Michael Wara
@michaelwara.bsky.social
Works at Stanford on equitable climate and energy law/policy with a big helping of wildfire and insurance.
Reposted by Michael Wara
Attention folks in the weather, climate, disaster, wildfire, and Earth science communities: NSF has just published a new "Dear Colleague" letter inviting feedback (by Mar 13) on the proposal to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). www.nsf.gov/funding/...
January 23, 2026 at 9:57 PM
Attention folks in the weather, climate, disaster, wildfire, and Earth science communities: NSF has just published a new "Dear Colleague" letter inviting feedback (by Mar 13) on the proposal to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). www.nsf.gov/funding/...
Reposted by Michael Wara
Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026
January 22, 2026 at 11:19 PM
Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026
I was at the Power Resilience Forum in Houston for the past two days and can confirm that utilities are concerned. It was a little surreal as this bears down on us. Hopefully work and progress since Uri pays off.
Storm Poses Big Threats to Power Grids Across U.S. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/b...
Storm Poses Big Threats to Power Grids Across U.S. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/b...
Storm Poses Big Threats to Power Grids Across U.S.
www.nytimes.com
January 23, 2026 at 3:40 PM
I was at the Power Resilience Forum in Houston for the past two days and can confirm that utilities are concerned. It was a little surreal as this bears down on us. Hopefully work and progress since Uri pays off.
Storm Poses Big Threats to Power Grids Across U.S. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/b...
Storm Poses Big Threats to Power Grids Across U.S. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/b...
Kim suggests a public option for homeowners insurance. Sounds like a good idea. But imagine what would have happened to the California budget this year if a significant fraction of LA wildfire losses were the state’s responsibility.
www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
Progressive former SF supervisor to run for California Insurance Commissioner
Jane Kim launched her campaign with an endorsement from fellow progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders and a bold promise to guarantee disaster insurance for all.
www.sfchronicle.com
January 23, 2026 at 6:37 AM
Kim suggests a public option for homeowners insurance. Sounds like a good idea. But imagine what would have happened to the California budget this year if a significant fraction of LA wildfire losses were the state’s responsibility.
www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
It is such a pleasure to be on a plane for four hours and just read a great book, undisturbed.
Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel.
A true luxury in middle age.
Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel.
A true luxury in middle age.
January 23, 2026 at 5:04 AM
It is such a pleasure to be on a plane for four hours and just read a great book, undisturbed.
Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel.
A true luxury in middle age.
Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel.
A true luxury in middle age.
Reposted by Michael Wara
After the World Trade Center was attacked (just four miles from Trump Tower), more than 40,000 Canadians in uniform fought alongside their U.S. allies in Afghanistan.
More than 2,000 Canadians were wounded.
These 158 didn't make it home.
And now this guy is giving lectures on gratitude.
More than 2,000 Canadians were wounded.
These 158 didn't make it home.
And now this guy is giving lectures on gratitude.
January 21, 2026 at 4:13 PM
After the World Trade Center was attacked (just four miles from Trump Tower), more than 40,000 Canadians in uniform fought alongside their U.S. allies in Afghanistan.
More than 2,000 Canadians were wounded.
These 158 didn't make it home.
And now this guy is giving lectures on gratitude.
More than 2,000 Canadians were wounded.
These 158 didn't make it home.
And now this guy is giving lectures on gratitude.
On my run this morning and Tamalpais valley, unincorporated Marin County, and encapsulation of what i we need to work on with wildfire management in California. Two sides of the street:
January 21, 2026 at 5:34 PM
On my run this morning and Tamalpais valley, unincorporated Marin County, and encapsulation of what i we need to work on with wildfire management in California. Two sides of the street:
Really interesting opportunity at a great company.
Fervo Energy Bedrock Program applications are open! 2 years, 4 rotations, 1 unique career-making opportunity. Special opportunity for those just getting started on their energy career.
Super competitive, apply today!
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
Super competitive, apply today!
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
Fervo Energy hiring Fervo Bedrock Program in Houston, TX | LinkedIn
Posted 8:53:23 PM. The Fervo Bedrock Program is a cross-functional development program designed to shape the next…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.
www.linkedin.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:47 AM
Really interesting opportunity at a great company.
Reposted by Michael Wara
Fervo Energy Bedrock Program applications are open! 2 years, 4 rotations, 1 unique career-making opportunity. Special opportunity for those just getting started on their energy career.
Super competitive, apply today!
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
Super competitive, apply today!
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
Fervo Energy hiring Fervo Bedrock Program in Houston, TX | LinkedIn
Posted 8:53:23 PM. The Fervo Bedrock Program is a cross-functional development program designed to shape the next…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.
www.linkedin.com
January 21, 2026 at 3:55 AM
Fervo Energy Bedrock Program applications are open! 2 years, 4 rotations, 1 unique career-making opportunity. Special opportunity for those just getting started on their energy career.
Super competitive, apply today!
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
Super competitive, apply today!
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
Reposted by Michael Wara
Forest fires in Chile as seen by #Copernicus Sentinel‑3 on 18 January - the image captured an extensive wildfire smoke plume originating near Concepción and sweeping over the Pacific Ocean.
