Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
@riogranderift.bsky.social
At work in the ruins. Executive Director: @westernlaw.org
Thoughts my own.
Thoughts my own.
Pinned
TO THE WESTERN HORIZONS!
The Western Environmental Law Center’s Strategic Approach to the Confluence of Political, Ecological, and Economic Crises Faced by the…
medium.com
My thoughts on @westernlaw.bsky.social's strategic approach to the Trump 2.0 era.
✅ Hold the line at the federal level
✅ Move in space at the state level
✅ Build power for change
How? With an ecology of kinship.
✅ Hold the line at the federal level
✅ Move in space at the state level
✅ Build power for change
How? With an ecology of kinship.
Petrostates are often idiotic states.
So an invasion based on toppling a “narcostate” that is actually a “petrostate,” doesn’t end up being the cash cow Trump hoped it would be, because the deals he hoped to take a piece of don’t exist. Oil is already cheap & US oil companies see the money trap Venezuela is.
Welcome to capex-by-blackmail.
“.. They’re saying, ‘you gotta go in if you want to play and get reimbursed,’” said one industry official .. “But the infrastructure .. is so dilapidated that no one .. can adequately assess what is needed to make it operable.”
#OOTT
www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
“.. They’re saying, ‘you gotta go in if you want to play and get reimbursed,’” said one industry official .. “But the infrastructure .. is so dilapidated that no one .. can adequately assess what is needed to make it operable.”
#OOTT
www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
January 4, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Petrostates are often idiotic states.
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
For no reason whatsoever, I’m reminding you that before the US invaded Iraq in 2003, the Bush administration said that Iraq’s oil revenue would fund everything.
www.meforum.org/middle-east-...
www.meforum.org/middle-east-...
January 3, 2026 at 5:59 PM
For no reason whatsoever, I’m reminding you that before the US invaded Iraq in 2003, the Bush administration said that Iraq’s oil revenue would fund everything.
www.meforum.org/middle-east-...
www.meforum.org/middle-east-...
This. Seems there’s a problematic three-step dance now in play that creates a permission structure for weak climate action:
Step 1: Focus on renewables.
Step 2: Don’t talk about climate much if at all.
Step 3: Actually, let’s just focus on affordability & *all* energy.
Step 1: Focus on renewables.
Step 2: Don’t talk about climate much if at all.
Step 3: Actually, let’s just focus on affordability & *all* energy.
Obviously I do not need to climate-splain to Bill McKibben, of all people, but I really find the collapsing of almost all climate into "do solar" to be disconcerting.
There is a theory for doing it this way, but I think that theory is incomplete.
There is a theory for doing it this way, but I think that theory is incomplete.
International law won't constrain Trump's thirst for oil. But every solar panel that goes up makes crude reserves that much less valuable
billmckibben.substack.com/p/just-possi...
billmckibben.substack.com/p/just-possi...
January 3, 2026 at 11:54 PM
This. Seems there’s a problematic three-step dance now in play that creates a permission structure for weak climate action:
Step 1: Focus on renewables.
Step 2: Don’t talk about climate much if at all.
Step 3: Actually, let’s just focus on affordability & *all* energy.
Step 1: Focus on renewables.
Step 2: Don’t talk about climate much if at all.
Step 3: Actually, let’s just focus on affordability & *all* energy.
This is the problem with the myriad centrist contentions that Democrats should embrace Oil & Gas. Just as the industry itself is global, so too are its politics, with the consequence that the people’s sovereignty is suppressed and our foreign relations compromised.
The year is 2003. I’m 17 years old. I’m watching Democrats fail to appropriately oppose an illegal war for oil.
The year is 2026. I’m 40 years old. I’m watching Democrats fail to appropriately oppose an illegal war for oil.
The year is 2026. I’m 40 years old. I’m watching Democrats fail to appropriately oppose an illegal war for oil.
January 3, 2026 at 11:42 PM
This is the problem with the myriad centrist contentions that Democrats should embrace Oil & Gas. Just as the industry itself is global, so too are its politics, with the consequence that the people’s sovereignty is suppressed and our foreign relations compromised.
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
What JD Vance really means by this is that Maduro is bound by US laws but Trump is not.
January 3, 2026 at 8:38 PM
What JD Vance really means by this is that Maduro is bound by US laws but Trump is not.
