John Ryan
LightNews LightNews
banner
heyjohnryan.bsky.social
John Ryan
@heyjohnryan.bsky.social
2K followers 190 following 660 posts
KUOW Public Radio environment reporter. Seattle. Is this thing on?
Tips, leaks--DM me, or email jryan@kuow.org, or Signal: @heyjohnryan.10
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
heyjohnryan.bsky.social
John Ryan @heyjohnryan.bsky.social · Jan 30
Do you work for the federal government in Washington state? KUOW wants to hear from you. (If your work involves environment/energy/climate here, *I* want to hear from you.)
Reposted by John Ryan
npr.org
In his confirmation hearings, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told U.S. senators that he would not cut funding for vaccine research or change the nation's official vaccine recommendations. He did both. n.pr/46QDn9p
RFK Jr. made promises to get his job as health secretary. He's broken many of them
In his confirmation hearings, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told U.S. senators that he would not cut funding for vaccine research or change the nation's official vaccine recommendations. He did both.
n.pr
February 13, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
kuow.org
The Washington House of Representatives on Thursday approved a new coal tax that targets a single company. It’s meant to thwart a surprise move by the Trump administration to keep the last coal-fired power plant in the Pacific Northwest operational.
Coal power in Washington Legislature’s crosshairs after talk of Centralia plant’s revival
The Washington House of Representatives on Thursday approved a new coal tax that targets a single company.
www.kuow.org
February 13, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
working on my personal no-ai manifesto. what did i forget?
Why I don’t use generative AI 1. It’s based on stolen materials and I am not a plagiarist. 2. I do not want to outsource thinking to a machine. Thinking (which includes research, writing, editing) is a skill and will atrophy without use. Why would I inflict that upon myself willingly? 3. Thinking is a pleasure and privilege, and not worth giving up for marginal or nonexistent productivity gains. 4. My voice makes me who I am as a writer and person. Why would I want to substitute that with a generic, pale imitation that sounds like it could be anyone, or no one? 5. It’s not trustworthy. It will hallucinate. It might be biased in ways I can’t identify. Checking AI output is more work than just doing it yourself in the first place. 6. I wouldn’t want to become dependent on a tool that WILL become more expensive, either by capitalizing on my eyeballs through advertising or skyrocketing subscription costs. They are operating on the Uber model, and I don’t trust it. 7. Using AI for companionship or conversation has never appealed to me, but even if it did, it is a poor and feeble substitute for human connection. I don’t want to go down the crazy-making rabbit hole. 8. Nothing AI generates can be art. Making art is a pleasure and privilege. If you are not inclined to learn or practice art but you still want to possess art, pay an artist. 9. Environmental/energy reasons. 10. Slop sucks.
February 13, 2026 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
heatmap.news
Washington State wants data centers to BYONCE — i.e. “bring your own clean energy.”

Here’s @emilypont.bsky.social with more in this week’s edition of The Fight:

heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...
Washington Wants Data Centers to Bring Their Own Clean Energy
The state is poised to join a chorus of states with BYO energy policies.
heatmap.news
February 13, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
dventon.bsky.social
Three cheers for the sources that give great quotes. And also for @mollytaft.com @wired.com. Link to story below
February 13, 2026 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
hannahmrowland.bsky.social
Happy birthday to Charles Darwin,
patron saint of tired scientists, grumpy fieldworkers, and hating your own manuscript.
February 12, 2026 at 6:58 PM
heyjohnryan.bsky.social
A hooligan by any other name would smell as sweet…
February 13, 2026 at 7:03 PM
heyjohnryan.bsky.social
WA wildlife officials just announced a one-day fishery for hooligans (smelt) on Wed. 2/18. Last year, the coveted hooligans--sometimes called "savior fish"--mysteriously failed to appear for weeks before eventually showing up in Oregon. www.kuow.org/stories/the-...
The case of the missing hooligans: a Cowlitz River mystery
Thousands of northwesterners were disappointed when they failed to meet up with some hooligans in March. These hooligans don’t make much trouble, except when they fail to show up.
www.kuow.org
February 13, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
maxberger.bsky.social
In December 2016, Jeffrey Epstein invited Bill Gates to visit his island—and promised that incoming Trump administration officials would be there.

Epstein emailed: “come to visit the island. new adminstration people visiting.” 👀👀👀
February 13, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
jeffhauser.bsky.social
When I have spent 15 years suggesting that the Obama lawyers were inadequately committed to cracking down on elite criminality.... even I didn't envision that one of them was going to become a close friend of Jeffrey Epstein.
February 13, 2026 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
scottpwaldman.bsky.social
Climate denialists claimed victory when the Trump administration published an unprecedented report reliant on decades of debunked claims. The administration just proved it has no confidence their work could withstand scrutiny in a legal fight over climate regulations www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
Trump sidelines climate contrarians in science rollback
The president has mocked global warming as a “hoax,” but his administration avoided testing that claim in court as it targeted the endangerment finding.
www.politico.com
February 13, 2026 at 3:37 PM
heyjohnryan.bsky.social
Did he happen to mention Elvis's current whereabouts?
February 13, 2026 at 5:09 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
matthewstiegler.bsky.social
“The Constitution does not permit the government to arrest thousands of individuals and then disregard their constitutional rights because it would be too challenging to honor those rights.”
chrisgeidner.bsky.social Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 1d
BREAKING: Judge Nancy Brasel, a Trump appointee, has issued a TRO in the Minnesota access-to-counsel case about treatment at Whipple.

