia.com/news/the-end...
Reposted by Colin Meehan
The Abundance movement often points to environmental groups as the obstacles to building. But who actually files the lawsuits blocking projects? It’s not environmental groups. It’s been lawyered-up HOAs protecting property values all along. Regulation by litigation is the problem.
December 20, 2025 at 7:57 PM
The Abundance movement often points to environmental groups as the obstacles to building. But who actually files the lawsuits blocking projects? It’s not environmental groups. It’s been lawyered-up HOAs protecting property values all along. Regulation by litigation is the problem.
Reposted by Colin Meehan
Of all the sins of AI, this is an unexpected and deeply annoying one
Funny animal videos no longer being trustworthy just fucking sucks all around. I love the wonder of animal behavior and what it says about the experience of being alive. It's because it happened in reality that it's so fun. It's not fun if it was just made up. There's no wonder there.
December 19, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Of all the sins of AI, this is an unexpected and deeply annoying one
Reposted by Colin Meehan
This is your annual reminder that if you are in the US and have FSA funds that you won't use, Menstrual products are covered by FSA funds and can be donated to food pantries and shelters.
December 11, 2025 at 11:40 PM
This is your annual reminder that if you are in the US and have FSA funds that you won't use, Menstrual products are covered by FSA funds and can be donated to food pantries and shelters.
Reposted by Colin Meehan
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated $7.2 billion this year in her biggest ever giving announcement.
The gifts bring her total philanthropy to $26 billion over the past half decade. bloom.bg/3KHQfHc
📷: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
The gifts bring her total philanthropy to $26 billion over the past half decade. bloom.bg/3KHQfHc
📷: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
December 10, 2025 at 3:38 AM
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated $7.2 billion this year in her biggest ever giving announcement.
The gifts bring her total philanthropy to $26 billion over the past half decade. bloom.bg/3KHQfHc
📷: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
The gifts bring her total philanthropy to $26 billion over the past half decade. bloom.bg/3KHQfHc
📷: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Reposted by Colin Meehan
People used to say, with great confidence, that variable renewables could never safely provide more than 5% of grid power. That estimate has crept up ever since, though the "great confidence" part never wavers.
Anyway, about China ...
Anyway, about China ...
December 2, 2025 at 6:01 PM
People used to say, with great confidence, that variable renewables could never safely provide more than 5% of grid power. That estimate has crept up ever since, though the "great confidence" part never wavers.
Anyway, about China ...
Anyway, about China ...
Reposted by Colin Meehan
SPP (the Southwest Power Pool, serving the central Great Plains states) approved a new regional transmission plan with $8.6 billion in projects, including ~950 miles of ultra-high voltage 765 kV lines, and with estimated benefits 18X the costs www.spp.org/documents/75... More of this please! 🔌💡
November 7, 2025 at 3:09 PM
SPP (the Southwest Power Pool, serving the central Great Plains states) approved a new regional transmission plan with $8.6 billion in projects, including ~950 miles of ultra-high voltage 765 kV lines, and with estimated benefits 18X the costs www.spp.org/documents/75... More of this please! 🔌💡
Reposted by Colin Meehan
Reposted by Colin Meehan
Sweeping energy-related legislation that backs the use of big batteries to help make wind and solar power more effective cleared the Senate Thursday night and is headed to Gov. JB Pritzker, who signaled he would sign the measure into law.
Gov. JB Pritzker set to approve energy bill boosting battery storage for renewables despite debate over costs
Democrats said moves would eventually lower electric bills in Illinois, while Republicans noted a surcharge on consumer bills would partly back battery installations.
trib.al
October 31, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Sweeping energy-related legislation that backs the use of big batteries to help make wind and solar power more effective cleared the Senate Thursday night and is headed to Gov. JB Pritzker, who signaled he would sign the measure into law.
