Scott Waldman
@scottpwaldman.bsky.social
White House and climate policy reporter at POLITICO's E&E News.
swaldman@politico.com
Signal: @waldman.04
swaldman@politico.com
Signal: @waldman.04
The Trump administration is preparing to write its own National Climate Assessment, the gold-standard science report that tracks how climate change is transforming the US. Authors could include Grok + researchers who produced the misleading Department of Energy report. www.eenews.net/articles/its...
It’s the gold standard of US climate research. Contrarians could write the next one.
Researchers who have downplayed the threat of global warming have been asked to author the next National Climate Assessment.
www.eenews.net
December 22, 2025 at 2:40 PM
The Trump administration is preparing to write its own National Climate Assessment, the gold-standard science report that tracks how climate change is transforming the US. Authors could include Grok + researchers who produced the misleading Department of Energy report. www.eenews.net/articles/its...
Trump has long claimed he wants to seize oil from other countries as a result of US military intervention, stating at one point that "to the victor belong the spoils." That would be a war crime, but Venezuela may be Trump's first chance to test the world on the issue. www.eenews.net/articles/tru...
Trump has long claimed US can take other countries’ oil
The president’s posture toward Venezuela isn’t new. He previously has said the U.S. should seize oil from Iraq and Syria.
www.eenews.net
December 19, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Trump has long claimed he wants to seize oil from other countries as a result of US military intervention, stating at one point that "to the victor belong the spoils." That would be a war crime, but Venezuela may be Trump's first chance to test the world on the issue. www.eenews.net/articles/tru...
Trump just said this: "Within the next 12 months, we will have opened 1600 new electrical generating plants, a record. And it's a record that won't be beaten by practically, I would say, by anybody, or certainly not." That's not even on the same planet as reality.
December 18, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Trump just said this: "Within the next 12 months, we will have opened 1600 new electrical generating plants, a record. And it's a record that won't be beaten by practically, I would say, by anybody, or certainly not." That's not even on the same planet as reality.
The problem for Trump is that the US government doesn't drill for oil and Big Oil generally doesn't think its worth investing in Venezuela right now: www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
December 17, 2025 at 9:43 PM
The problem for Trump is that the US government doesn't drill for oil and Big Oil generally doesn't think its worth investing in Venezuela right now: www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
Trump wants Venezuela to "return" its own oil and land to the US?
Trump: "Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled ... It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the USA all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us."
December 17, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Trump wants Venezuela to "return" its own oil and land to the US?
Reposted by Scott Waldman
presenting: “i90” live for the first time featuring @brosaleigh.bsky.social
when i first wrote this tune, it was for a world where trans folks one day were losing healthcare and rights across the country
i did not think that world would come so soon
this is the definitive performance of the song
when i first wrote this tune, it was for a world where trans folks one day were losing healthcare and rights across the country
i did not think that world would come so soon
this is the definitive performance of the song
Ekko Astral - "i90" feat. Josaleigh Pollett (Live in Salt Lake City)
YouTube video by Ekko Astral
youtu.be
December 11, 2025 at 5:24 PM
presenting: “i90” live for the first time featuring @brosaleigh.bsky.social
when i first wrote this tune, it was for a world where trans folks one day were losing healthcare and rights across the country
i did not think that world would come so soon
this is the definitive performance of the song
when i first wrote this tune, it was for a world where trans folks one day were losing healthcare and rights across the country
i did not think that world would come so soon
this is the definitive performance of the song
As Trump ramps up US attacks on Venezuela, it's worth noting that the country has the world's largest proven oil reserves, ahead of Saudi Arabia and the US and Russia combined. An escalation there will benefit oil majors as well as Russia. www.eenews.net/articles/5-r...
5 reasons the oil industry is watching Venezuela
In announcing the U.S. had seized an oil tanker off Venezuela on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said of its crude, “We’ll keep it, I guess.”
www.eenews.net
December 11, 2025 at 4:25 PM
As Trump ramps up US attacks on Venezuela, it's worth noting that the country has the world's largest proven oil reserves, ahead of Saudi Arabia and the US and Russia combined. An escalation there will benefit oil majors as well as Russia. www.eenews.net/articles/5-r...
This is a wild, wild story and suggests that a top DOD official is coordinating with the Pizzagate guy to dox a reporter and his family, including his in-laws.
1/ MUST READ: @dfriedman.bsky.social asked the Pentagon about a Goodreads page linked to the email of a top official that featured pornographic books. Then, MAGA influencer—and newly minted member of DOD press corps—Jack Posobiec threatened to smear him.
Quite the coincidence!
ow.ly/EpQp50XHpYo
Quite the coincidence!
ow.ly/EpQp50XHpYo
I asked the Pentagon about Pete Hegseth's mentor. Then the threats started.
