Matt Huber
@matthuber.bsky.social
Geographer, Lifeblood (2013) @UMinnPress, Climate Change as Class War (2022) @VersoBooks https://www.versobooks.com/books/3973-climate-change-as-class-war
Pinned
Matt Huber
@matthuber.bsky.social
· May 20
My book has been 'out of stock' for months on Verso's site, but I'm happy to report it's back up! www.versobooks.com/products/775...
Now that Trump controls all three branches of government and is destroying everything Democrats care about, they have a new and exciting idea: "Maybe we shouldn't be the party of the status quo?" www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
Can Democrats Reinvent Themselves as Washington Disrupters?
www.nytimes.com
December 26, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Now that Trump controls all three branches of government and is destroying everything Democrats care about, they have a new and exciting idea: "Maybe we shouldn't be the party of the status quo?" www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
I am sick and home alone on Christmas Eve so naturally I’m watching the 1986 biopic of Rosa Luxemburg (first time!)
December 24, 2025 at 8:13 PM
I am sick and home alone on Christmas Eve so naturally I’m watching the 1986 biopic of Rosa Luxemburg (first time!)
Excited to see a slightly edited (and profusely footnoted) version of my abundance essay w/ @leighphillips.bsky.social and @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social in the new issue of Catalyst. Love this pithy summary! Subscribe to @catalystjournal.bsky.social!
December 19, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Excited to see a slightly edited (and profusely footnoted) version of my abundance essay w/ @leighphillips.bsky.social and @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social in the new issue of Catalyst. Love this pithy summary! Subscribe to @catalystjournal.bsky.social!
I was asked by @the-breakdown.bsky.social to talk about a book that shaped my thinking in 2025 and was excited to talk about this one. breakdownjournal.substack.com/p/books-of-t...
December 18, 2025 at 1:42 PM
I was asked by @the-breakdown.bsky.social to talk about a book that shaped my thinking in 2025 and was excited to talk about this one. breakdownjournal.substack.com/p/books-of-t...
Decided to post something on substack for the 1st time (partially b/c of dissatisfaction with this place & the other place, it must be said).
My first post is a response to @simonpirani.bsky.social's critiques of my work with @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social on electricity politics (link in next post).
My first post is a response to @simonpirani.bsky.social's critiques of my work with @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social on electricity politics (link in next post).
December 17, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Decided to post something on substack for the 1st time (partially b/c of dissatisfaction with this place & the other place, it must be said).
My first post is a response to @simonpirani.bsky.social's critiques of my work with @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social on electricity politics (link in next post).
My first post is a response to @simonpirani.bsky.social's critiques of my work with @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social on electricity politics (link in next post).
Really smart point. Stop hinging your climate policy on capitalist/GOP buy in. newrepublic.com/article/2027...
December 14, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Really smart point. Stop hinging your climate policy on capitalist/GOP buy in. newrepublic.com/article/2027...
BP's had a hell of a 20 yrs:
✅2004 -"Greenwashing" rebrand w/ "Beyond Petroleum" campaign. Invent "carbon footprint" deflecting blame.
✅2010-Spill 134 million gallons of oil into the sea.
✅2020-Claim ambition to shift from oil/gas to clean energy.
✅2025-Abandon such claims.
✅2004 -"Greenwashing" rebrand w/ "Beyond Petroleum" campaign. Invent "carbon footprint" deflecting blame.
✅2010-Spill 134 million gallons of oil into the sea.
✅2020-Claim ambition to shift from oil/gas to clean energy.
✅2025-Abandon such claims.
December 12, 2025 at 1:30 PM
BP's had a hell of a 20 yrs:
✅2004 -"Greenwashing" rebrand w/ "Beyond Petroleum" campaign. Invent "carbon footprint" deflecting blame.
✅2010-Spill 134 million gallons of oil into the sea.
✅2020-Claim ambition to shift from oil/gas to clean energy.
✅2025-Abandon such claims.
✅2004 -"Greenwashing" rebrand w/ "Beyond Petroleum" campaign. Invent "carbon footprint" deflecting blame.
