Alex Barron
@alexrbarron.bsky.social
Climate policy wonk. Rogue biogeochemist. Assoc. Prof. Fmr. Congressional staff (AAAS_STPF). Obama EPA & Biden OMB alum.
Wait until he finds out that 99.8% of homeowners didn't use their fire insurance over the last 4 years.
Tell me you don’t understand risk pools without telling me you don’t understand risk pools
November 11, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Wait until he finds out that 99.8% of homeowners didn't use their fire insurance over the last 4 years.
"104 million U.S. residents can't reliably use a personal automobile to get around, including many people with disabilities and people living in poverty — as well as tweens, younger teens, and many elders..."
usa.streetsblog.org/2025/10/02/r...
usa.streetsblog.org/2025/10/02/r...
ACTION ALERT 🚨 Rep. Sam Graves, Chairman of the T&I Committee drafting the next transportation bill, recently shared an alarming insight: “It's gonna be a traditional highway bill... We’re not gonna be spending money on murals and train stations or bike paths or walking paths.”
November 7, 2025 at 8:07 PM
"104 million U.S. residents can't reliably use a personal automobile to get around, including many people with disabilities and people living in poverty — as well as tweens, younger teens, and many elders..."
usa.streetsblog.org/2025/10/02/r...
usa.streetsblog.org/2025/10/02/r...
Policy robustness over time matters. We’ve seen that offset-based carbon neutrality in U.S. Higher Ed sometimes lapses (as opposed to decarbonization which favorably locks in infrastructure). What do these lapses in neutrality look like? 🧵
bsky.app/profile/alex...
bsky.app/profile/alex...
Carbon neutrality doesn’t always lead to decarbonization. But who is decarbonizing? We looked at >600 US colleges and universities and found 7 that have decarbonized direct (Scope 1) emissions by at least 50% (usually with ground source heat pump networks). This is possible folks! 1/6
November 7, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Policy robustness over time matters. We’ve seen that offset-based carbon neutrality in U.S. Higher Ed sometimes lapses (as opposed to decarbonization which favorably locks in infrastructure). What do these lapses in neutrality look like? 🧵
bsky.app/profile/alex...
bsky.app/profile/alex...
Reposted by Alex Barron
As COP30 kicks off, our newly updated Rhodium Climate Outlook shows that while the world has likely avoided the most catastrophic projections, global temperature rise is on track to exceed 2°C. We project a likely range of 2.3–3.4°C and an average outcome of 2.8°C by the end of the century.
November 6, 2025 at 6:12 PM
As COP30 kicks off, our newly updated Rhodium Climate Outlook shows that while the world has likely avoided the most catastrophic projections, global temperature rise is on track to exceed 2°C. We project a likely range of 2.3–3.4°C and an average outcome of 2.8°C by the end of the century.
Reposted by Alex Barron
Happy Election Day, y'all! You're invited to join our debrief on the 2025 elections on Nov 10 @ 6 pm ET! We'll talk this year's results and what's on our radar for 2026. www.mobilize.us/leadlocally/...
2025 Election Debrief: Climate on the Ballot · Lead Locally
Join Lead Locally for a conversation with activists and newly elected climate champions to celebrate, discuss the results of our most recent state & municipal elections, and consider what victories ar...
www.mobilize.us
November 4, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Happy Election Day, y'all! You're invited to join our debrief on the 2025 elections on Nov 10 @ 6 pm ET! We'll talk this year's results and what's on our radar for 2026. www.mobilize.us/leadlocally/...
Reposted by Alex Barron
Public Utilities Commissioners are climate policymakers and we finally started acting like it
🎉 Peter Hubbard just scored a home run with his win for Georgia PSC! ⚡️Time to knock affordable energy and good jobs investment out of the park! 🌟
November 5, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Public Utilities Commissioners are climate policymakers and we finally started acting like it
Reposted by Alex Barron
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 Alex Barron
Gold open access publishing fee for Nature is US$12,690.
Or, depending on where you live, you can buy a Yuan Up Pilot Electric Vehicle for US$11,500.
electrek.co/2025/07/31/b...
Or, depending on where you live, you can buy a Yuan Up Pilot Electric Vehicle for US$11,500.
electrek.co/2025/07/31/b...