Journalism in the second Trump administration gets personal.
ow.ly
December 11, 2025 at 4:13 PM
This is a wild, wild story and suggests that a top DOD official is coordinating with the Pizzagate guy to dox a reporter and his family, including his in-laws.
Reposted by Scott Waldman
the answer to so many questions is Unionize Your Workplace
Some rare good news: Journalists at the PEN Guild won their arbitration case against Politico, which deployed two separate faulty AI products (a "report builder" and a headline and summary generator on the homepage) without their knowledge or input.
That violated their contract, the arbiter found.
That violated their contract, the arbiter found.
Journalists win a key battle over AI in the newsroom
PLUS: Artists fight for an AI transparency law in the belly of the beast, a Spotify mass deletion event, and an interview with a top video games journalist about AI and labor.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
December 4, 2025 at 7:41 PM
the answer to so many questions is Unionize Your Workplace
The CEOs of both Ford and Stellantis, who are there to celebrate the rollback of vehicle emissions standards (which will drive climate change), are standing right behind Trump as he makes these racist comments.
Trump, continued: "What the Somalian people have done to Minnesota is not even believable. It’s not even believable. And a lot of it starts with the governor. A lot of it starts with Barack HUSSEIN Obama, because that’s when people started coming in... They want to kiss our country good night."
December 3, 2025 at 11:29 PM
The CEOs of both Ford and Stellantis, who are there to celebrate the rollback of vehicle emissions standards (which will drive climate change), are standing right behind Trump as he makes these racist comments.
Reposted by Scott Waldman
NEW: A billionaire-backed global cooling startup is a few years away from potentially seeding the stratosphere with sunlight-reflecting particles.
This is the inside story of how Stardust is developing planet-altering tech that it hopes to sell to the US government. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
This is the inside story of how Stardust is developing planet-altering tech that it hopes to sell to the US government. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
The Strange and Totally Real Plan to Blot Out the Sun and Reverse Global Warming
A 25-person startup is developing technology to block the sun and turn down the planet’s thermostat. The stakes are huge — and the company and its critics say regulations need to catch up.
www.politico.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:05 PM
NEW: A billionaire-backed global cooling startup is a few years away from potentially seeding the stratosphere with sunlight-reflecting particles.
This is the inside story of how Stardust is developing planet-altering tech that it hopes to sell to the US government. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
This is the inside story of how Stardust is developing planet-altering tech that it hopes to sell to the US government. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Reposted by Scott Waldman
Ex-EPA officials I spoke to remember past administrators avoiding trips during shutdowns
Lee Zeldin went a different route — going to 11 states and Canada, recording 16 days for travel since this lapse's start on Oct. 1
"Not a good look," said an agency staffer
www.eenews.net/articles/zel...
Lee Zeldin went a different route — going to 11 states and Canada, recording 16 days for travel since this lapse's start on Oct. 1
"Not a good look," said an agency staffer
www.eenews.net/articles/zel...
Zeldin kept up EPA roadshow during shutdown
In a sign of the Trump administration’s novel approach to the funding gap, the administrator traveled for 16 days during the shutdown.
www.eenews.net
November 12, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Ex-EPA officials I spoke to remember past administrators avoiding trips during shutdowns
Lee Zeldin went a different route — going to 11 states and Canada, recording 16 days for travel since this lapse's start on Oct. 1
"Not a good look," said an agency staffer
www.eenews.net/articles/zel...
Lee Zeldin went a different route — going to 11 states and Canada, recording 16 days for travel since this lapse's start on Oct. 1
"Not a good look," said an agency staffer
www.eenews.net/articles/zel...
Reposted by Scott Waldman
NEW: At least three GOP lawmakers took advantage of a decades-old rooftop solar credit that'll expire in January due to Trump’s megalaw, E&E News has found.
They all support ending the perk that sliced thousands of dollars off the cost of installing their panels. www.eenews.net/articles/mee...
They all support ending the perk that sliced thousands of dollars off the cost of installing their panels. www.eenews.net/articles/mee...
Meet the Republicans who killed solar subsidies — after using them
POLITICO’s E&E News examined satellite imagery of more than 100 homes owned by Republican lawmakers to see if they have solar panels. Seven had rooftop
www.eenews.net
November 12, 2025 at 3:21 PM
NEW: At least three GOP lawmakers took advantage of a decades-old rooftop solar credit that'll expire in January due to Trump’s megalaw, E&E News has found.
They all support ending the perk that sliced thousands of dollars off the cost of installing their panels. www.eenews.net/articles/mee...
They all support ending the perk that sliced thousands of dollars off the cost of installing their panels. www.eenews.net/articles/mee...
Ahead of midterms, climate policy has become a wedge issue splitting Democrats. After last week's electoral victories, some Democrats will only talk about expanding clean energy through lens of affordability. Others believe talking about climate change will win voters. www.eenews.net/articles/ret...