✅2010-Spill 134 million gallons of oil into the sea.
✅2020-Claim ambition to shift from oil/gas to clean energy.
✅2025-Abandon such claims.
I continue to think it's really going to be tough for socialists to take over utilities when a main source of opposition is workers/unions (who have very good reason for resisting being shifted to public sector labor law). www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/n...
December 11, 2025 at 2:21 PM
I continue to think it's really going to be tough for socialists to take over utilities when a main source of opposition is workers/unions (who have very good reason for resisting being shifted to public sector labor law). www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/n...
December 11, 2025 at 10:59 AM
The special issue on 'renewables capitalism' is fully out now. It looks amazing! All open access (for now)! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14677660...
December 10, 2025 at 2:38 PM
The special issue on 'renewables capitalism' is fully out now. It looks amazing! All open access (for now)! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14677660...
Really sharp point here (~16:20) by @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social. People though the IRA was meant to organize/expand a broader Dem coalition (centering workers), but it ended up sending lots of money to its already organized constituency: nonprofits. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
The Biggest Lessons of a Not-So-Great Year for Climate Policy
Podcast Episode · Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse Jenkins · 12/03/2025 · 1h 1m
podcasts.apple.com
December 8, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Really sharp point here (~16:20) by @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social. People though the IRA was meant to organize/expand a broader Dem coalition (centering workers), but it ended up sending lots of money to its already organized constituency: nonprofits. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
My god what a scandal:
“To get a sense of how little electricity people use in sub-Saharan Africa, imagine each person there turning on a single 50-watt light bulb. That alone would instantly double electricity consumption.” www.economist.com/middle-east-...
“To get a sense of how little electricity people use in sub-Saharan Africa, imagine each person there turning on a single 50-watt light bulb. That alone would instantly double electricity consumption.” www.economist.com/middle-east-...
Africa needs to generate more electricity
It also has to create more demand for it
www.economist.com
December 8, 2025 at 1:13 AM
My god what a scandal:
“To get a sense of how little electricity people use in sub-Saharan Africa, imagine each person there turning on a single 50-watt light bulb. That alone would instantly double electricity consumption.” www.economist.com/middle-east-...
“To get a sense of how little electricity people use in sub-Saharan Africa, imagine each person there turning on a single 50-watt light bulb. That alone would instantly double electricity consumption.” www.economist.com/middle-east-...
Reposted by Matt Huber
Strong arguments here.
The real problem is we don't live in a society in which we genuinely plan power production decades in advance.
If we did, both nuclear and renewables would be built faster and cheaper as we wouldn't face the same grid constraints and economies of scale would be much greater.
The real problem is we don't live in a society in which we genuinely plan power production decades in advance.
If we did, both nuclear and renewables would be built faster and cheaper as we wouldn't face the same grid constraints and economies of scale would be much greater.
New from me in @jacobinmag.bsky.social.
It has not always been the case, but there’s definitely now a debate on the left on the topic of nuclear energy. I tried to compose the most compact “case for” on climate, labor, and reliability grounds (as well as answer the questions posed by critics).
It has not always been the case, but there’s definitely now a debate on the left on the topic of nuclear energy. I tried to compose the most compact “case for” on climate, labor, and reliability grounds (as well as answer the questions posed by critics).
The Socialist Case for Nuclear Power
Nuclear energy is still regarded with skepticism. But nuclear power’s critics wildly overstate its dangers, and preserving and expanding this energy source is essential to a just green transition.
jacobin.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Strong arguments here.
The real problem is we don't live in a society in which we genuinely plan power production decades in advance.
If we did, both nuclear and renewables would be built faster and cheaper as we wouldn't face the same grid constraints and economies of scale would be much greater.
The real problem is we don't live in a society in which we genuinely plan power production decades in advance.
If we did, both nuclear and renewables would be built faster and cheaper as we wouldn't face the same grid constraints and economies of scale would be much greater.
New from me in @jacobinmag.bsky.social.