January 20, 2026 at 9:06 AM
Forest fires in Chile as seen by #Copernicus Sentinel‑3 on 18 January - the image captured an extensive wildfire smoke plume originating near Concepción and sweeping over the Pacific Ocean.
Reposted by Michael Wara
Rock climbing on Mount Saint Helena on this beautiful January day and got to watch two prescribed fires get done west of Calistoga. Yes! More!
January 20, 2026 at 2:03 AM
Rock climbing on Mount Saint Helena on this beautiful January day and got to watch two prescribed fires get done west of Calistoga. Yes! More!
A year in.
Our country is headed in the wrong direction.
Ceding global leadership and alliances for regional irrelevance. Selling out our children’s future for billionaire tax cuts. Eating the seed corn of our innovation advantage by undermining science and engineering education.
Great again?
Our country is headed in the wrong direction.
Ceding global leadership and alliances for regional irrelevance. Selling out our children’s future for billionaire tax cuts. Eating the seed corn of our innovation advantage by undermining science and engineering education.
Great again?
January 20, 2026 at 4:11 PM
A year in.
Our country is headed in the wrong direction.
Ceding global leadership and alliances for regional irrelevance. Selling out our children’s future for billionaire tax cuts. Eating the seed corn of our innovation advantage by undermining science and engineering education.
Great again?
Our country is headed in the wrong direction.
Ceding global leadership and alliances for regional irrelevance. Selling out our children’s future for billionaire tax cuts. Eating the seed corn of our innovation advantage by undermining science and engineering education.
Great again?
Rock climbing on Mount Saint Helena on this beautiful January day and got to watch two prescribed fires get done west of Calistoga. Yes! More!
January 20, 2026 at 2:03 AM
Rock climbing on Mount Saint Helena on this beautiful January day and got to watch two prescribed fires get done west of Calistoga. Yes! More!
I am ashamed of my country.
The Danes showed up for us after 9-11. They lost 52 people standing with us a NATO ally.
Now we are extorting them and those of our NATO partners that stand by Danish territorial integrity.
This behavior will be impossible to walk back.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Danes showed up for us after 9-11. They lost 52 people standing with us a NATO ally.
Now we are extorting them and those of our NATO partners that stand by Danish territorial integrity.
This behavior will be impossible to walk back.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Denmark lost 52 soldiers fighting alongside the US. Now it feels threatened by Trump
Danes, who have been loyal allies of Washington, are blindsided by Trump's insistence on taking over Greenland.
www.bbc.com
January 18, 2026 at 12:28 AM
I am ashamed of my country.
The Danes showed up for us after 9-11. They lost 52 people standing with us a NATO ally.
Now we are extorting them and those of our NATO partners that stand by Danish territorial integrity.
This behavior will be impossible to walk back.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Danes showed up for us after 9-11. They lost 52 people standing with us a NATO ally.
Now we are extorting them and those of our NATO partners that stand by Danish territorial integrity.
This behavior will be impossible to walk back.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
This won’t work because Trump can’t create a stable long term investment signal as a lame duck President who is far out of the mainstream. This is a bit like Exxon’s comments re Venezuela.
Trump Wants to Halt Almost All Coal Plant Shutdowns. It Could Get Messy. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/c...
Trump Wants to Halt Almost All Coal Plant Shutdowns. It Could Get Messy. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/c...
Trump Wants to Halt Almost All Coal Plant Shutdowns. It Could Get Messy.
www.nytimes.com
January 17, 2026 at 4:34 PM
This won’t work because Trump can’t create a stable long term investment signal as a lame duck President who is far out of the mainstream. This is a bit like Exxon’s comments re Venezuela.
Trump Wants to Halt Almost All Coal Plant Shutdowns. It Could Get Messy. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/c...
Trump Wants to Halt Almost All Coal Plant Shutdowns. It Could Get Messy. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/c...
Reposted by Michael Wara
Do you like charts? Oh yes you do. I've just published hundreds of them, as I do every year. www.nathanielbullard.com/presentations
January 15, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Do you like charts? Oh yes you do. I've just published hundreds of them, as I do every year. www.nathanielbullard.com/presentations
Not your average energy PhD thesis. Never knew this incredible story before today.
Renfrew Christie Dies at 76; Sabotaged Racist Regime’s Nuclear Program www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/w...
Renfrew Christie Dies at 76; Sabotaged Racist Regime’s Nuclear Program www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/w...
Renfrew Christie Dies at 76; Sabotaged Racist Regime’s Nuclear Program
www.nytimes.com
January 16, 2026 at 3:52 AM
Not your average energy PhD thesis. Never knew this incredible story before today.
Renfrew Christie Dies at 76; Sabotaged Racist Regime’s Nuclear Program www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/w...
Renfrew Christie Dies at 76; Sabotaged Racist Regime’s Nuclear Program www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/w...
Ask @caiso.com. This is how you deal with reliability issues on a shot clock. And if you can do it in California, with all of its, ahem, siting complexity, you can for sure do it in PJM.
Batteries aren’t the whole solution—but they’re the only one that fits the clock and we are on track to making them all in United States.