"It appears that in planning for Operation Metro Surge, the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees."
It appears that in planning for Operation Metro Surge, the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees. The government suggests — with minimal explanation and even less evidence — that doing so would result in "chaos." The Constitution does not permit the government to arrest thousands of individuals and then disregard their constitutional rights because it would be too challenging to honor those rights. 14 At this preliminary stage, Plaintiffs have made a clear showing of likelihood of success on their Fifth Amendment claim.
February 13, 2026 at 12:24 AM
Reposted by John Ryan
emorwee.bsky.social
I need to know everything about job #6 right now
A National wildlife federation job post advertises a position opening for “beaver conflict resolution technician”
February 13, 2026 at 12:11 AM
Reposted by John Ryan
brendannyhan.bsky.social
The history books will remember this one
nytimes.com The New York Times @nytimes.com · 1d
Breaking News: The Trump administration repealed the bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse gases threaten human life and well being, meaning that the EPA can no longer regulate them. nyti.ms/4rSszQu
February 12, 2026 at 11:04 PM
heyjohnryan.bsky.social
I had no idea Estella Leopold had left @kuow.org in her will when I wrote her obituary in 2024. Learned of it today when I heard a spot on our air thanking donors who had done so. I got verklempt when I heard her name listed.
www.kuow.org/stories/seat...
Seattle scientist, conservationist Estella Leopold dies at 97
Leopold helped save the Grand Canyon and stop a plan to reseed Mount Saint Helens with exotic grasses.
www.kuow.org
February 12, 2026 at 10:23 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
bkingdc.bsky.social
Greenhouse gases stopped being harmful at 1:30 pm EST on Thursday, February 12, 2026.

www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
EPA repeals endangerment finding
The move discards a scientific determination that empowered the government to limit climate pollution.
www.politico.com
February 12, 2026 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
legalminimum.bsky.social
Impossible to have predicted this outcome.
US businesses and consumers pay 90% of tariff costs, New York Fed says
Central bank’s research undercuts Trump’s claims that foreign companies will pay for levies
www.ft.com
February 12, 2026 at 4:26 PM
heyjohnryan.bsky.social
January had the lowest Western U.S. snowpack on record:
bsky.app/profile/cove...
February 12, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
bbl-astrophyscs.bsky.social
I know I’m fixating, but “shooting down party balloons and using it as a pretext for war” is literally the “99 Luftballons” story arc. 🎈🤯 (Even “Miami 2017” didn’t map this closely.)
Wikipedia entry describing the story arc of “99 Luftballons”: The lyrics of the original German version tell a story: 99 balloons are mistaken for UFOs, causing a military general to send pilots to investigate. Finding nothing but balloons, the pilots put on a large show of firepower. The display of force worries the nations along the borders and the defence ministers on each side encourage conflict to grab power for themselves. In the end, a cataclysmic war results from the otherwise harmless flight of balloons and causes devastation on all sides without a victor, as indicated in the denouement of the song: "99 Jahre Krieg ließen keinen Platz für Sieger," which means "99 years of war left no room for victors." The anti-war song finishes with the singer walking through the devastated ruins of the world and finding a single balloon. The description of what happens in the final line of the piece is the same in German and English: '''Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen," or "Think of you and let it go."[11]
February 11, 2026 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
npr.org
The EPA is eliminating a Clean Air Act finding from 2009 that is the basis for much of the federal government's actions to rein in climate change.
Trump's EPA will stop regulating greenhouse gases, setting up a legal fight
The Environmental Protection Agency is eliminating a Clean Air Act finding from 2009 that is the basis for much of the federal government's actions to rein in climate change.
n.pr
February 11, 2026 at 10:00 PM
heyjohnryan.bsky.social
Curious. No clear reason given.
(Gallup is an employee-owned company, not beholden to investors or any billionaire, btw.)

Trump's latest Gallup poll approval rating: 37%
Low but not the lowest ever: that title goes to Richard Nixon following Watergate, at 34%.

www.gallup.com/corporate/46...
phillewis.bsky.social Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 2d
Gallup will no longer measure presidential approval after 88 years thehill.com/homenews/med...
A photo of gallup
February 11, 2026 at 9:03 PM
heyjohnryan.bsky.social
A freaking party balloon. Yet another reason not to release balloons (beyond the environmental ones): it could lead the federal government to shut down an airport and lie about it.
pbump.com Philip Bump @pbump.com · 2d
Shot, and one-hell-of-a-chaser.
February 11, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
bberwyn.bsky.social
In a new paper, scientists warn that climate systems tipping points could set off a chain reaction to put Earth on a hothouse trajectory. Is anyone listening to unpleasant truths? Or do most prefer 'pleasant lies' as @steurer.bsky.social suggests?
Accelerated Global Warming Could Lock Earth Into a Hothouse Future - Inside Climate News
Scientists say warming is increasing faster than at any time in at least 3 million years. There is no guide for what comes next.
insideclimatenews.org
February 11, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by John Ryan
drsimevans.carbonbrief.org
🤡🤡🤡
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d
Burgum: "CO2 was never a pollutant. When we breathe, we emit CO2. Plants need CO2 to survive and grow. They thrive with more CO2. So the whole endangerment thing opens up an opportunity for the revival of clean, beautiful, American coal."
February 11, 2026 at 4:41 PM