Reposted by Colin Meehan
Scoop: A court ruling last week quietly derailed battery storage development in more than half of L.A. County after activists successfully sued to kill a 400 megawatt battery in a wildfire risk area
@heatmap.news #greensky #energysky
@heatmap.news #greensky #energysky
How a Tiny Community Blocked Battery Storage in Over Half of Los Angeles County
Much of California’s biggest county is now off limits to energy storage.
heatmap.news
October 23, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Scoop: A court ruling last week quietly derailed battery storage development in more than half of L.A. County after activists successfully sued to kill a 400 megawatt battery in a wildfire risk area
@heatmap.news #greensky #energysky
@heatmap.news #greensky #energysky
Reposted by Colin Meehan
There are nearly 23 gigawatts of thermal plants offline for maintenance as Texas continues to have way above average heat.
To pick up the slack, batteries are deploying for longer periods; they discharged over 3,000 megawatts for 2+ hours Tuesday evening. 1/2
To pick up the slack, batteries are deploying for longer periods; they discharged over 3,000 megawatts for 2+ hours Tuesday evening. 1/2
October 23, 2025 at 10:01 PM
There are nearly 23 gigawatts of thermal plants offline for maintenance as Texas continues to have way above average heat.
To pick up the slack, batteries are deploying for longer periods; they discharged over 3,000 megawatts for 2+ hours Tuesday evening. 1/2
To pick up the slack, batteries are deploying for longer periods; they discharged over 3,000 megawatts for 2+ hours Tuesday evening. 1/2
Reposted by Colin Meehan
This is our work! Nice to see it getting picked up
October 22, 2025 at 2:08 PM
This is our work! Nice to see it getting picked up
Reposted by Colin Meehan
60. There is enough land for lots of solar (most studies suggest 1-2% of land would be required to generate all the solar most countries can use). There’s also loads and loads of roofs, so let’s see those who oppose ground-mounted solar support higher-cost roof-mounted solar.
October 20, 2025 at 8:05 AM
60. There is enough land for lots of solar (most studies suggest 1-2% of land would be required to generate all the solar most countries can use). There’s also loads and loads of roofs, so let’s see those who oppose ground-mounted solar support higher-cost roof-mounted solar.
Reposted by Colin Meehan
14. Low power prices may be great for consumers but they are very bad if you're trying to build more clean power plants. Without demand-side flexibility measures, the energy transition will fail before fully pushing fossil fuel out of the mix. Which is what we must do.
October 20, 2025 at 7:48 AM
14. Low power prices may be great for consumers but they are very bad if you're trying to build more clean power plants. Without demand-side flexibility measures, the energy transition will fail before fully pushing fossil fuel out of the mix. Which is what we must do.
Reposted by Colin Meehan
If I had explain American history in one sentence, I could do worse than "John Brown was hung for treason, but Robert E. Lee was not."
John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry began on this day in 1859.
October 16, 2025 at 11:29 PM
If I had explain American history in one sentence, I could do worse than "John Brown was hung for treason, but Robert E. Lee was not."
It’s been almost six years for me, and much of this resonates if a little more blurred, especially as we prepare to leave for Austin where she is buried. I’m lucky my son and I have a close relationship to my wife’s family but the grief, the rhythms, the blurring are very much a part of my life.
Three years after my husband died, I’m still trying to prove our life together was worth losing his family.
What I live with isn’t forgetting — it’s the blurring of memory.
On the third anniversary, I wrote about grief, memory, and continuing without answers.
www.dataandpolitics.net/the-blurring/
What I live with isn’t forgetting — it’s the blurring of memory.
On the third anniversary, I wrote about grief, memory, and continuing without answers.
www.dataandpolitics.net/the-blurring/
The Blurring
What I live with isn't forgetting, it's the blurring. A meditation on grief, memory, and continuing without answers three years after loss.
www.dataandpolitics.net
October 17, 2025 at 1:04 PM
It’s been almost six years for me, and much of this resonates if a little more blurred, especially as we prepare to leave for Austin where she is buried. I’m lucky my son and I have a close relationship to my wife’s family but the grief, the rhythms, the blurring are very much a part of my life.
Reposted by Colin Meehan
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And nearly 20 children, two of whom have cancer
www.propublica.org/article/immi...
www.propublica.org/article/immi...
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...
www.propublica.org
October 16, 2025 at 7:44 PM
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And nearly 20 children, two of whom have cancer
www.propublica.org/article/immi...
www.propublica.org/article/immi...
Reposted by Colin Meehan
The inflatables have made it to Broadview.