November 3, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Gold open access publishing fee for Nature is US$12,690.
Or, depending on where you live, you can buy a Yuan Up Pilot Electric Vehicle for US$11,500.
electrek.co/2025/07/31/b...
Or, depending on where you live, you can buy a Yuan Up Pilot Electric Vehicle for US$11,500.
electrek.co/2025/07/31/b...
Reposted by Alex Barron
ELECTIONS MATTER, FOLKS. And if you love cities and understand the incredible role they play in our lives, remember that ELECTIONS FOR MAYOR REALLY MATTER.
Mayors have huge power over our quality of life, and even our lives. Don’t give that power to awful people who don’t understand better cities.
Mayors have huge power over our quality of life, and even our lives. Don’t give that power to awful people who don’t understand better cities.
November 4, 2025 at 12:21 AM
ELECTIONS MATTER, FOLKS. And if you love cities and understand the incredible role they play in our lives, remember that ELECTIONS FOR MAYOR REALLY MATTER.
Mayors have huge power over our quality of life, and even our lives. Don’t give that power to awful people who don’t understand better cities.
Mayors have huge power over our quality of life, and even our lives. Don’t give that power to awful people who don’t understand better cities.
Reposted by Alex Barron
If you see any business owners belittling SNAP recipients for accepting government money to get through tough times, maybe look them up on @propublica.org's PPP Loan Tracker to see if they got any of the $793B in bailout money (96% of which was forgiven)
projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/...
projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/...
Tracking PPP: Search Every Company Approved for Federal Loans - ProPublica
As part of the Paycheck Protection Program, the federal government has provided hundreds of billions in financial support to banks to make low-interest loans to companies and nonprofit organizations i...
projects.propublica.org
November 2, 2025 at 5:38 PM
If you see any business owners belittling SNAP recipients for accepting government money to get through tough times, maybe look them up on @propublica.org's PPP Loan Tracker to see if they got any of the $793B in bailout money (96% of which was forgiven)
projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/...
projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/...
Reposted by Alex Barron
We ran a workshop and put together this guide to help those university staff and students who are frustrated by slow progress to decarbonise their campuses find a path forward.
I thought I'd share it here in case it's at all helpful.
www.carbonneutraluniversity.org/zero-carbon-...
I thought I'd share it here in case it's at all helpful.
www.carbonneutraluniversity.org/zero-carbon-...
Changing Systems - Climate Change workshop - online lecture library
This is the landing page for all recordings - lectures and talks - from the 'Changing Systems: Not Just Changing Lightbulbs' workshop held in May 2017 by the Carbon Neutral University Network at the U...
www.carbonneutraluniversity.org
November 2, 2025 at 1:29 AM
We ran a workshop and put together this guide to help those university staff and students who are frustrated by slow progress to decarbonise their campuses find a path forward.
I thought I'd share it here in case it's at all helpful.
www.carbonneutraluniversity.org/zero-carbon-...
I thought I'd share it here in case it's at all helpful.
www.carbonneutraluniversity.org/zero-carbon-...
"For those at similarly recalcitrant universities, we hope this message reminds them that institutions won’t take these steps without great pressure. But...we remain convinced that this is a fight worth having."
Purdue University, where I work, does great research on climate but has no clear plan for decarbonizing its own campus. My friend Mike Johnston and the Purdue Climate Action Collective have advocated for a climate action plan for years. Mike and I wrote about how that effort is going.
#AcademicSky
#AcademicSky
On Climate Action, a View From Behind the Pack (opinion)
The fight to decarbonize a public campus in a red state is a fight worth having, Michael Johnston and Kevin Kircher write.
www.insidehighered.com
November 2, 2025 at 12:33 AM
"For those at similarly recalcitrant universities, we hope this message reminds them that institutions won’t take these steps without great pressure. But...we remain convinced that this is a fight worth having."
"Encounters with protest—as participants, observers, or opponents of it—are useful parts of learning for students who will eventually leave their campuses for a fractious, rough-and-tumble political world."
time.com/7323969/coll...
time.com/7323969/coll...
time.com
November 2, 2025 at 12:08 AM
"Encounters with protest—as participants, observers, or opponents of it—are useful parts of learning for students who will eventually leave their campuses for a fractious, rough-and-tumble political world."
time.com/7323969/coll...
time.com/7323969/coll...
