Deirdre O’Connell
@deirdremary.bsky.social
Historian, writer, teacher, dog walker, gardener and politics tragic
Forthcoming: The World of Crickett Smith, OUP
Living on Dharug land
Forthcoming: The World of Crickett Smith, OUP
Living on Dharug land
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
"Would any other country knowingly destroy its most precious cultural treasures to save a gas company money?"
"And for what? Woodside's North-West shelf project is an export project. It undermines our energy security."
Add your name to the petition to #savemurujuga
✍️ theaus.in/saveMurujuga...
"And for what? Woodside's North-West shelf project is an export project. It undermines our energy security."
Add your name to the petition to #savemurujuga
✍️ theaus.in/saveMurujuga...
September 30, 2025 at 6:50 AM
"Would any other country knowingly destroy its most precious cultural treasures to save a gas company money?"
"And for what? Woodside's North-West shelf project is an export project. It undermines our energy security."
Add your name to the petition to #savemurujuga
✍️ theaus.in/saveMurujuga...
"And for what? Woodside's North-West shelf project is an export project. It undermines our energy security."
Add your name to the petition to #savemurujuga
✍️ theaus.in/saveMurujuga...
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
This one hurts. RIP Robert Redford.
Here's a fun story from yesterday.
Here's a fun story from yesterday.
My quest for Robert Redford’s jacket
The actor’s blazer in 1975’s Three Days of the Condor is flawless. Fifty years later, it’s still a rare bird
www.ft.com
September 16, 2025 at 12:12 PM
This one hurts. RIP Robert Redford.
Here's a fun story from yesterday.
Here's a fun story from yesterday.
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
The final approval of the 45-year expansion of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas export terminal is equivalent to building 12 new coal power stations.
It will undermine the nation's energy security, drive up energy prices & is the greatest giveaway of Australian natural resources ever.
Media release
It will undermine the nation's energy security, drive up energy prices & is the greatest giveaway of Australian natural resources ever.
Media release
North West Shelf final approval a climate, economic and energy security disaster
Australia Institute analysis shows today's final approval of the 45-year expansion of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas export terminal is equivalent to building 12 new coal power stations.
australiainstitute.org.au
September 12, 2025 at 5:41 AM
The final approval of the 45-year expansion of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas export terminal is equivalent to building 12 new coal power stations.
It will undermine the nation's energy security, drive up energy prices & is the greatest giveaway of Australian natural resources ever.
Media release
It will undermine the nation's energy security, drive up energy prices & is the greatest giveaway of Australian natural resources ever.
Media release
I had the pleasure of reviewing The Last Tour, Ann Curthoys’s fascinating account of Paul and Eslanda Robeson’s Australian and NZ tour
www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/c...
www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/c...
September 1, 2025 at 9:32 AM
I had the pleasure of reviewing The Last Tour, Ann Curthoys’s fascinating account of Paul and Eslanda Robeson’s Australian and NZ tour
www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/c...
www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/c...
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
Queensland’s deputy premier is now repealing laws in order to kill wind projects and prevent new ones, with the latest victim being the 1.2GW Forest Wind project.
reneweconomy.com.au
September 1, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Queensland’s deputy premier is now repealing laws in order to kill wind projects and prevent new ones, with the latest victim being the 1.2GW Forest Wind project.
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
NYTimes: Trump Administration Orders Work Halted on Wind Farm That Is Nearly Built - www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/c...
Trump Administration Orders Work Halted on Wind Farm That Is Nearly Built
www.nytimes.com
August 23, 2025 at 12:17 AM
NYTimes: Trump Administration Orders Work Halted on Wind Farm That Is Nearly Built - www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/c...
Remembering the great David Stratton, who did so much to liberalise Australia's draconian censorship laws in the late 60s and early 70s.
Here's a link to a Flashback I made for the #SFF where he recalls the battle over the Swedish film, I Love, You Love.
youtu.be/6otcpod1Ah8?...
Here's a link to a Flashback I made for the #SFF where he recalls the battle over the Swedish film, I Love, You Love.
youtu.be/6otcpod1Ah8?...
SFF Festival Flashbacks - 1969: The Censorship Crisis
YouTube video by Sydney Film Festival
youtu.be
August 14, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Remembering the great David Stratton, who did so much to liberalise Australia's draconian censorship laws in the late 60s and early 70s.
Here's a link to a Flashback I made for the #SFF where he recalls the battle over the Swedish film, I Love, You Love.
youtu.be/6otcpod1Ah8?...
Here's a link to a Flashback I made for the #SFF where he recalls the battle over the Swedish film, I Love, You Love.
youtu.be/6otcpod1Ah8?...
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
"Real Zero has one definition.
You commit to phasing out fossil fuels and you do it without relying on offsets, carbon capture and storage, and any other technology that does not exist yet.”
- Dr @shantabarley.bsky.social, Fortescue Chief Climate Scientist
#auspol
You commit to phasing out fossil fuels and you do it without relying on offsets, carbon capture and storage, and any other technology that does not exist yet.”
- Dr @shantabarley.bsky.social, Fortescue Chief Climate Scientist
#auspol
August 6, 2025 at 6:23 AM
"Real Zero has one definition.
