Neil Tangri
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tangri0.bsky.social
Neil Tangri
@tangri0.bsky.social
Climate scientist working for climate justice. Sailor on the side.

Topics: plastics, waste, carbon accounting, methane, zero waste, plastic credits, chemical recycling, incineration, and just transition. At GAIA and UC Berkeley.

Opinions my own etc.
Pinned
Hi folks! I made a starter pack of #plastic scientists -- many of whom closely follow the #plasticstreaty negotiations. Check them out! go.bsky.app/QA29MA
Reposted by Neil Tangri
Every time you capitulate to a bully, they'll come back at you twice as brutally.

If you didn't learn this life lesson in third grade, GTFO of the US Senate.
November 10, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Trump's thuggish behavior continues, now targeting a foreign news agency. They'll just continue picking off independent media and good journalism around the world. As each one goes, the survivors become weaker and more isolated. www.theguardian.com/media/live/2...
Donald Trump threatens BBC with $1bn lawsuit as chair says speech edit was ‘error of judgment’ – latest updates
BBC chair Samir Shah apologises for way in which speech from US president was edited after corporation’s two most senior executives resign
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Caroline @spears.bsky.social is the best! Can't wait to check out this episode.
Today on Volts: as you may have heard, there were some elections last week. How did they go for climate world? To find out, I did my annual check-in with @spears.bsky.social of @climatecabinet.org. I don't want to spoil anything, but folks ... they went well. Really well.
So, there were some elections. How'd they go?
I talk with Caroline Spears about the stunning results in key state and local races and the lessons for 2026.
www.volts.wtf
November 10, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Neil Tangri
Went to repost this and then depressingly saw it was from 8 months ago. This is still true, and I am now convinced it will remain true until there are successful primary challenges nationwide to the "roll over and play dead" Dems.
American politics makes a lot more sense when you realize that the GOP is afraid of pissing off the GOP base, and the Dems are afraid of pissing off the GOP base, but neither party is afraid of pissing off the Dem base.
November 10, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Neil Tangri
To repeat: I have studied a lot of cases of autocratization over the past 15 years. Wrote about them, taught about them, consulting about them.

I do not recall an opposition so apathetic, ignorant, and inept as the @democrats.org. They cling to their power, rather than fight for democracy. Shame.
March 13, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Reposted by Neil Tangri
Can you imagine how different the country would feel about Dems right now if, instead of caving, they had all donated their salaries during the shutdown to food banks in their districts? They would have survived (they still have health coverage), people would have food & they would have been heroes.
November 10, 2025 at 6:03 AM
Reposted by Neil Tangri
Republicans learned that they will always win. Any attempt by Dems to use their leverage is a bluff, and they know it. This was the best chance Dems had to actually deliver for people because Republicans were LOSING on the shutdown.

Only solution now is new Senate leadership.
November 10, 2025 at 5:33 AM
Reposted by Neil Tangri
Fight don’t fold.
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 AM
These aren’t the Democrats we’ve been looking for.

In all seriousness, the Dem leadership is a large part of why we are in this situation and they won’t get us out of it. Before we can fight fascism, we need wholesale change of Dem leadership.
November 10, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Reposted by Neil Tangri
So it turns out... the US air travel system was incredibly, deeply dependent on federal funding to just run day-to-day all this time, to the benefit of private airline shareholders, when everyone thinks that state-run trains are leeching off the government. Weird!
November 9, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Reposted by Neil Tangri
Lower the maximum wage.
November 8, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Schrödinger’s charger: the phone is plugged in but I can’t tell if it’s charging. If I touch it to see, that will jiggle the loose charging wire. I can never know if it’s charging until it’s not.
November 8, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Reposted by Neil Tangri
Wouldn’t it be great to buy guilt-free plastics - without worrying that you are polluting the environment? That’s the promise of #plasticcredits. But are these credits really doing what they claim to do? Hear more from Benard Ogembo, Conor McGlone and Arpita Bhagat 🎧
soundcloud.com/plastisphere...
Guilt-free plastics? The idea of plastic credits and its realities
Wouldn’t it be great to have something like guilt-free plastics? A plastic product you can just buy without worrying that you are contributing to pollution in the environment? That’s the promise of pl
soundcloud.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Reposted by Neil Tangri
A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.
November 7, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Seems like this is worth trying
You know what? There's actually a tested solution to this! it is brilliantly simple, and it WORKS.

I would love to see @bsky.app and @support.bsky.team test this out.

www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2023/ju...
November 7, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Who thinks #plastics are important for the economy? This new plant is slated to employ 300 people -- and its pollution will kill 410! www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Pollution from Ineos’s Antwerp plastic plant ‘could cause more deaths than jobs created’
Lawyers challenge €4bn Project One development, saying emissions and health impacts vastly underestimated
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Reposted by Neil Tangri
Word of the Day is ‘catchfart’ (17th century): an obsequious individual who sucks up to the boss and always follows the political wind.
November 7, 2025 at 10:12 AM
For those still wondering what is at the root of the extreme polarization in modern society, the answer is very simple: inequality. www.cbsnews.com/news/k-shape...
You're living in a "K-shaped" economy. Here's how that affects you.
The shape of economic growth this year highlights the widening gap between wealthy Americans and everyone else, economists say.
www.cbsnews.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Neil Tangri
At this point if Subway doesn't roll out a "Point Blank BLT" or "Felony Footlong" it's not serious about making money.
November 6, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Before the constitutional amendment that created the income tax, the primary form of federal tax was tariffs. For constitutional originalists, “taxes” meant tariffs specifically.
Saying tariffs aren’t taxes would have been laughable in the nineteenth century.

No one, for or against, could possibly take it seriously.
November 6, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Neil Tangri
November 5, 2025 at 6:49 PM
How can they tell the difference?
This really hasn’t gotten enough attention this week.

@wired.com #ICE
www.wired.com/story/fbi-wa...
November 6, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Reposted by Neil Tangri
Still thinking about Zohran’s full-throated defense of immigration and how long i’ve waited for it. No bullshit about border security or “legal” immigrants but just unabashed support for immigrants. How many people feel so much more seen today? I know I do. 1/
November 5, 2025 at 1:38 PM
How the F did 40% out NYC vote for Cuomo????
November 5, 2025 at 10:01 PM
I don’t know if we’ve fully come to grips with the fact that political polarization in the US is now based more on gender than race, income, urbanization or any other characteristic.
November 5, 2025 at 9:59 PM