The grid doesn’t care about intentions.
It cares about delivery dates.
www.linkedin.com/posts/jigars...
The grid doesn’t care about intentions.
It cares about delivery dates.
www.linkedin.com/posts/jigars...
The Only Practical Way the PJM Adds 7 GW of Capacity in 2026: Batteries
There’s a lot of debate about how much new generation PJM will add in 2026. Most credible forecasts point to less than 3,000… |...
The Only Practical Way the PJM Adds 7 GW of Capacity in 2026: Batteries
There’s a lot of debate about how much new generation PJM will add in 2026. Most credible forecasts point to less than 3,000 MW...
www.linkedin.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Ask @caiso.com. This is how you deal with reliability issues on a shot clock. And if you can do it in California, with all of its, ahem, siting complexity, you can for sure do it in PJM.
Reposted by Michael Wara
📰🌪️Proliferation of climate-related disasters points to the urgent need for climate resilience leadership. Sabin Center's Michael Burger, Columbia Climate School's Jeffrey Schlegelmilch & Lucia Bragg outline how FEMA could be a source: scholarship.law.columbia.edu/sabin_climat...
January 14, 2026 at 6:33 PM
📰🌪️Proliferation of climate-related disasters points to the urgent need for climate resilience leadership. Sabin Center's Michael Burger, Columbia Climate School's Jeffrey Schlegelmilch & Lucia Bragg outline how FEMA could be a source: scholarship.law.columbia.edu/sabin_climat...
Reposted by Michael Wara
Refinery workers and community groups don’t usually speak with a single voice. The fact that they have come together around this issue is telling. We should all be concerned.
“We represent communities living next to refineries and the workers who operate them. Together, we are sounding the alarm - California must not allow oil billionaires and their lobbyists to rewrite refinery safety rules.”-@apen4ej.bsky.social & #USWLocal5
Read more:
calmatters.org/commentary/2...
Read more:
calmatters.org/commentary/2...
Opinion | California shouldn't let oil companies rewrite refinery safety rules
Regulators will hold a hearing Jan. 15 at the OSHA Standards Board in Sacramento on changes that will weaken safety standards for refineries.
calmatters.org
January 15, 2026 at 1:11 AM
Refinery workers and community groups don’t usually speak with a single voice. The fact that they have come together around this issue is telling. We should all be concerned.
Refinery workers and community groups don’t usually speak with a single voice. The fact that they have come together around this issue is telling. We should all be concerned.
“We represent communities living next to refineries and the workers who operate them. Together, we are sounding the alarm - California must not allow oil billionaires and their lobbyists to rewrite refinery safety rules.”-@apen4ej.bsky.social & #USWLocal5
Read more:
calmatters.org/commentary/2...
Read more:
calmatters.org/commentary/2...
Opinion | California shouldn't let oil companies rewrite refinery safety rules
Regulators will hold a hearing Jan. 15 at the OSHA Standards Board in Sacramento on changes that will weaken safety standards for refineries.
calmatters.org
January 15, 2026 at 1:11 AM
Refinery workers and community groups don’t usually speak with a single voice. The fact that they have come together around this issue is telling. We should all be concerned.
Reposted by Michael Wara
One thing that occurred to me listening to our old friend from Bracewell and Giuliani on the radio this morning was that if uncertainty is the issue, we should be looking hard at the uncertainty in compliance costs.
This week Trump's EPA & Lee Zeldin weakened air pollution control requirements at dirty data centers AND attacked the scientific consensus that tiny soot particle pollution is a "non-threshold" air pollutant, unsafe at any level. A researcher in the Lancet medical journal explains the real facts: 1/
January 14, 2026 at 3:46 PM
One thing that occurred to me listening to our old friend from Bracewell and Giuliani on the radio this morning was that if uncertainty is the issue, we should be looking hard at the uncertainty in compliance costs.
Japan, South Korea leaders drum up support with K-pop jam | AFP
YouTube video by AFP News Agency
youtu.be
January 14, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Australia has had a really tough week with Bushfire. All of this feels so familiar. My heart goes out to them.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Amid scenes of destruction in Harcourt, some bushfire survivors plan to rebuild. Others may have lost too much
The Victorian town was among the worst hit by damaging bushfires. Now residents are facing a massive recovery
www.theguardian.com
January 14, 2026 at 3:53 PM
Australia has had a really tough week with Bushfire. All of this feels so familiar. My heart goes out to them.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
One thing that occurred to me listening to our old friend from Bracewell and Giuliani on the radio this morning was that if uncertainty is the issue, we should be looking hard at the uncertainty in compliance costs.
This week Trump's EPA & Lee Zeldin weakened air pollution control requirements at dirty data centers AND attacked the scientific consensus that tiny soot particle pollution is a "non-threshold" air pollutant, unsafe at any level. A researcher in the Lancet medical journal explains the real facts: 1/
January 14, 2026 at 3:46 PM
One thing that occurred to me listening to our old friend from Bracewell and Giuliani on the radio this morning was that if uncertainty is the issue, we should be looking hard at the uncertainty in compliance costs.