You commit to phasing out fossil fuels and you do it without relying on offsets, carbon capture and storage, and any other technology that does not exist yet.”
- Dr @shantabarley.bsky.social, Fortescue Chief Climate Scientist
#auspol
You commit to phasing out fossil fuels and you do it without relying on offsets, carbon capture and storage, and any other technology that does not exist yet.”
- Dr @shantabarley.bsky.social, Fortescue Chief Climate Scientist
#auspol
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
love this new york times clip. they recently did a story about how sesame street's set has changed over the years, along with our urban politics.
IG nytimes
IG nytimes
August 6, 2025 at 2:25 AM
love this new york times clip. they recently did a story about how sesame street's set has changed over the years, along with our urban politics.
IG nytimes
IG nytimes
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
1. This is something I've been saying for 25 years, but it's hard to get many people to listen. What counts is not the new energy sources you add, but the old ones you retire. Unfortunately it's politically easier to build renewables than to shutter fossil fuels.🧵
www.forbes.com/sites/rrapie...
www.forbes.com/sites/rrapie...
The Renewable Illusion: Why Fossil Fuels Keep Winning
Global renewables hit records in 2024, but fossil fuel use still rises. Here’s why solar’s surge isn’t enough—and what the latest energy data really shows.
www.forbes.com
August 4, 2025 at 8:13 AM
1. This is something I've been saying for 25 years, but it's hard to get many people to listen. What counts is not the new energy sources you add, but the old ones you retire. Unfortunately it's politically easier to build renewables than to shutter fossil fuels.🧵
www.forbes.com/sites/rrapie...
www.forbes.com/sites/rrapie...
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
New podcast: why rivers need rights
A discussion of the river Test being granted 'personhood' by the local council, the wider nature rights movement and how our waterways got into such a mess
open.spotify.com/episode/7eKN...
A discussion of the river Test being granted 'personhood' by the local council, the wider nature rights movement and how our waterways got into such a mess
open.spotify.com/episode/7eKN...
Why rivers need human rights
The Story · Episode
open.spotify.com
August 1, 2025 at 8:08 AM
New podcast: why rivers need rights
A discussion of the river Test being granted 'personhood' by the local council, the wider nature rights movement and how our waterways got into such a mess
open.spotify.com/episode/7eKN...
A discussion of the river Test being granted 'personhood' by the local council, the wider nature rights movement and how our waterways got into such a mess
open.spotify.com/episode/7eKN...
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
Crazy that @abrahm.bsky.social has so few followers here.
The guy is an oracle at a time when we could really use oracles. www.propublica.org/article/texa...
The guy is an oracle at a time when we could really use oracles. www.propublica.org/article/texa...
The Texas Flash Flood Is a Preview of the Chaos to Come
Climate change is making disasters more common, more deadly and far more costly, even as the federal government is running away from the policies that might begin to protect the nation.
www.propublica.org
July 9, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Crazy that @abrahm.bsky.social has so few followers here.
The guy is an oracle at a time when we could really use oracles. www.propublica.org/article/texa...
The guy is an oracle at a time when we could really use oracles. www.propublica.org/article/texa...
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
Researchers in Darwin added First Nations seasonal calendars to solar irradiance forecasting and came up with some vastly improved results.
First Nations calendars boost solar forecasting accuracy by up to 26 pct, study finds
Researchers in Darwin added First Nations seasonal calendars to solar irradiance forecasting and came up with some vastly improved results.
reneweconomy.com.au
July 14, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Researchers in Darwin added First Nations seasonal calendars to solar irradiance forecasting and came up with some vastly improved results.
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
🩸 No one is immune to PFAS contamination
Ministers & EU Commissioner @jessikaroswall.ec.europa.eu had their blood tested for #PFAS found in nearly every European
Led by Denmark’s Environment Ministry @heunicke.bsky.social, @eeb.org & @chemsec.bsky.social to expose this growing pollution crisis
Ministers & EU Commissioner @jessikaroswall.ec.europa.eu had their blood tested for #PFAS found in nearly every European
Led by Denmark’s Environment Ministry @heunicke.bsky.social, @eeb.org & @chemsec.bsky.social to expose this growing pollution crisis
July 10, 2025 at 2:23 PM
🩸 No one is immune to PFAS contamination
Ministers & EU Commissioner @jessikaroswall.ec.europa.eu had their blood tested for #PFAS found in nearly every European
Led by Denmark’s Environment Ministry @heunicke.bsky.social, @eeb.org & @chemsec.bsky.social to expose this growing pollution crisis
Ministers & EU Commissioner @jessikaroswall.ec.europa.eu had their blood tested for #PFAS found in nearly every European
Led by Denmark’s Environment Ministry @heunicke.bsky.social, @eeb.org & @chemsec.bsky.social to expose this growing pollution crisis
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
The science behind Texas’ catastrophic floods | Grist grist.org/climate/the-...
The science behind Texas’ catastrophic floods
At least 95 people died in the flash floods. The disaster has the fingerprints of climate change all over it.
grist.org
July 8, 2025 at 12:04 PM
The science behind Texas’ catastrophic floods | Grist grist.org/climate/the-...
