John Kostyack
@kostyack.bsky.social
Consulting on climate change & the energy transition for NGOs & foundations at Kostyack Strategies. Senior Contributor at Forbes.com & Senior Fellow at ceea.us. All opinions expressed here are solely my own.
Pinned
Reposted by John Kostyack
India is building the largest renewable energy plant in the world, a combined 30 GW of wind and solar.
Construction started in 2023, and power started flowing 9 months later!
7 GW are now operational.
4-5 GW will be added yearly.
www.independent.co.uk/climate-chan... #energysky
Construction started in 2023, and power started flowing 9 months later!
7 GW are now operational.
4-5 GW will be added yearly.
www.independent.co.uk/climate-chan... #energysky
Inside world’s largest renewable energy park – proof the green transition isn’t dead
Stuti Mishra reports from a site in western India that’s roughly seven times larger than the city of Paris and combines solar and wind power to produce energy around the clock. Nothing on this scale e...
www.independent.co.uk
January 22, 2026 at 12:34 PM
India is building the largest renewable energy plant in the world, a combined 30 GW of wind and solar.
Construction started in 2023, and power started flowing 9 months later!
7 GW are now operational.
4-5 GW will be added yearly.
www.independent.co.uk/climate-chan... #energysky
Construction started in 2023, and power started flowing 9 months later!
7 GW are now operational.
4-5 GW will be added yearly.
www.independent.co.uk/climate-chan... #energysky
Reposted by John Kostyack
This guy went to work today, put a mask on, kidnapped a 5 year old child, and then used him as bait so both he and his father could be sent behind bars
January 22, 2026 at 2:13 AM
This guy went to work today, put a mask on, kidnapped a 5 year old child, and then used him as bait so both he and his father could be sent behind bars
You've read about the hellish conditions of ICE detention centers. Now imagine this was your 5-year-old. #AbolishICE
This picture making the rounds on reddit, Columbia Heights. I'm not OK.
January 22, 2026 at 3:43 AM
You've read about the hellish conditions of ICE detention centers. Now imagine this was your 5-year-old. #AbolishICE
Just can't get enough of those crazy tech broligarchs? No worries, it's very possible that we'll be seeing SpaceX, OpenAi and Anthropic doing IPOs this year, with SpaceX claiming that data centers in space will give Grok the competitive advantage in the race against those AI competitors.
Why Elon Musk Is Racing to Take SpaceX Public
Putting data centers in space pushed the billionaire toward an IPO, sources say.
www.wsj.com
January 21, 2026 at 1:17 PM
Just can't get enough of those crazy tech broligarchs? No worries, it's very possible that we'll be seeing SpaceX, OpenAi and Anthropic doing IPOs this year, with SpaceX claiming that data centers in space will give Grok the competitive advantage in the race against those AI competitors.
The Trump regime has finally admitted that DOGE stole Social Security information and shared it with an advocacy group focused on overturning election results. This comes after it blatantly lied about not doing this and persuaded the Supreme Court to issue an emergency ruling giving DOGE access.
Trump administration admits DOGE accessed personal Social Security data
A DOGE employee signed an agreement to share Social Security data with the aim of overturning election results in certain states, according to a new court filing.
wapo.st
January 21, 2026 at 12:40 PM
The Trump regime has finally admitted that DOGE stole Social Security information and shared it with an advocacy group focused on overturning election results. This comes after it blatantly lied about not doing this and persuaded the Supreme Court to issue an emergency ruling giving DOGE access.
Reposted by John Kostyack
"Colorado ... Democrats introduced a bill backed by data center industry groups. If approved, it would give data center developers a 20-year exemption from paying state sales and use taxes — if they meet a series of economic and environmental requirements." www.cpr.org/2026/01/20/c...
Colorado lawmakers brace for their biggest battle yet over AI data centers
The data center boom is coming for Colorado. Lawmakers are set to decide whether to incentivize it or guard against the potential impacts.
www.cpr.org
January 21, 2026 at 12:46 AM
"Colorado ... Democrats introduced a bill backed by data center industry groups. If approved, it would give data center developers a 20-year exemption from paying state sales and use taxes — if they meet a series of economic and environmental requirements." www.cpr.org/2026/01/20/c...