It has not always been the case, but there’s definitely now a debate on the left on the topic of nuclear energy. I tried to compose the most compact “case for” on climate, labor, and reliability grounds (as well as answer the questions posed by critics).
It has not always been the case, but there’s definitely now a debate on the left on the topic of nuclear energy. I tried to compose the most compact “case for” on climate, labor, and reliability grounds (as well as answer the questions posed by critics).
The Socialist Case for Nuclear Power
Nuclear energy is still regarded with skepticism. But nuclear power’s critics wildly overstate its dangers, and preserving and expanding this energy source is essential to a just green transition.
jacobin.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:30 PM
New from me in @jacobinmag.bsky.social.
It has not always been the case, but there’s definitely now a debate on the left on the topic of nuclear energy. I tried to compose the most compact “case for” on climate, labor, and reliability grounds (as well as answer the questions posed by critics).
It has not always been the case, but there’s definitely now a debate on the left on the topic of nuclear energy. I tried to compose the most compact “case for” on climate, labor, and reliability grounds (as well as answer the questions posed by critics).
I think the more impt distinction (that Harvey goes on about) is btw *capital* & capitalism.
Marx acknowledges the "antediluvian" forms of capital (merchants' & usurers' capital) exist for 100's of years before the "primary" form (industrial) takes hold of *production*. (1/2)
Marx acknowledges the "antediluvian" forms of capital (merchants' & usurers' capital) exist for 100's of years before the "primary" form (industrial) takes hold of *production*. (1/2)
December 6, 2025 at 2:39 PM
I think the more impt distinction (that Harvey goes on about) is btw *capital* & capitalism.
Marx acknowledges the "antediluvian" forms of capital (merchants' & usurers' capital) exist for 100's of years before the "primary" form (industrial) takes hold of *production*. (1/2)
Marx acknowledges the "antediluvian" forms of capital (merchants' & usurers' capital) exist for 100's of years before the "primary" form (industrial) takes hold of *production*. (1/2)
“Readers braving [Beckert’s] 1100 pages should mentally prepare to end up without a clear idea of what capitalism is; they can find comfort in the fact that the author doesn’t have one either.” www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/1...
How not to talk about capitalism
The more it penetrates our daily lives, the less we seem to understand the “system that runs the world”
www.newstatesman.com
December 6, 2025 at 1:02 PM
“Readers braving [Beckert’s] 1100 pages should mentally prepare to end up without a clear idea of what capitalism is; they can find comfort in the fact that the author doesn’t have one either.” www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/1...
"There's massive dishonesty involved."
The current popular backlash to climate movements & advocacy is partially due to either the ignorance or dishonesty in claiming the shift to renewables is very 'cheap' (and easy). People like Bill McKibben are *still* saying this! www.wsj.com/business/ene...
The current popular backlash to climate movements & advocacy is partially due to either the ignorance or dishonesty in claiming the shift to renewables is very 'cheap' (and easy). People like Bill McKibben are *still* saying this! www.wsj.com/business/ene...
December 2, 2025 at 2:01 PM
"There's massive dishonesty involved."
The current popular backlash to climate movements & advocacy is partially due to either the ignorance or dishonesty in claiming the shift to renewables is very 'cheap' (and easy). People like Bill McKibben are *still* saying this! www.wsj.com/business/ene...
The current popular backlash to climate movements & advocacy is partially due to either the ignorance or dishonesty in claiming the shift to renewables is very 'cheap' (and easy). People like Bill McKibben are *still* saying this! www.wsj.com/business/ene...
December 1, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Reposted by Matt Huber
Gah, this is SO refreshingly good
(by the one and only @matthuber.bsky.social)
damagemag.com/2025/11/12/w...
(by the one and only @matthuber.bsky.social)
damagemag.com/2025/11/12/w...
Of, By, and For the Left
Malcolm Harris’s new book represents the misguided hope that the scattered parts of what passes for “the Left” today can somehow unite and gain power. What’s missing is any confrontation with the fact...
damagemag.com
November 30, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Gah, this is SO refreshingly good
(by the one and only @matthuber.bsky.social)
damagemag.com/2025/11/12/w...