October 12, 2025 at 4:34 PM
The inflatables have made it to Broadview.
Reposted by Colin Meehan
When the power went out in Spain this spring, many people immediately pointed the finger at the country's solar and wind power as the cause.
That wasn't the trigger, but a new survey finds that all that misinformation?
It had an impact.
Read more here, only on @npr.org 🎧⬇️
That wasn't the trigger, but a new survey finds that all that misinformation?
It had an impact.
Read more here, only on @npr.org 🎧⬇️
After Spain's blackout, critics blamed renewable energy. It's part of a bigger attack
When millions lost power in Spain and Portugal this spring, some were quick to blame too much solar and wind power. That wasn't the cause, but the misinformation had an impact.
www.npr.org
October 9, 2025 at 3:40 PM
When the power went out in Spain this spring, many people immediately pointed the finger at the country's solar and wind power as the cause.
That wasn't the trigger, but a new survey finds that all that misinformation?
It had an impact.
Read more here, only on @npr.org 🎧⬇️
That wasn't the trigger, but a new survey finds that all that misinformation?
It had an impact.
Read more here, only on @npr.org 🎧⬇️
Reposted by Colin Meehan
Lots of people think Dems are forcing these dirty coal plants to “retire” with policies and regs.
It’s simply not true!
Coal plants are incredibly inefficient to run compared to gas and renewables. This New England plant didn’t “retire” — the company closed it because it was too expensive!
It’s simply not true!
Coal plants are incredibly inefficient to run compared to gas and renewables. This New England plant didn’t “retire” — the company closed it because it was too expensive!
New England has said its final goodbye to coal power. Here’s how a transition to gas — and now renewables — helped shut its last plant down early.
New England’s final coal plant shuts down years ahead of schedule
Poor economics drove the aging New Hampshire plant offline three years early, even as the Trump administration pushes to revitalize coal.
www.canarymedia.com
October 7, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Lots of people think Dems are forcing these dirty coal plants to “retire” with policies and regs.
It’s simply not true!
Coal plants are incredibly inefficient to run compared to gas and renewables. This New England plant didn’t “retire” — the company closed it because it was too expensive!
It’s simply not true!
Coal plants are incredibly inefficient to run compared to gas and renewables. This New England plant didn’t “retire” — the company closed it because it was too expensive!
Reposted by Colin Meehan
China and the US going in opposite directions now when it comes to energy.
And it looks like China is poised to win…
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
And it looks like China is poised to win…
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
China Is Beating the US in the Battle for Energy Export Dominance
China’s exports of clean energy technology hit a record in August, with $20 billion shipped globally.
www.bloomberg.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:47 PM
China and the US going in opposite directions now when it comes to energy.
And it looks like China is poised to win…
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
And it looks like China is poised to win…
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Colin Meehan
American Energy Impotence
Oh:
- The US sold $80 billion in oil and gas abroad through July.
- China exported $120 billion in green technology over the same period.
By @akshatrathi.bsky.social
🎁🔗 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
- The US sold $80 billion in oil and gas abroad through July.
- China exported $120 billion in green technology over the same period.
By @akshatrathi.bsky.social
🎁🔗 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
China Is Beating the US in the Battle for Energy Export Dominance
China’s exports of clean energy technology hit a record in August, with $20 billion shipped globally.
www.bloomberg.com
October 6, 2025 at 9:31 PM
American Energy Impotence
Reposted by Colin Meehan
Via @jvl.bsky.social "the answer isn’t to stamp out neurodivergence or “cure” people of being who they are.4 It’s to widen our arms and be more inclusive so that they can find their place in the world a little more easily.
www.thebulwark.com/p/autism-mah...
www.thebulwark.com/p/autism-mah...
Autism, MAHA, and the Face of God
One part junk science, two parts incompetent government, and with a dash of blasphemy, for seasoning.
www.thebulwark.com
September 24, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Via @jvl.bsky.social "the answer isn’t to stamp out neurodivergence or “cure” people of being who they are.4 It’s to widen our arms and be more inclusive so that they can find their place in the world a little more easily.
www.thebulwark.com/p/autism-mah...
www.thebulwark.com/p/autism-mah...