Everyone is waiting to see if the demand flexibility solution to data centers' massive energy requirements will scale. How much backup diesel generation will environmental regulators allow? How much curtailment is feasible, now that workloads are shifting from training to inference?
A reality check on flexible data centers
2026 will be a “roll-up-your-sleeves” year for getting compute power online faster.
www.latitudemedia.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:29 PM
Everyone is waiting to see if the demand flexibility solution to data centers' massive energy requirements will scale. How much backup diesel generation will environmental regulators allow? How much curtailment is feasible, now that workloads are shifting from training to inference?
Reposted by John Kostyack
This chart by @nathanielbullard.com is one reason data centers are driving up our electricity prices. Tech companies usually build data centers close to cities, where accommodating their GW-scale power demand entails costly reinforcement of wires or transformers. Utilities pass those costs on to us.
January 19, 2026 at 4:41 PM
This chart by @nathanielbullard.com is one reason data centers are driving up our electricity prices. Tech companies usually build data centers close to cities, where accommodating their GW-scale power demand entails costly reinforcement of wires or transformers. Utilities pass those costs on to us.
The interconnection requests pending at ERCOT are truly insane. 226 GWs as of Nov '25 compared to just 63 GWs a year earlier. Data center proposals are the reason, and many are supersized: >1GW, or more than what's required to power a mid-sized city. How much is speculative ("phantom") load?
Inside Texas’s AI Data Center Queue
How real is the 226 gigawatts of demand sitting on Texas' interconnection queue?
substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 5:20 PM
The interconnection requests pending at ERCOT are truly insane. 226 GWs as of Nov '25 compared to just 63 GWs a year earlier. Data center proposals are the reason, and many are supersized: >1GW, or more than what's required to power a mid-sized city. How much is speculative ("phantom") load?
@jeremywallace.bsky.social on China's "violent" clean tech revolution, with its massive surplus of solar panels. China is the world’s largest battery maker, but it "hasn’t figured out the rules and pricing to push battery capacity onto the grid fast enough to keep up." Seems solvable!
China’s Renewable Energy Revolution Is a Huge Mess That Might Save the World
A global onslaught of cheap Chinese green power is upending everything in its path. No one is ready for its repercussions.
www.wired.com
January 20, 2026 at 1:47 PM
@jeremywallace.bsky.social on China's "violent" clean tech revolution, with its massive surplus of solar panels. China is the world’s largest battery maker, but it "hasn’t figured out the rules and pricing to push battery capacity onto the grid fast enough to keep up." Seems solvable!
Reposted by John Kostyack
"The real-world impact that extreme weather has on assets such as buildings — is getting harder to ignore as climate disasters mount." #cdnpoli #bcpoli #economics
New research shows that borrowers are starting to face financial penalties for ignoring the dangers of climate change and the risks of the global energy transition to their bottom line. financialpost.com/pmn/business...
The Repo Market Has Started Pricing In Energy Transition Risks
For years, climate experts have insisted that markets will naturally push companies to take climate change more seriously as risks become more apparent. Fresh resea…
financialpost.com
January 19, 2026 at 10:12 PM
"The real-world impact that extreme weather has on assets such as buildings — is getting harder to ignore as climate disasters mount." #cdnpoli #bcpoli #economics
Important context for the invasions of Venezuela, Minneapolis, and Greenland can be found on our National Mall, where there's an exhibit showing the exchange between “Donald” and “Jeffrey” written inside the contours of a woman’s body. “We have certain things in common, Jeffrey,” “Donald” says.
New protest art on National Mall takes aim at Trump and Epstein files
A replica of a birthday note President Trump allegedly wrote to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 was placed on the National Mall Monday.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 19, 2026 at 8:44 PM
Important context for the invasions of Venezuela, Minneapolis, and Greenland can be found on our National Mall, where there's an exhibit showing the exchange between “Donald” and “Jeffrey” written inside the contours of a woman’s body. “We have certain things in common, Jeffrey,” “Donald” says.
Tech and fossil fuel moguls have invested in Greenland mining and extraction companies—and "stand to profit if only they can cut out any pesky Danish or Greenlandic authorities from regulating or restraining their operations."