(by the one and only @matthuber.bsky.social)
damagemag.com/2025/11/12/w...
People don’t talk enough about this.
“An argument for ‘a modest nuclear deterrent’ for three more states is another ill-considered attempt to normalize weapons that still threaten virtually all life on earth.” jacobin.com/2025/11/nucl...
“An argument for ‘a modest nuclear deterrent’ for three more states is another ill-considered attempt to normalize weapons that still threaten virtually all life on earth.” jacobin.com/2025/11/nucl...
The Return of Nuclear Proliferation
A recent article in the establishment security journal Foreign Affairs makes the case for nuclear proliferation among America’s allies. Not only are its arguments unsound, but they also understate the...
jacobin.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:23 PM
People don’t talk enough about this.
“An argument for ‘a modest nuclear deterrent’ for three more states is another ill-considered attempt to normalize weapons that still threaten virtually all life on earth.” jacobin.com/2025/11/nucl...
“An argument for ‘a modest nuclear deterrent’ for three more states is another ill-considered attempt to normalize weapons that still threaten virtually all life on earth.” jacobin.com/2025/11/nucl...
TIL in China the capacity factors for solar and wind are only 14% and 24% respectively. 🤯
(Compare that to 23% and 34% in the USA).
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
(Compare that to 23% and 34% in the USA).
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
How China’s Power Grid Really Works
Podcast Episode · Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse Jenkins · 10/08/2025 · 1h 13m
podcasts.apple.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:24 PM
TIL in China the capacity factors for solar and wind are only 14% and 24% respectively. 🤯
(Compare that to 23% and 34% in the USA).
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
(Compare that to 23% and 34% in the USA).
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
Mainstream economist Kenneth Rogoff distills the class antagonisms inherent in the current stock market bubble.
November 26, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Mainstream economist Kenneth Rogoff distills the class antagonisms inherent in the current stock market bubble.
“Today, as was the case 30 yrs ago, more than 80% of industrial civilization is powered by fossil fuels. As a species, we now have to switch treadmills going 100 mph, to a new global industrial metabolism based on sunlight, wind, water, the heat of the Earth, & the atom itself.”
Our Almost-Apocalyptic Climate Future
By shooting for 3 degrees Celsius of warming, the world could slide toward a more cataclysmic 4 degrees.
www.theatlantic.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:59 PM
“Today, as was the case 30 yrs ago, more than 80% of industrial civilization is powered by fossil fuels. As a species, we now have to switch treadmills going 100 mph, to a new global industrial metabolism based on sunlight, wind, water, the heat of the Earth, & the atom itself.”
Reposted by Matt Huber
A lot of writing on renewable energy depicts the industry as "laborless," suggesting that workers in the industry aren't really central to the politics of the "energy transition."
My new article in @societyandspace.bsky.social shows how mistaken this view is.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
My new article in @societyandspace.bsky.social shows how mistaken this view is.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
November 24, 2025 at 6:49 AM
A lot of writing on renewable energy depicts the industry as "laborless," suggesting that workers in the industry aren't really central to the politics of the "energy transition."
My new article in @societyandspace.bsky.social shows how mistaken this view is.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
My new article in @societyandspace.bsky.social shows how mistaken this view is.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by Matt Huber
A juventude é a maior interessada nas políticas de mitigação do aquecimento global. Porém, sua estratégia política isolada pode não representar o agente da mudança. É preciso, segundo @matthuber.bsky.social, uma integração com o movimento dos trabalhadores. Leia mais 👇
www.ufrgs.br/carbono/2025...
www.ufrgs.br/carbono/2025...
November 19, 2025 at 1:14 PM
A juventude é a maior interessada nas políticas de mitigação do aquecimento global. Porém, sua estratégia política isolada pode não representar o agente da mudança. É preciso, segundo @matthuber.bsky.social, uma integração com o movimento dos trabalhadores. Leia mais 👇
www.ufrgs.br/carbono/2025...
www.ufrgs.br/carbono/2025...