Elizabeth Kolbert
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Elizabeth Kolbert
@elizkolbert.bsky.social
28K followers 350 following 500 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 Tommaso Jucker

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 5d
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

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 18d
What we have wrought:
Heat Has Essentially Wiped Out 2 Key Coral Species on Florida Reefs
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Matthew Davis

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 18d
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

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 24d
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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

drrobertbullard.bsky.social
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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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...
Trump to strip protections from millions of acres of national forests
The USDA announced it would begin the process of rolling back protections for nearly 59 million roadless acres of the National Forest system.
www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Christian Flachsland

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jun 18
Nearly $900 billion...
Global Banks Increase Fossil-Fuel Funding as Climate Pledges Crumble
New report shows that banks poured nearly $900 billion into financing coal, oil and gas projects in 2024.
www.wsj.com

Reposted by Carlos Carroll

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · May 19
"At the most basic level, the Trump administration is dismantling the government’s ability to monitor a rapidly changing climate."
The U.S. Under Trump: Alone in Its Climate Denial
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by John H. Knox

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · May 2
The new Silent Spring:
75 percent of North America’s bird species are in decline, study says
Birds are rapidly vanishing from North America, with dramatic population losses in places that were once thought safe.
wapo.st

Reposted by Carlos Carroll

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Apr 29
What you don't assess will still hurt you.
National Climate Assessment Authors Are Dismissed by Trump Administration (Gift Article)
The Trump administration told researchers it was “releasing” them from their roles. It puts the future of the assessment, which is required by Congress, in doubt.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Matthew Davis

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Apr 21
Let them eat cake, I mean toxic chemicals. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/c...
E.P.A. Set to Cancel Grants Aimed at Protecting Children From Toxic Chemicals
The cancellations, set to apply to pending and active grants, also affect research into “forever chemicals” contaminating the food supply.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Tatiana Filatova

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Mar 31
“We now expect a 3°C world,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote earlier this month. They predicted this would be good for air conditioning stocks. Something it would not be good for? Life on Earth. www.eenews.net/articles/big...
Big banks predict catastrophic warming, with profit potential
Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and an international banking group have quietly concluded that climate change will likely exceed the Paris Agreement's 2 degree
www.eenews.net

Reposted by Eli D. Lazarus

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Mar 25
Lead story in the NYT today is about how more kids than ever are going to college. Much farther down, how they won't have any jobs: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/b...
Layoffs and Unemployment Grow Among College Graduates (Gift Article)
The unemployment rate for college graduates has risen faster than for other workers over the past few years. How worried should they be?
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Claudia Diehl

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · Mar 12
The EPA announced today that it will "formally reconsider" the 2009 endangerment finding, the obvious conclusion that emissions of carbon dioxide harm people and the country that underpins much of subsequent climate policy. This sucks incredibly hard.
Trump EPA Kicks Off Formal Reconsideration of Endangerment Finding with Agency Partners | US EPA
EPA News Release: Trump EPA Kicks Off Formal Reconsideration of Endangerment Finding with Agency Partners
www.epa.gov