The Oligarchs Pushing for Conquest in Greenland
Trump’s fixation on filching the island territory from Denmark may seem like the demented ravings of a mad king. But to a cohort of plutocrat weirdos, it makes perfect sense.
newrepublic.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Tech and fossil fuel moguls have invested in Greenland mining and extraction companies—and "stand to profit if only they can cut out any pesky Danish or Greenlandic authorities from regulating or restraining their operations."
Mitsubishi invests $7.5B in Texas shale gas, "the latest example of a Japanese company investing in the US energy sector after Tokyo positioned gas as its key transition fuel beyond 2050 and as Japan prepares for surging power demand from data centres driven by the artificial intelligence boom."
January 19, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Mitsubishi invests $7.5B in Texas shale gas, "the latest example of a Japanese company investing in the US energy sector after Tokyo positioned gas as its key transition fuel beyond 2050 and as Japan prepares for surging power demand from data centres driven by the artificial intelligence boom."
Among the reasons to celebrate MLK Jr. today: what he taught us about his antagonists (and today's equivalent). They were a threat to more than just people of color, but "a mortal danger to anyone who disagreed with them, regardless of the person’s race, background, or gender."
From Selma to Minneapolis
On M.L.K. Day, the death of Renee Good calls to mind another woman who died protesting for the rights of others.
www.newyorker.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Among the reasons to celebrate MLK Jr. today: what he taught us about his antagonists (and today's equivalent). They were a threat to more than just people of color, but "a mortal danger to anyone who disagreed with them, regardless of the person’s race, background, or gender."
As Big Tech lines up power from the fossil fuel industry to feed its energy-hungry data centers, it should be forced to explain how toxic wastewater from gas production will be handled. @psskow.bsky.social: today's system allows drillers to evade responsibility for contaminated water supplies.
A Small Oil Company Polluted Midland’s Water Reserve. The Cleanup Has Dragged on for Years. - Inside Climate News
Cleaning up oilfield pollution in arid West Texas is costly and complicated. The bankruptcy process allows companies to move on while the public pays the price.
insideclimatenews.org
January 19, 2026 at 2:41 PM
As Big Tech lines up power from the fossil fuel industry to feed its energy-hungry data centers, it should be forced to explain how toxic wastewater from gas production will be handled. @psskow.bsky.social: today's system allows drillers to evade responsibility for contaminated water supplies.
Thinking that the GOP might pivot away from its racist anti-immigrant platform in the wake of widespread public disapproval of ICE raids? Now that the white immigrant from South Africa has rolled out his political spending plan for 2026, you can probably give up on that idea.
Scoop: Musk shocks with $10 million donation in Ky. Senate race
It's the biggest sign yet that Musk plans to spend big for Republicans in the 2026 midterms.
www.axios.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:12 PM
Thinking that the GOP might pivot away from its racist anti-immigrant platform in the wake of widespread public disapproval of ICE raids? Now that the white immigrant from South Africa has rolled out his political spending plan for 2026, you can probably give up on that idea.
Trump has cowed more than just US business elites. Davos organizers, for some reason desperate to persuade him to attend this year's gathering, promised the White House they would downplay climate change and other topics that Trump considers “woke.”
January 19, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Trump has cowed more than just US business elites. Davos organizers, for some reason desperate to persuade him to attend this year's gathering, promised the White House they would downplay climate change and other topics that Trump considers “woke.”
Exercising your 1st Amendment freedoms can be fun.
With arms linked and snow falling, Minneapolis ICE protesters dance as ICE agents retreat back. "Nah nah nah, hey hey hey, goodbye!" WATCH ⬇️
January 17, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Exercising your 1st Amendment freedoms can be fun.
Data centers are causing a chip shortage that is poised to drive up prices for consumer electronics and delay production of automobiles. Another example of how investments in GenAI are crowding out investments in the less speculative technologies that serve as the backbone of the US economy.
The Global Memory-Chip Shortage Will Cost Us All
AI companies’ need for a once obscure and affordable type of microchip threatens to drive up prices of all electronics—and limit data-center ambitions.
www.wsj.com
January 17, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Data centers are causing a chip shortage that is poised to drive up prices for consumer electronics and delay production of automobiles. Another example of how investments in GenAI are crowding out investments in the less speculative technologies that serve as the backbone of the US economy.
