James Temple
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jtemple.bsky.social
James Temple
@jtemple.bsky.social
Climate and energy editor, Reno bureau chief, MIT Technology Review. Ski bum. Dog dad.

Please send tips (not PR pitches) through Signal: jtemple.50
Pinned
As any Bluesky discussion grows longer, the probability it will degenerate into humorless sanctimony approaches one.
Reposted by James Temple
www.nsf.gov/news/transit...

I wish I had a good read on this, but I don’t and neither does anyone else right now. Definitely not good, but not clear how bad and how fast things could change now. Still time to respond to the DCL and say NCAR must stay together. If not for NCAR’s sake, for yours…
Transitioning NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center operations
The U.S. National Science Foundation has informed the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) that management and operations of the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center are expected to…
www.nsf.gov
February 13, 2026 at 3:53 AM
It's software. Everybody just take a breath.
Experiments conducted with the A.I. system Claude are producing fascinating results—and raising questions about the nature of selfhood. Gideon Lewis-Kraus reports from inside the company that designed it, Anthropic. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/rOfXjg
February 11, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by James Temple
In addition to the specific anti-vaccine yikes, a federal regulatory agency jump-scaring a company that just put nearly a billion dollars into a trial seems like it could freak out the entire pharmaceutical industry, no?
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/h...
F.D.A. Refuses to Review Moderna Flu Vaccine
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 11:55 PM
Reposted by James Temple
Salesforce employees are circulating an open letter demanding that CEO Marc Benioff denounce ICE -- hours after he joked at a company event that ICE agents were monitoring international employees:
Salesforce Workers Circulate Open Letter Urging CEO Marc Benioff to Denounce ICE
The letter comes after Benioff joked at a company event on Monday that ICE was monitoring international employees in attendance, sparking immediate backlash.
www.wired.com
February 10, 2026 at 10:33 PM
“You take enabling a president, proximity to the president, and an unease around AI ... and now people are starting to take action with their wallets.”
A “QuitGPT” campaign is urging people to cancel their ChatGPT subscriptions
Backlash against ICE is fueling a broader movement against AI companies’ ties to President Trump.
www.technologyreview.com
February 10, 2026 at 6:55 PM
Reposted by James Temple
NEW: ICE has a plan to lease offices across the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign.

Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.

Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next
ICE plans to lease offices throughout the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.
www.wired.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by James Temple
The National Labs are part of the foundation of U.S. science and innovation. They should be strengthened, not gutted.
NEW: There's been another round of layoffs at the lab formerly known as NREL.

Weeks after scrubbing “renewable energy” from its name, the National Laboratory of the Rockies in Golden has cut 134 staffers.

www.cpr.org/2026/02/09/n...
National Lab of the Rockies, formerly NREL, lays off more than 130 employees
The cuts impacted staffers engaged in both research and operations at the lab.
www.cpr.org
February 10, 2026 at 5:08 AM
Reposted by James Temple
Can you simmer down over there babe?
February 9, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by James Temple
Allison makes the hilarious and manifestly correct point here that, hey, maybe a bunch of cities lining the world's most spectacular natural bay should use boats to get around? What about that? www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/arti...
San Francisco Bay Area traffic is worse than ever. Could a ferry boom make a difference?
Embracing ferries as a core part of our regional public transportation system is a no-brainer.
www.sfchronicle.com
February 9, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by James Temple
go out & touch the grass, they said
sittin outside and a bird just shit on my laptop and phone. work is now over.
February 6, 2026 at 10:10 PM
Reposted by James Temple
Newly released files from the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein reveal that his ties to the scientific community were deeper than previously known.

go.nature.com/3Oq4Po2
Epstein files reveal deeper ties to scientists than previously known
Latest batch of documents show researchers consulting the financier and sex offender on publications, visas and more.
go.nature.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by James Temple
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology
She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.
www.nature.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:09 AM
Every once in a while I check out the conversations & tone on Twitter through my dog's account (deleted mine), and it's always, always a mistake.
February 6, 2026 at 5:09 PM
Reposted by James Temple
Whatever you think of the Washington Post at this moment, here's a chance to support the dedicated, hard-working journalists who were just laid off. If you have the means, your donation is most welcome. If you don't, a kind thought and maybe spreading the word to others is support enough 💙
Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel
On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund
www.gofundme.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by James Temple
They fired a war reporter in the field yesterday.
It’s time to put Billie Eilish’s theory of property out to pasture, Richard Epstein and Max Raskin write.