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
24 hours ago, journalists were wondering aloud what "deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty" could possibly mean
Hard to watch US TV media discussing how the US might occupy and run a foreign country as if it’s a perfectly normal political development.
January 3, 2026 at 8:58 PM
24 hours ago, journalists were wondering aloud what "deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty" could possibly mean
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
"Not for the first time, and not for the last, I’m going to make the observation that it’s going to be hard to figure out how to fight wars over sunshine," @billmckibben.bsky.social writes: billmckibben.substack.com/p/just-possi...
Just possibly it's the oil?
A solar panel is the new peace sign
billmckibben.substack.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:58 PM
"Not for the first time, and not for the last, I’m going to make the observation that it’s going to be hard to figure out how to fight wars over sunshine," @billmckibben.bsky.social writes: billmckibben.substack.com/p/just-possi...
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
The kidnapping of Maduro inaugurates a highly dangerous era of U.S. empire that for perhaps the first time in an era of mass media is not pretending to be anything other than a violent, extractive enterprise of domination.
A Criminal Empire
The United States launches a conquest and occupation of Venezuela to extract its oil wealth. The neocon dream is the America First dream
www.forever-wars.com
January 3, 2026 at 7:50 PM
The kidnapping of Maduro inaugurates a highly dangerous era of U.S. empire that for perhaps the first time in an era of mass media is not pretending to be anything other than a violent, extractive enterprise of domination.
America is a Petrostate. It is the logical political end point of “all of the above” energy extraction.
Trump says the U.S. will tap Venezuela's vast oil reserves and sell "large amounts" to other countries after Maduro's capture. Follow live updates:
Live updates: US strikes Venezuela and says its leader, Maduro, has been captured
President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. had struck Venezuela early Saturday and said its president, Nicolás Maduro, had been captured and flown out of the country.
bit.ly
January 3, 2026 at 6:13 PM
America is a Petrostate. It is the logical political end point of “all of the above” energy extraction.
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
He's mad she won the Nobel Peace Prize and he didn't. That's it. That's what it's all about. Best part is she idiotically and sycophantically dedicated her prize to him and he still won't back her and prefers to publicly denigrate on a day like today.
Trump on María Corina Machado: "I think it'd be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn't have the support or the respect within the country. She's a very nice woman but she doesn't have the respect."
January 3, 2026 at 6:07 PM
He's mad she won the Nobel Peace Prize and he didn't. That's it. That's what it's all about. Best part is she idiotically and sycophantically dedicated her prize to him and he still won't back her and prefers to publicly denigrate on a day like today.
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
all these fucking psychotic freaks.
January 3, 2026 at 4:57 PM
all these fucking psychotic freaks.
As I said: Pedocon = Petrocon.
Trump: "The oil business in Venezuela has been a bust…We're going to have our very large U.S. oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken oil infrastructure, and start making money."
January 3, 2026 at 4:57 PM
As I said: Pedocon = Petrocon.
Thuggish degradation of the U.S. Constitution enabled by the Supreme Court and Chief Justice Roberts, discarded entirely by Trump, and ignored by the congressional majority.
1. Yes, Trump launching a new military operation overseas without Congress’ prior declaration of war or authorization of force is almost certainly unlawful.
2. No, there is no real chance the courts will stop it.
Unfortunately our Constitution means little when the judiciary won’t enforce it.
2. No, there is no real chance the courts will stop it.
Unfortunately our Constitution means little when the judiciary won’t enforce it.
January 3, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Thuggish degradation of the U.S. Constitution enabled by the Supreme Court and Chief Justice Roberts, discarded entirely by Trump, and ignored by the congressional majority.
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
This guy speaking makes Joe Biden seem like an effing dynamo.
January 3, 2026 at 4:48 PM
This guy speaking makes Joe Biden seem like an effing dynamo.
Pedocons = Petrocons.
January 3, 2026 at 4:29 PM
Pedocons = Petrocons.
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
Ever relevant, this poem by Mary Oliver, especially today.
January 3, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Ever relevant, this poem by Mary Oliver, especially today.
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
The "you may only speak of the single largest problem" minimisation tactic for data centres is flimsy for a large number of reasons but core among them is the fact that many of the groups leading DC critique ALREADY oppose and actively fight against the other things!!
Eg: @foodandwater.bsky.social
Eg: @foodandwater.bsky.social
January 2, 2026 at 8:32 PM
The "you may only speak of the single largest problem" minimisation tactic for data centres is flimsy for a large number of reasons but core among them is the fact that many of the groups leading DC critique ALREADY oppose and actively fight against the other things!!