Larry Fink & other Wall Street titans know that continuing to finance fossil fuel expansion will permanently damage their clients' (and everyone else's) economic prospects. But when a right wing campaign organized by fossil fuel donors insisted they stop talking about climate change, they obeyed.
How Wall Street Turned Its Back on Climate Change
www.nytimes.com
January 17, 2026 at 3:17 PM
Larry Fink & other Wall Street titans know that continuing to finance fossil fuel expansion will permanently damage their clients' (and everyone else's) economic prospects. But when a right wing campaign organized by fossil fuel donors insisted they stop talking about climate change, they obeyed.
Surprised (not) to see that today's White House plan for data centers and affordability is an unworkable mess. No mention in the plan of the nearly 100GW of cheap solar, wind, and batteries stuck in the PJM queue.
The Trump administration wants grid operator PJM to force data centers to pay $15 billion for “baseload” power plants. Experts warn the plan is unworkable, and that clean energy and batteries are what can be added fast enough to curb skyrocketing costs:
www.canarymedia.com/articles/dat...
#energysky
www.canarymedia.com/articles/dat...
#energysky
Trump’s plan to make data centers pay for power plants has big flaws
Mid-Atlantic governors joined the White House to push grid operator PJM to make tech giants pay for new "baseload" power. But experts are skeptical.
www.canarymedia.com
January 16, 2026 at 10:23 PM
Surprised (not) to see that today's White House plan for data centers and affordability is an unworkable mess. No mention in the plan of the nearly 100GW of cheap solar, wind, and batteries stuck in the PJM queue.
Reposted by John Kostyack
Big, big news! This is probably the coolest of the many jobs I have shared here!
🚨COME BE MY DEPUTY🚨
🚨JOIN THE BEST TEAM WORKING IN CLIMATE POLICY AND POLITICS!🚨
This. Will. Go. Fast.
🚨COME BE MY DEPUTY🚨
🚨JOIN THE BEST TEAM WORKING IN CLIMATE POLICY AND POLITICS!🚨
This. Will. Go. Fast.
Deputy Policy Director
Chicago, Illinois, United States
job-boards.greenhouse.io
January 16, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Big, big news! This is probably the coolest of the many jobs I have shared here!
🚨COME BE MY DEPUTY🚨
🚨JOIN THE BEST TEAM WORKING IN CLIMATE POLICY AND POLITICS!🚨
This. Will. Go. Fast.
🚨COME BE MY DEPUTY🚨
🚨JOIN THE BEST TEAM WORKING IN CLIMATE POLICY AND POLITICS!🚨
This. Will. Go. Fast.
Mothusi Pal: In negotiating demand response contracts w Big Tech, utilities are mishandling the governance of critical infrastructure, leaving communities exposed to risks of rolling blackouts. "We need demand response contracts structured like insurance policies, not hostage negotiations."
The data center dependency crisis: When our grid can’t function without big tech
We're sleepwalking into a future where our electric grid depends on the voluntary cooperation of private technology companies because the short-term benefits are too attractive to resist, writes Mothu...
www.utilitydive.com
January 16, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Mothusi Pal: In negotiating demand response contracts w Big Tech, utilities are mishandling the governance of critical infrastructure, leaving communities exposed to risks of rolling blackouts. "We need demand response contracts structured like insurance policies, not hostage negotiations."
So much winning...
BREAKING:
A judge has overturned a stop work order from the Trump administration, allowing the Coastal Virginia offshore wind project to proceed.
The decision marks the third defeat for the president — this week. Here's @jael.bsky.social with more:
heatmap.news/sparks/coast...
A judge has overturned a stop work order from the Trump administration, allowing the Coastal Virginia offshore wind project to proceed.
The decision marks the third defeat for the president — this week. Here's @jael.bsky.social with more:
heatmap.news/sparks/coast...
Offshore Wind Developers Are Now 3 for 3 Against Trump
A third judge rejected a stop work order, allowing the Coastal Virginia offshore wind project to proceed.
heatmap.news
January 16, 2026 at 7:01 PM
So much winning...