"Americans are not thieves who built on stolen land." https://wapo.st/4rDYzrn
February 5, 2026 at 9:36 PM
Need an expert take here, @caseynewton.bsky.social did Google make enough in Q4 to continue as a going concern?
Google parent Alphabet beat Wall Street’s expectations for its fourth quarter but a new, high bar for expected spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure tempered enthusiasm. www.cnbc.com/2026/02/04/a...
Alphabet resets the bar for AI infrastructure spending
The search giant's proposed capex spend for 2026 exceeds that of its hyperscalers peers.
www.cnbc.com
February 5, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Reposted by James Temple
Nothing to see here; just the division that funds (or not) all of us in the environmental sciences, including atmosphere, ocean, ice, Earth, climate, hydrology, whatever.
February 5, 2026 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by James Temple
I don't say this often but: I'm so proud to be a climate and environment reporter. We cover an issue that is vitally important to humanity and the natural world. 14 of my climate colleagues at the Post were laid off today and I'm devastated.

www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/washington...
Breaking: Washington Post gutting its climate team
Clean energy dies in darkness. Courtesy of Jeff Bezos.
www.climatecoloredgoggles.com
February 5, 2026 at 2:17 AM
Reposted by James Temple
Shannon is spot on. In the 12 years since I started covering climate, I've seen the beat evolve continuously to meet the moment. My industry colleagues are some of the most curious and nuanced thinkers in media, weaving together stories from often siloed subjects like science, business and politics.
I don't say this often but: I'm so proud to be a climate and environment reporter. We cover an issue that is vitally important to humanity and the natural world. 14 of my climate colleagues at the Post were laid off today and I'm devastated.

www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/washington...
Breaking: Washington Post gutting its climate team
Clean energy dies in darkness. Courtesy of Jeff Bezos.
www.climatecoloredgoggles.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by James Temple
While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot.

I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
Epstein had many known connections to Silicon Valley CEOs, but less known was how he made money from those relationships.

We did a deep dive into how he got dealflow in Silicon Valley, giving him shots to invest in Coinbase, Palantir, SpaceX and other companies.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...
Jeffrey Epstein’s Money Mingled With Silicon Valley Start-Ups
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Reposted by James Temple
can vouch for heather’s editing, writing, and personality. getting to work with her was one of the best things about working at the post and soon it will be one of the best things about working wherever heather lands next.
If you need editing or writing or a personality hire, my email is hkellywork@gmail.com, Signal is hkelly.11, Insta/Tiktok are @heatherthereporter
February 5, 2026 at 5:22 AM
Reposted by James Temple
Terrible day for many amazing, hard-working, intelligent journalists at the Washington Post. I'm still here and trying to figure out how to best support my colleagues who have lost their jobs.

If you feel able to share or contribute, please do:

www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t...
Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel
On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund
www.gofundme.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:37 PM
@sammyroth.bsky.social reporting that the Post cuts include 14 climate journalists:

www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/washington...
Breaking: Washington Post gutting its climate team
Clean energy dies in darkness. Courtesy of Jeff Bezos.
www.climatecoloredgoggles.com
February 4, 2026 at 10:01 PM
This statement alone is an act of voter intimidation. The point is to suppress minority turnout.
Steve Bannon: “You’re damn right we’re gonna have ICE surround the polls come November.”
February 4, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Reposted by James Temple
INBOX: Washington Post Ukraine Correspondent Lizzie Johnson announces that she has been laid off in the middle of a below-freezing war zone without power, heat, or running water.
February 4, 2026 at 5:11 PM