Reposted by Alex Barron
EPA's reorganization doesn't just rearrange deck chairs. It throws overboard the staff and expertise for curbing dangerous climate pollution. How is this “making sure we are prepared to respond to today’s environmental threats and tomorrow’s challenges”? subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
E&E News: EPA staff reorganization launches Monday
The agency is revamping the Office of Air and Radiation and the Office of Land and Emergency Management and standing up new offices aimed at better aligning with industry and state needs.
subscriber.politicopro.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:01 PM
EPA's reorganization doesn't just rearrange deck chairs. It throws overboard the staff and expertise for curbing dangerous climate pollution. How is this “making sure we are prepared to respond to today’s environmental threats and tomorrow’s challenges”? subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
Today's story of higher education climate action: A contrast between two universities in Ohio, both of whom had their presidents sign a commitment to achieve carbon neutrality “as soon as possible”. Also, Happy Halloween 🎃.
October 31, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Today's story of higher education climate action: A contrast between two universities in Ohio, both of whom had their presidents sign a commitment to achieve carbon neutrality “as soon as possible”. Also, Happy Halloween 🎃.
Reposted by Alex Barron
As many of you may know, a fossil fuel funded NGO is currently suing the University of Michigan to obtain my personal communications with environmental groups.
I recently went on the @climateone.org podcast to talk about my work and the toll the lawsuit has taken: www.climateone.org/audio/when-c...
I recently went on the @climateone.org podcast to talk about my work and the toll the lawsuit has taken: www.climateone.org/audio/when-c...
When Climate Work Comes at a Cost: Dispatches From the Upside Down
Human-caused climate change is fueling extreme floods, wildfires, rising seas, and record-breaking heat all around the world. At the same time, some of the most senior U.S. government officials and ot...
www.climateone.org
October 31, 2025 at 3:39 PM
As many of you may know, a fossil fuel funded NGO is currently suing the University of Michigan to obtain my personal communications with environmental groups.
I recently went on the @climateone.org podcast to talk about my work and the toll the lawsuit has taken: www.climateone.org/audio/when-c...
I recently went on the @climateone.org podcast to talk about my work and the toll the lawsuit has taken: www.climateone.org/audio/when-c...
"In a life cycle assessment, all else equal, the CO2 emissions associated with BEVs are 30% higher than those of ICE vehicles during the first two years. However, after the second year, BEVs result in a reduction in cumulative CO2 emissions." 🔌💡
journals.plos.org/climate/arti...
journals.plos.org/climate/arti...
October 30, 2025 at 5:55 PM
"In a life cycle assessment, all else equal, the CO2 emissions associated with BEVs are 30% higher than those of ICE vehicles during the first two years. However, after the second year, BEVs result in a reduction in cumulative CO2 emissions." 🔌💡
journals.plos.org/climate/arti...
journals.plos.org/climate/arti...
"Massachusetts is the first state in which all the major utilities are offering these savings. The rates — ranging from 4.3 cents to 7.5 cents per kilowatt-hour lower than the standard winter price — could trim from $70 to $140 per month off the average bill, utilities estimate." 🔌💡
Massachusetts heat pump owners will pay lower electric rates starting this weekend — and the program could help more residents install clean heat.
Massachusetts heat-pump owners are about to get cheaper electricity
The state’s innovative winter heat-pump rates go into effect this weekend and should make the tech more accessible. Deeper discounts could come next year.
www.canarymedia.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:31 PM
"Massachusetts is the first state in which all the major utilities are offering these savings. The rates — ranging from 4.3 cents to 7.5 cents per kilowatt-hour lower than the standard winter price — could trim from $70 to $140 per month off the average bill, utilities estimate." 🔌💡
"Without the Musk partisan effect, Tesla sales between October 2022 and April 2025 would have been 67-83% higher, equivalent to 1-1.26 million more vehicles. ...increased the sales of [others] vehicles 17-22% because of substitution..." 🔌💡 #EV
www.nber.org/papers/w34413
www.nber.org/papers/w34413
The Musk Partisan Effect on Tesla Sales
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
October 30, 2025 at 1:13 PM
"Without the Musk partisan effect, Tesla sales between October 2022 and April 2025 would have been 67-83% higher, equivalent to 1-1.26 million more vehicles. ...increased the sales of [others] vehicles 17-22% because of substitution..." 🔌💡 #EV
www.nber.org/papers/w34413
www.nber.org/papers/w34413
Many of the 23 schools in our study of carbon neutrality in the U.S. are doing a bunch of great things on climate, but as a group, they aren't yet making big moves to decarbonize. 🔌💡 Exceptions in a later post!