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
“My felt ranger hat hangs on the wall in my university faculty office to this day as a reminder of that period in my life,” writes Ryan W. Booth (Upper Skagit Tribe) in #AHAPerspectives. 🗃️
Remembering What the Parks Forgot
An Indigenous historian and former park ranger reflects on the National Park Service and how its relationships with Native people have changed.
www.historians.org
July 2, 2025 at 3:33 PM
“My felt ranger hat hangs on the wall in my university faculty office to this day as a reminder of that period in my life,” writes Ryan W. Booth (Upper Skagit Tribe) in #AHAPerspectives. 🗃️
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
Raskin: "If you can opt out of mandatory classroom readings bc it offends your religious objections, you can do it bc it offends your philosophical beliefs... you're gonna have a lot of cases where ppl say 'Our family doesn't believe in evolution. We don't want our kid in class when it's taught'"
June 27, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Raskin: "If you can opt out of mandatory classroom readings bc it offends your religious objections, you can do it bc it offends your philosophical beliefs... you're gonna have a lot of cases where ppl say 'Our family doesn't believe in evolution. We don't want our kid in class when it's taught'"
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
Honored to be giving the first public reading from my new book, The Second Emancipation (out 8/26), at the Schomburg Library's Centennial Festival today at 1. www.publishersweekly.com/9781324092452
The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide by Howard W French
In this magisterial account, journalist French (Born in Blackness) revisits the history of the Pan-Africanist movement through t...
www.publishersweekly.com
June 14, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Honored to be giving the first public reading from my new book, The Second Emancipation (out 8/26), at the Schomburg Library's Centennial Festival today at 1. www.publishersweekly.com/9781324092452
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
The scientists warning the world about ocean #acidification – ‘evil twin’ of the climate crisis - www.theguardian.com/environment/... "until the buildup of CO2 is addressed, the consequences for marine life will be devastating"
The scientists warning the world about ocean acidification – ‘evil twin’ of the climate crisis
There’s frustration among researchers that falling pH levels in seas around the globe are not being taken seriously enough, and that until the buildup of CO2 is addressed, the consequences for marine ...
www.theguardian.com
June 9, 2025 at 7:10 AM
The scientists warning the world about ocean #acidification – ‘evil twin’ of the climate crisis - www.theguardian.com/environment/... "until the buildup of CO2 is addressed, the consequences for marine life will be devastating"
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
Watt’s North West Shelf approval exposes the deeper dysfunction at the heart of Australian environmental governance: where the laws are weak, the incentives perverse, and real power lies with the fossil fuel lobby
Murray Watt’s climate masterclass: How to destroy the planet while pretending to save it
Watt’s North West Shelf approval exposes the deeper dysfunction at the heart of Australian environmental governance: where the laws are weak, the incentives perverse, and real power lies with…
reneweconomy.com.au
May 29, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Watt’s North West Shelf approval exposes the deeper dysfunction at the heart of Australian environmental governance: where the laws are weak, the incentives perverse, and real power lies with the fossil fuel lobby
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
The Fortress Dwellers at Scarborough Faire.
youtu.be/R7i6B1v7xYU?...
youtu.be/R7i6B1v7xYU?...
Fortress Dwellers @ Scarborough 5-18-2025
YouTube video by Larry Lozuk
youtu.be
May 28, 2025 at 7:02 AM
The Fortress Dwellers at Scarborough Faire.
youtu.be/R7i6B1v7xYU?...
youtu.be/R7i6B1v7xYU?...
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
"Approval of the North West Shelf extension would be easily one of the worst decisions ever made by an Environment Minister in Australia's history," said @grogsgamut.bsky.social.
May 28, 2025 at 6:43 AM
"Approval of the North West Shelf extension would be easily one of the worst decisions ever made by an Environment Minister in Australia's history," said @grogsgamut.bsky.social.
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
They say it can’t be done, but here we are, California is generated 106% of California’s entire state electricity demand from renewables.
California has a population bigger that 154 other countries around the world. It’s the 4th largest economy, in the world.
Let that sink in.
#energysky #greensky
California has a population bigger that 154 other countries around the world. It’s the 4th largest economy, in the world.
Let that sink in.
#energysky #greensky
May 24, 2025 at 11:06 PM
They say it can’t be done, but here we are, California is generated 106% of California’s entire state electricity demand from renewables.
California has a population bigger that 154 other countries around the world. It’s the 4th largest economy, in the world.
Let that sink in.
#energysky #greensky
California has a population bigger that 154 other countries around the world. It’s the 4th largest economy, in the world.
Let that sink in.
#energysky #greensky
Reposted by Deirdre O’Connell
In ‘Cancer Alley,’ a Battle Over Who Gets to Measure Air Pollution - The New York Times www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/c...
In ‘Cancer Alley,’ a Battle Over Who Gets to Measure Air Pollution
www.nytimes.com
May 23, 2025 at 8:14 PM
In ‘Cancer Alley,’ a Battle Over Who Gets to Measure Air Pollution - The New York Times www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/c...