John Kluge
klugesan.bsky.social
John Kluge
@klugesan.bsky.social
Founder of the Refugee Investment Network & Co-Founder of Thistlerock Mead Co. FTE husband, dad, & Virginian. Occasional writer. Frequent board member.
🌳 Our bond with nature is fading, threatening our health & planet. My new op-ed, reflecting on new research documenting a 60% loss of connection to nature, explores why reconnecting is vital—for body, soul, and survival—and how we can act now! 🌍 #Nature substack.com/inbox/post/1...
Reconnecting with Nature: A Call to Heal Ourselves and Our Planet
We’re losing something vital, and it’s not just the forests or the wildlife—it’s us.
substack.com
August 12, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Join me on Tue, Aug 12, 6-8pm for a fireside chat & book launch with Dr. @Rosa Vásquez Espinoza! Celebrating The Spirit of the Rainforest—exploring the Amazon, stingless bees, & indigenous wisdom. RSVP: spiritofthe rainforest.eventbrite.com #AmazonConservation #BookLaunch #ThistlerockMead #virginia
August 4, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Grateful for our community for showing up on July 4th in protest of government overreach and fighting to protect academic freedom!

Please consider signing our petition to the Virginia General Assembly to shield our institutions from a despotic federal government! #uva Change.org/handsoffUVA
July 4, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by John Kluge
The Environmental Protection Agency has drafted a plan to eliminate all limits on greenhouse gases from coal and gas-fired power plants in the U.S., according to internal agency documents reviewed by The New York Times.
Documents Show E.P.A. Wants to Erase Greenhouse Gas Limits on Power Plants
www.nytimes.com
May 24, 2025 at 3:26 PM
💐Why hit up your local farmers market? Fresh, tasty produce, direct support for local farmers, and less environmental impact. Plus, you’ll find unique goods and connect with your community. Visit one this weekend! 🐝🍷 #FarmersMarket #SupportLocal #thistlerock
May 24, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Grateful for good people doing good in the world. My buddy Brian Woerner from the #WorldHoneyExchange stopped by the farm for an impromptu rare honey tasting and to hatch collaboration plans for the next year. 🍯🐝🍷✈️🌍🎥
May 24, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Honored to join the board of @jmmontpelier.bsky.social ! Grateful for the opportunity to help steward the legacy of the Father of the Constitution and engage with an incredible team dedicated to preserving history and fostering dialogue. #Montpelier #JamesMadison
May 21, 2025 at 1:24 AM
He is a dose of positivity to get your Friday started- a case study on the #innovativefinance work for #affordablehousing being led by @redlightmanagement.bsky.social & DMB’s Bama Works Fund in #Charlottesville, VA ssir.org/articles/ent...
Crash Into Housing (SSIR)
How the Bama Works Fund mobilized private, public, and philanthropic capital to transform public housing
ssir.org
May 2, 2025 at 12:29 PM
“Protecting free and independent thought in the United States is going to take more than just one institution fighting back.” Let’s go.

www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2025...
Into the breach
To my fellow Lions,
www.columbiaspectator.com
April 19, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Here in Virginia, because we don’t have many large commercial beekeepers or move our bees across state lines for pollination (at least the majority of VA beekeepers), we are thankfully somewhat insulated - for now. That could change but it’s crucial we stay ahead of this.
February 7, 2025 at 3:35 PM
🚨🐝 extremely concerning letter, went out last night. U.S. commercial beekeepers are reporting catastrophic hive losses of 50-100%, worse than CCD days. Immediate economic impact of - $140M but will have a bigger, more profound impact on American food security in months ahead.
February 7, 2025 at 3:32 PM
This matches, step by step, the playbook we’re witnessing from the White House and DOGE. The first half of this narrative is background and context of the ideology while the second half is the roadmap for implementation. Very disturbing.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=5RpP...
DARK GOTHIC MAGA: How Tech Billionaires Plan to Destroy America
YouTube video by Blonde Politics | The Silly Serious
m.youtube.com
February 3, 2025 at 2:25 PM
@marianabellmusic.bsky.social welcome to the land of non-suck. There is cheese and less Nazis.
February 3, 2025 at 3:33 AM
@benstiller.redhour.com just wanted to say thank you for all your work with @unhcr.org and for standing with refugees. That’s all. Keep doing you Ben. 🙌
February 2, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Re-read U.S. Constitution of the United States, Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 (the Appropriations Clause) and Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 (the Taxing and Spending Clause). @kaine.senate.gov is Congress going to take them to court or what?

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/u...
White House Budget Office Orders Pause in All Federal Loans and Grants
The full extent of the order was not immediately clear, but the directive sent to government agencies on Monday threatened to paralyze a vast swath of federal programs.
www.nytimes.com
January 28, 2025 at 12:36 PM
When you wear multiple hats…up early today to share our #netzero mead with customers. Mead for breakfast? #whateverittakes #entrepreneurship
January 25, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by John Kluge
EU’s solar and wind growth pushes fossil-fuel power to lowest level in 40 years - Carbon Brief
EU’s solar and wind growth pushes fossil-fuel power to lowest level in 40 years - Carbon Brief
Coal power use in the European Union (EU) has fallen by 61%, according to Carbon Brief analysis of new figures from energy analysts Ember.
buff.ly
January 24, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by John Kluge
for the first time ever, solar power generation overtakes coal in the eu

the change since 2011 is staggering (and will continue widening)
January 23, 2025 at 7:01 PM
And because it’s been a grim week, I thought you might enjoy a picture of a friendly little reindeer I met while in the Arctic of Finland.
January 22, 2025 at 7:12 PM
I wings just be writing about economic justice. I’ll also share how to brew, ferment, and drink it- in the form of the world’s most sustainable and mission-driven alcohol. Because we *might* need lots of this over the best few years.
January 22, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Oh, and if you did read that NYT piece about refugees’ immense net economic contributions to the U.S. economy and want more, hang with me here as I’m in the last mile of writing a new book w/ the brilliant Christine Mahoney called #BankingOnBelonging w Columbia U Press. Vive la résistance.
January 22, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Been fairly quiet on socials for a while as haven’t feel the fire to share content. Well, that was fun while it lasted. 2025 here we go..,
January 22, 2025 at 6:38 PM
A question though- if US Federal agencies (like the EPA), under direction of the new admin, fail to distribute contractually obligated grants executed prior to Jan 20, and thus violate the terms of their contracts, will local orgs and institutions have to sue them to release funds? #realquestion
January 22, 2025 at 6:34 PM
In other more positive news, a badass team of changemakers @uvabatten.bsky.social @uvawise.bsky.social and community and county partners secured a $20M grant from #EPA to advance #climate #resilience across #Appalachia.

batten.virginia.edu/about/news/u...
UVA Batten Leads Major Appalachian Initiative Through a $20 Million Federal Grant
UVA Batten, under the guidance of Chief Innovation Officer Christine Mahoney, will facilitate a broad range of economic development and environmental resilience projects in Appalachia through a recent...
batten.virginia.edu
January 22, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Remember that time when the President commissioned a study of refugee economic impact on the U.S. and then tried to bury it after finding the net contribution was billions of $ in paid taxes and jobs created? Let’s revisit this little chestnut…
#facts #refugees

www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/u...
Trump Administration Rejects Study Showing Positive Impact of Refugees (Published 2017)
A draft report by the Department of Health and Human Services contradicts a central argument made by advocates of deep cuts in refugees.
www.nytimes.com
January 22, 2025 at 6:26 PM