In the past 5 yrs, the number of carbon neutral US colleges and universities has roughly doubled. We find that offsets remain the dominant strategy for carbon neutrality of direct emissions, with offsets accounting for over 2/3 of aggregate (Scope 1) emissions reductions for carbon neutral schools.
October 30, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Many of the 23 schools in our study of carbon neutrality in the U.S. are doing a bunch of great things on climate, but as a group, they aren't yet making big moves to decarbonize. 🔌💡 Exceptions in a later post!
Reposted by Alex Barron
this is a very impressive analysis of some of the statistical "oddities" in Pielke Jr's analysis that normalized climate impacts are declining. Everyone should read this.
economicsfromthetopdown.com/2025/10/26/r...
economicsfromthetopdown.com/2025/10/26/r...
Roger Pielke Jr.’s Appallingly Bad Analysis of Billion Dollar Disasters – Economics from the Top Down
In a recent paper called Scientific integrity and U.S. “Billion Dollar Disasters”, Roger Pielke Jr. published a chart that's so bad I've devoted a whole essay to debunking it.
economicsfromthetopdown.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:53 AM
this is a very impressive analysis of some of the statistical "oddities" in Pielke Jr's analysis that normalized climate impacts are declining. Everyone should read this.
economicsfromthetopdown.com/2025/10/26/r...
economicsfromthetopdown.com/2025/10/26/r...
Reposted by Alex Barron
The EPA is picking and choosing who gets to work during the shutdown: "virtually everyone who is working to undo marquee Biden-era regulations for air pollution, climate change and
water quality is still on the job."
This is, to put it mildly, not normal.
www.eenews.net/articles/epa...
water quality is still on the job."
This is, to put it mildly, not normal.
www.eenews.net/articles/epa...
EPA flush with cash for ‘priority’ staff
The agency is taking an unprecedented approach to furloughs during this latest government shutdown.
www.eenews.net
October 29, 2025 at 6:46 PM
The EPA is picking and choosing who gets to work during the shutdown: "virtually everyone who is working to undo marquee Biden-era regulations for air pollution, climate change and
water quality is still on the job."
This is, to put it mildly, not normal.
www.eenews.net/articles/epa...
water quality is still on the job."
This is, to put it mildly, not normal.
www.eenews.net/articles/epa...
I ended up with a "climate-positive stone paper" notebook but every time I use it I cringe knowing that it is somehow "Cradle to Cradle" Silver certified but says it should be "recycled as Waste to Energy" 🤯 #notwhatthatwordmeans #recycling
October 29, 2025 at 7:16 PM
I ended up with a "climate-positive stone paper" notebook but every time I use it I cringe knowing that it is somehow "Cradle to Cradle" Silver certified but says it should be "recycled as Waste to Energy" 🤯 #notwhatthatwordmeans #recycling
In the past 5 yrs, the number of carbon neutral US colleges and universities has roughly doubled. We find that offsets remain the dominant strategy for carbon neutrality of direct emissions, with offsets accounting for over 2/3 of aggregate (Scope 1) emissions reductions for carbon neutral schools.
October 29, 2025 at 3:24 PM
In the past 5 yrs, the number of carbon neutral US colleges and universities has roughly doubled. We find that offsets remain the dominant strategy for carbon neutrality of direct emissions, with offsets accounting for over 2/3 of aggregate (Scope 1) emissions reductions for carbon neutral schools.
Reposted by Alex Barron
To quote my friend @drkatemarvel.bsky.social, climate change won't make humanity extinct but we can do better than "not extinct". Raise your standards people!
October 28, 2025 at 8:46 PM
To quote my friend @drkatemarvel.bsky.social, climate change won't make humanity extinct but we can do better than "not extinct". Raise your standards people!