Retreat or recast? Democrats debate future of climate politics.
Democratic election wins last week reignited arguments on how — or if — candidates should discuss climate change on the campaign trail.
www.eenews.net
November 11, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Ahead of midterms, climate policy has become a wedge issue splitting Democrats. After last week's electoral victories, some Democrats will only talk about expanding clean energy through lens of affordability. Others believe talking about climate change will win voters. www.eenews.net/articles/ret...
Reposted by Scott Waldman
my latest: i spent weeks investigating how frustrations about data centers were about to swallow american politics…
…and then the 2025 election happened, proving the electoral impacts are already here.
read and share my deep dive on the bipartisan AI techlash shaping our elections before our eyes!
…and then the 2025 election happened, proving the electoral impacts are already here.
read and share my deep dive on the bipartisan AI techlash shaping our elections before our eyes!
The Data Center Backlash Is Swallowing American Politics
Activists on both the left and the right are pushing back against rampant AI development.
heatmap.news
November 6, 2025 at 9:13 PM
my latest: i spent weeks investigating how frustrations about data centers were about to swallow american politics…
…and then the 2025 election happened, proving the electoral impacts are already here.
read and share my deep dive on the bipartisan AI techlash shaping our elections before our eyes!
…and then the 2025 election happened, proving the electoral impacts are already here.
read and share my deep dive on the bipartisan AI techlash shaping our elections before our eyes!
Reposted by Scott Waldman
My latest on how the Obamacare subsidies at the center of the government shutdown also impact hospitals' resilience to climate change.
www.eenews.net/articles/hos...
www.eenews.net/articles/hos...
'I could feel the roof pick up.' Hospitals face new disaster risks under Trump.
The president's megalaw is making it difficult for cash-strapped hospitals to gird for storms that are being turbocharged by climate change.
www.eenews.net
November 6, 2025 at 10:36 PM
My latest on how the Obamacare subsidies at the center of the government shutdown also impact hospitals' resilience to climate change.
www.eenews.net/articles/hos...
www.eenews.net/articles/hos...
Reposted by Scott Waldman
Anybody know if a University of Chicago economist who wasn't even in the government at the time wrote almost half of the regulatory impact analysis for EPA's endangerment/car rules draft repeal? Because it sure looks like he did. Signal jchemnick.01.
www.eenews.net/articles/whi...
www.eenews.net/articles/whi...
White House wrote half of EPA’s cost-benefit analysis for climate rule rollback
The move — revealed in emails and internal drafts — sidelined EPA's deep bench of career economists.
www.eenews.net
November 4, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Anybody know if a University of Chicago economist who wasn't even in the government at the time wrote almost half of the regulatory impact analysis for EPA's endangerment/car rules draft repeal? Because it sure looks like he did. Signal jchemnick.01.
www.eenews.net/articles/whi...
www.eenews.net/articles/whi...
Reposted by Scott Waldman
The shutdown has left NOAA's network of cooperative research institutes locked out of federal labs and cut off from federal collaborators. In some cases, it's affecting research aimed at public safety—like toxic algae monitoring in the Great Lakes. My story 🔏 & quick 🧵 www.eenews.net/articles/shu...
Shutdown disrupts research into Great Lakes’ toxic algae
At risk is the ability for researchers to forecast dangerous blooms weeks in advance.
www.eenews.net
November 4, 2025 at 4:40 PM
The shutdown has left NOAA's network of cooperative research institutes locked out of federal labs and cut off from federal collaborators. In some cases, it's affecting research aimed at public safety—like toxic algae monitoring in the Great Lakes. My story 🔏 & quick 🧵 www.eenews.net/articles/shu...
Reposted by Scott Waldman
Today a story I've spent months reporting and writing runs on @desmog.com and @theguardian.com.
It's based on hundreds of exclusive documents revealing how Exxon funded the rightwing Atlas Network to spread climate denial across Latin America and the Global South.
www.desmog.com/2025/11/03/a...
It's based on hundreds of exclusive documents revealing how Exxon funded the rightwing Atlas Network to spread climate denial across Latin America and the Global South.
www.desmog.com/2025/11/03/a...
‘A Pretty Ugly History’: How Exxon Exported Climate Denial to the Global South
With Brazil about to host COP30, DeSmog has obtained copies of checks Exxon mailed to the right-wing Atlas Network in the 1990s to turn Latin America against climate treaties.
www.desmog.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Today a story I've spent months reporting and writing runs on @desmog.com and @theguardian.com.
It's based on hundreds of exclusive documents revealing how Exxon funded the rightwing Atlas Network to spread climate denial across Latin America and the Global South.
www.desmog.com/2025/11/03/a...
It's based on hundreds of exclusive documents revealing how Exxon funded the rightwing Atlas Network to spread climate denial across Latin America and the Global South.
www.desmog.com/2025/11/03/a...