Eg: @foodandwater.bsky.social
Eg: @foodandwater.bsky.social
"[Pedocon theory] is about how racial anxieties and obsessions, fantasies of patriarchal domination & control, lead inexorably towards the idea that women & children exist for men's use—including sexual use. Pedophilia is simply this libidinal obsession with power & domination put into practice."
We Need to Talk About Pedocon Theory
The connection between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein is no accident, but reveals a deep logic at the heart of reactionary politics.
www.liberalcurrents.com
January 2, 2026 at 8:33 PM
"[Pedocon theory] is about how racial anxieties and obsessions, fantasies of patriarchal domination & control, lead inexorably towards the idea that women & children exist for men's use—including sexual use. Pedophilia is simply this libidinal obsession with power & domination put into practice."
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
Mamdani gets it: the task of ecosocialists is to show that we can build a fairer, greener world faster than centrists.
January 2, 2026 at 6:46 PM
Mamdani gets it: the task of ecosocialists is to show that we can build a fairer, greener world faster than centrists.
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
Corrupt tech billionaires are buying power to tilt the world in their favor.
Even the co-founder of Y Combinator is saying it. ⬇️
The radical death cult rising from Silicon Valley venture capital is metastasizing rapidly.
It's an existential threat to democracy and humanity.
Even the co-founder of Y Combinator is saying it. ⬇️
The radical death cult rising from Silicon Valley venture capital is metastasizing rapidly.
It's an existential threat to democracy and humanity.
January 2, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Corrupt tech billionaires are buying power to tilt the world in their favor.
Even the co-founder of Y Combinator is saying it. ⬇️
The radical death cult rising from Silicon Valley venture capital is metastasizing rapidly.
It's an existential threat to democracy and humanity.
Even the co-founder of Y Combinator is saying it. ⬇️
The radical death cult rising from Silicon Valley venture capital is metastasizing rapidly.
It's an existential threat to democracy and humanity.
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
Ethics ≠ intelligence, and wisdom ≠ intelligence, but ethics ~ wisdom. If LeCun got what he thinks he wants, it's possible the first thing it would say to us is "Stop."
Interesting "Lunch with the FT" column on Yann LeCun and his AI "superintelligence" ambitions. Not sure how much to read into this- may have been what you say after a big French meal and glasses of wine- but is this really what "we" suffer from?
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
January 2, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Ethics ≠ intelligence, and wisdom ≠ intelligence, but ethics ~ wisdom. If LeCun got what he thinks he wants, it's possible the first thing it would say to us is "Stop."
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
ecosystems break on the margins, communities break on the margins, economic systems and state service capacities break on the margins. this is not that complicated lol
January 2, 2026 at 3:48 AM
ecosystems break on the margins, communities break on the margins, economic systems and state service capacities break on the margins. this is not that complicated lol
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
"DATA CENTER WATER USE DOESN'T MATTER" is one of the silliest arguments I see floating around. unless you think re-writing 200 yr old water law (OG political third rail in the US) is a simple matter, the marginal consumption of new water is literally make or break for much of life in the western US
January 2, 2026 at 3:41 AM
"DATA CENTER WATER USE DOESN'T MATTER" is one of the silliest arguments I see floating around. unless you think re-writing 200 yr old water law (OG political third rail in the US) is a simple matter, the marginal consumption of new water is literally make or break for much of life in the western US
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
There are multiple national political commentators who earnestly predicted that Eric Adams would be a legitimate presidential candidate and a national figurehead of the Democratic party by now and those commentators still have careers somehow.
January 2, 2026 at 4:44 AM
There are multiple national political commentators who earnestly predicted that Eric Adams would be a legitimate presidential candidate and a national figurehead of the Democratic party by now and those commentators still have careers somehow.
Reposted by Erik Schlenker-Goodrich
We all exist in relation to everyone and everything else. Or as Robin Wall Kimmerer says, “All flourishing is mutual.” Let’s all flourish together in 2026 and do our best to harvest gifts from nature with honor.
January 1, 2026 at 11:36 PM
We all exist in relation to everyone and everything else. Or as Robin Wall Kimmerer says, “All flourishing is mutual.” Let’s all flourish together in 2026 and do our best to harvest gifts from nature with honor.