Elizabeth Kolbert

@elizkolbert.bsky.social

29K followers 350 following 530 posts

I am a New Yorker staff writer and author of "H is for Hope," "Under a White Sky," and "The Sixth Extinction," and forthcoming “Life on a Little-Known Planet”, out in November. Learn more at elizabethkolbert.com.

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Reposted by Marc Lynch, Brendan Nyhan, Ken Caldeira , and 1 more Marc Lynch, Brendan Nyhan, Ken Caldeira, Christina Ho

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 7d

My freedom, your kid's paralysis:

Rejecting Decades of Science, Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Other Shots Should Be Optional

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 17d

Trump's war on EVs "isn’t industrial policy; it’s industrial suicide."

Opinion | $25 Billion. That’s What Trump Cost Detroit.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Scott C. Doney, Katja Rietzler

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Dec 17

Killing the messenger:

Trump administration to dismantle key climate research center

Russell Vought, who directs the White House Office of Management and Budget, announced plans to split up the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, citing concerns about “clima...

www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Stefan Rahmstorf

Reposted by Tommaso Jucker

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Dec 1

Excited to be going on @thedailyshow.com tonight to discuss climate change, my new book, and the general state of the planet.

Reposted by Peter Jacobs

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Nov 23

Boast from EPA chief Lee Zelda: “We will do more deregulation in one year than entire federal governments in the past have done across all federal agencies combined.”

In One Week, Trump Moves to Reshape U.S. Environmental Policy

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Gavin A. Schmidt, Tommaso Jucker

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Nov 5

Thanks to @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social and @motherjones.com for a fun interview!

How to make people want to read about climate change

Pulitzer winner Elizabeth Kolbert's new book is a master class in writing about the natural world.

www.motherjones.com

Reposted by Anders Levermann

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Oct 24

What we have wrought:

Heat Has Essentially Wiped Out 2 Key Coral Species on Florida Reefs

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Matthew Davis

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Oct 23

Fortunate that @climatecentral.org is keeping the billion-dollar climate-related disaster list going, as the first half of 2025 was a doozy. You can read more here: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Reposted by Johan P. Olsen

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Oct 17

Where we are as a country:

U.S. Threatens Countries That Back a Fee to Clean Up Ship Pollution

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Oct 1

Trump administration wants to roll back regulations on HFCs (very potent greenhouse gases) OVER THE OBJECTIONS OF THE APPLIANCE INDUSTRY.

Here’s why one industry is worried about Trump’s latest climate rollback

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it would rewrite a Biden-era rule aimed at limiting hydrofluorocarbons, a potent greenhouse gas.

wapo.st

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Sep 19

"It was unclear whether the members all understood what they were voting for."

Kennedy’s Advisory Panel Votes to Limit M.M.R.V. Vaccine for Children Under 4

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Edgar Morgenroth

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Sep 9

"Last year, more than 90 percent of wind and solar projects commissioned worldwide produced power more cheaply than the cheapest available fossil-fuel alternative."

‘China Is the Engine’ Driving Nations Away From Fossil Fuels, Report Says

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Pamela Samuelson

Reposted by Aidan O’Sullivan

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Aug 28

If you were out to destroy the world, this is how you'd do it:

Trump, With Tariffs and Threats, Tries to Strong-Arm Nations to Retreat on Climate Goals

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by James Goodwin

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Aug 15

Guess which country is blocking an international treaty to reduce plastic pollution?

Landmark plastic talks collapse with the U.S. opposing key production limits

The multiyear attempt to curb global plastic pollution is at an impasse, with the U.S. set against the production limits that many nations see as the main solution.

www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Karen R. Lips

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Aug 14

First chestnuts and elms, now ash and beeches -- America's iconic trees are being killed off at a truly alarming rate.

A Race to Save a Signature American Tree From a Deadly Disease

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Jussi T. Eronen

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Aug 13

A country that gives up on mRNA vaccines is not a country you can trust with the future.

Opinion | Jay Bhattacharya: Why the NIH is pivoting away from mRNA vaccines

As a vaccine for broad public use, mRNA technology has failed to earn the public’s trust.

wapo.st

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

Dr. Robert D. Bullard @drrobertbullard.bsky.social · Aug 8

E.P.A. Moves to Cancel $7 Billion in Grants for Solar Energy - The New York Times www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/c...

E.P.A. Moves to Cancel $7 Billion in Grants for Solar Energy

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Daniel W. Drezner

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jul 29

How things are going:

These Companies Avoided Clean-Air Rules. It Took a Single Email.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Jonathan T. Overpeck, Ken Caldeira, Sabine Pahl

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jul 29

Isn't it ironic? On the day the Trump administration tries to pull the plug on the endangerment finding, millions of Americans are suffering under an extreme heat advisory.

Extreme Heat Persists in the Southeast

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Timon McPhearson, Gernot Wagner

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jul 23

Trump administration is going to go after the "endangerment finding" that's the basis of pretty much all federal climate regulation. A huge gift to the fossil fuel industry and a "screw you" to the world.

E.P.A. Is Said to Draft a Plan to End Its Ability to Fight Climate Change

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Mark Lubell

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jul 21

Climate change is bad for farmers and anyone who likes to eat:

Extreme Weather Is Driving Global Food-Price Spikes, Report Says

Staple foods—including potatoes, rice, onions, lettuce and fruit—are being hit by price shocks, according to a study led by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.

www.wsj.com

Reposted by Flavio Lehner

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jul 13

I wrote about how Trump is dismantling the country's disaster forecasting infrastructure. But this isn't going to stop disasters from piling up -- quite the contrary.

Flash Floods and Climate Policy

As the death toll climbs in Texas, the Trump Administration is actively undermining the nation’s ability to predict—and to deal with—climate-related disasters.

www.newyorker.com

Reposted by John Mecklin

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jul 2

The people who tried to tamper with an election are looking into bringing criminal charges against election officials who, in their opinion(!), fail to sufficiently safeguard against tampering with an election.

Justice Dept. Explores Using Criminal Charges Against Election Officials

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Sonia I. Seneviratne, Christopher Wright, Christoph Bertram , and 1 more Sonia I. Seneviratne, Christopher Wright, Christoph Bertram, Emily Grubert

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jul 2

French nuclear power plant has to close during intense heat wave, because temperatures in the river that provides cooling water are too high.

EDF shuts down Golftech nuclear plant due to high river temperature

French utility EDF said it shut down the No. 1 reactor at the Golftech nuclear power plant in southwestern France late on Sunday, ahead of an anticipated rise in the temperature of the Garonne river that supplies the plant's cooling water.

www.reuters.com

Reposted by Fredrik Albritton Jonsson

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jun 26

I once had a fight with my publisher's lawyer over what constitutes "fair use." He said reprinting 4 lines of a poem without the poet's explicit permission was too much. But AI gobbling up whole books now counts as "fair use." Something is definitely wrong with US copyright law.

Federal court says copyrighted books are fair use for AI training

Anthropic didn’t break the law when it trained its chatbot with copyrighted books, a judge said, but it must go to trial for allegedly using pirated books.

wapo.st

Reposted by Neil Pederson, David Leclère, Carlos Carroll

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jun 23

There are way too many things to be upset about these days, but I believe the destruction of public lands should be near the top of the list: www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...