Reposted by Scott Waldman
Every oil state disposes of toxic wastewater underground. But in Oklahoma, it hasn't been staying there, creating large, ongoing pollution events known as "purges."
An investigation a year in the making for @readfrontier.bsky.social and @propublica.org
www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...
An investigation a year in the making for @readfrontier.bsky.social and @propublica.org
www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...
Toxic wastewater from oil fields keeps pouring out of the ground. Oklahoma regulators failed to stop it.
Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drin...
www.readfrontier.org
October 31, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Every oil state disposes of toxic wastewater underground. But in Oklahoma, it hasn't been staying there, creating large, ongoing pollution events known as "purges."
An investigation a year in the making for @readfrontier.bsky.social and @propublica.org
www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...
An investigation a year in the making for @readfrontier.bsky.social and @propublica.org
www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...
Conservative groups are working the White House, Homeland Security, DOJ to go after prominent environmental organizations. It's part of an effort to link progressive groups to Antifa, despite the lack of evidence. Stripping away nonprofit status is only 1st step. www.eenews.net/articles/gre...
Green groups gird for life in Trump’s crosshairs
The administration’s pursuit of its perceived enemies has compelled environmental groups to take new precautions.
www.eenews.net
October 24, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Conservative groups are working the White House, Homeland Security, DOJ to go after prominent environmental organizations. It's part of an effort to link progressive groups to Antifa, despite the lack of evidence. Stripping away nonprofit status is only 1st step. www.eenews.net/articles/gre...
Reposted by Scott Waldman
SCOOP from me:
I uncovered that the Interior Department just quietly defunded *two* multimillion dollar research programs studying how whales move and behave near U.S. wind farms actively being built.
Trump blames wind turbines for whale deaths, then cuts vital research on the topic. 🧵
I uncovered that the Interior Department just quietly defunded *two* multimillion dollar research programs studying how whales move and behave near U.S. wind farms actively being built.
Trump blames wind turbines for whale deaths, then cuts vital research on the topic. 🧵
Trump claims ‘wind mills’ kill whales but quietly torpedoes the…
The Interior Department defunds two vital research programs that track North Atlantic right whales near active offshore wind construction sites.
www.canarymedia.com
October 23, 2025 at 7:11 PM
SCOOP from me:
I uncovered that the Interior Department just quietly defunded *two* multimillion dollar research programs studying how whales move and behave near U.S. wind farms actively being built.
Trump blames wind turbines for whale deaths, then cuts vital research on the topic. 🧵
I uncovered that the Interior Department just quietly defunded *two* multimillion dollar research programs studying how whales move and behave near U.S. wind farms actively being built.
Trump blames wind turbines for whale deaths, then cuts vital research on the topic. 🧵
Reposted by Scott Waldman
“These are not political people,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said of the DOE report authors. But 4 of the 5 have spoken out against the endangerment finding and 3 have ties to groups that employ/promote critics of climate action. @scottpwaldman.bsky.social today: www.eenews.net/articles/doe...
DOE climate report colored by past views of its authors, critics say
A review by POLITICO's E&E News found that most of the authors have spoken out against the endangerment finding, once called the "holy grail" of climate
www.eenews.net
October 20, 2025 at 5:39 PM
“These are not political people,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said of the DOE report authors. But 4 of the 5 have spoken out against the endangerment finding and 3 have ties to groups that employ/promote critics of climate action. @scottpwaldman.bsky.social today: www.eenews.net/articles/doe...
Trump's climate science report was crafted by researchers who are anything but "independent" since they are longtime climate policy critics and have been affiliated with conservative groups funded by fossil fuel companies. That could cost the administration in court.
www.eenews.net/articles/doe...
www.eenews.net/articles/doe...
DOE climate report colored by past views of its authors, critics say
A review by POLITICO's E&E News found that most of the authors have spoken out against the endangerment finding, once called the "holy grail" of climate
www.eenews.net
October 20, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Trump's climate science report was crafted by researchers who are anything but "independent" since they are longtime climate policy critics and have been affiliated with conservative groups funded by fossil fuel companies. That could cost the administration in court.
www.eenews.net/articles/doe...
www.eenews.net/articles/doe...
As a parent of teens, I'm worried that my own sanity will shatter like glass on a tile floor if I have to hear this damn phrase again.
‘Six-seven’: what does the latest slang mean (and should parents be worried)?
‘Six-seven’: what does the latest slang mean (and should parents be worried)?
It originated in a rap song, then featured in South Park, and is now the bane of schoolteachers in the US and UK as pupils shout it out at random. How did it become such a thing?
www.theguardian.com
October 20, 2025 at 4:32 PM
As a parent of teens, I'm worried that my own sanity will shatter like glass on a tile floor if I have to hear this damn phrase again.