@mvertrees.bsky.social
Reposted
The #Signalgate debacle affirms our take when Hegseth was first nominated: "Given the enormity of the challenges facing the next [defense] secretary, the US deserves someone with the experience, expertise, and judgment to deal with them wisely." Hegseth has clearly failed on all three fronts.
Congress Needs to Ask Pete Hegseth Tough Questions
The new secretary of defense must face a number of challenges with experience, a steady hand, and a willingness to listen before making decisions. Pete Hegseth falls short.
blog.ucs.org
March 26, 2025 at 6:41 PM
The #Signalgate debacle affirms our take when Hegseth was first nominated: "Given the enormity of the challenges facing the next [defense] secretary, the US deserves someone with the experience, expertise, and judgment to deal with them wisely." Hegseth has clearly failed on all three fronts.
Reposted
Just looked back at my @ucsusa.bsky.social blog post on how Musk and team tried to sell cities on nonexistent tech (blog.ucs.org/steven-higas.... and there's Steve Davis (DOGE hatchet man profiled in the NY Times today).
March 20, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Just looked back at my @ucsusa.bsky.social blog post on how Musk and team tried to sell cities on nonexistent tech (blog.ucs.org/steven-higas.... and there's Steve Davis (DOGE hatchet man profiled in the NY Times today).
This isn't the first time Musk has wanted to break efficient public services to get money for his private companies.
In 2018 Musk won a bid for high-speed transit in Chicago. He tried to sell the city on technology that didn’t exist and his proposal was never built. He lied and showed little regard for public services. "We are now seeing the consequences of putting someone like that in a position of power."
Blog:
Blog:
Transportation Professionals Saw Elon Musk’s Lies and Disdain for the Public Firsthand.
We can't sit on the sidelines now.
blog.ucs.org
March 19, 2025 at 5:46 PM
This isn't the first time Musk has wanted to break efficient public services to get money for his private companies.
Reposted
Our exciting new report, “Ready for Work 2.0”, shows electric truck adoption is increasing! 📈Our analysis shows that electric trucks meet the range and payload requirements of most US fleets today, but key policies are necessary to accelerate adoption.
Ready for Work 2.0
Electrifying our on-road freight system is the surest way to reduce truck pollution and improve air quality, and the impacts on climate.
www.ucsusa.org
February 18, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Our exciting new report, “Ready for Work 2.0”, shows electric truck adoption is increasing! 📈Our analysis shows that electric trucks meet the range and payload requirements of most US fleets today, but key policies are necessary to accelerate adoption.
It's not really about waste.
Despite saying they want to cut waste & inefficiency, the Trump Admin has said they’re eliminating 8,000 already installed EV charging stations & 25,000 federally owned EVs. This petty action will cost $1.325 B taxpayer dollars, just to stop gov employees & visitors from using cleaner technology.
Trump’s reversal of EV program could carry a hefty price tag
The General Services Administration is disconnecting charging stations and may try to offload the government’s new fleet of electric vehicles.
www.eenews.net
February 27, 2025 at 8:27 PM
It's not really about waste.
Reposted
Elon Musk, the unelected head of “government efficiency,” demanded federal employees report their weekly accomplishments—or risk their jobs. Let’s not ignore what federal scientists actually do. Here’s what they achieved last week (and every week)📤
February 24, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Elon Musk, the unelected head of “government efficiency,” demanded federal employees report their weekly accomplishments—or risk their jobs. Let’s not ignore what federal scientists actually do. Here’s what they achieved last week (and every week)📤
There's a lot of ways to make the shipment of good cleaner and safer - many of which are now at risk from the Trump administration, although some state work continues. Learn more here:
blog.ucsusa.org/steven-higas...
blog.ucsusa.org/steven-higas...
From the Port to Your Porch, Every Part of the Freight System Can Get Cleaner
Building a fairer freight system is in our power.
blog.ucsusa.org
February 20, 2025 at 4:43 PM
There's a lot of ways to make the shipment of good cleaner and safer - many of which are now at risk from the Trump administration, although some state work continues. Learn more here:
blog.ucsusa.org/steven-higas...
blog.ucsusa.org/steven-higas...
Reposted
Más transporte público, caminar y andar en bici ayudan al planeta, la economía y la equidad. Pero seguimos atrapados en un sistema que fomenta la dependencia del auto con políticas obsoletas y presión de la industria. Es hora de invertir en un transporte más limpio y justo. 🚲🚍🌍
Libertad de movimiento: Invertir en opciones de transporte para un futuro limpio, próspero y justo
YouTube video by Union of Concerned Scientists
youtu.be
February 20, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Más transporte público, caminar y andar en bici ayudan al planeta, la economía y la equidad. Pero seguimos atrapados en un sistema que fomenta la dependencia del auto con políticas obsoletas y presión de la industria. Es hora de invertir en un transporte más limpio y justo. 🚲🚍🌍
This is fine.
“Consent is probably modern society’s most pernicious fetish,” says the new general counsel for the federal government’s human resources agency, the Office of Personnel Management. He also has written online that “Slaves owe us reparations.”
www.pogo.org/investigatio...
www.pogo.org/investigatio...
“Raging Misogynist” Now Federal Government H.R.’s Top Lawyer
The Office of Personnel Management’s new general counsel has a history of racist and sexist social media posts.
www.pogo.org
January 28, 2025 at 5:34 PM
This is fine.
Reposted
The Trump administration’s wide-ranging and bad faith halt to federal grant funding is an illegal overreach of presidential authority that will deeply harm people across the nation and will be rightfully challenged in courts.
➡️ www.washingtonpost.com/documents/de...
➡️ www.washingtonpost.com/documents/de...
January 28, 2025 at 5:18 PM
The Trump administration’s wide-ranging and bad faith halt to federal grant funding is an illegal overreach of presidential authority that will deeply harm people across the nation and will be rightfully challenged in courts.
➡️ www.washingtonpost.com/documents/de...
➡️ www.washingtonpost.com/documents/de...
Engine manufacturers are playing games to slow down cleaner trucks, but this has real costs to the climate and for people's lives. Dave Cooke breaks down the numbers on the industry lies and the impacts they have in our latest blog. blog.ucsusa.org/dave-cooke/t...
Trucking Industry Disinformation Will Cost Lives
Truck manufacturers are playing a dangerous game by pushing for delays in emissions standards, risking public health for profit.
blog.ucsusa.org
October 31, 2024 at 2:09 PM
Engine manufacturers are playing games to slow down cleaner trucks, but this has real costs to the climate and for people's lives. Dave Cooke breaks down the numbers on the industry lies and the impacts they have in our latest blog. blog.ucsusa.org/dave-cooke/t...
It's no accident. The auto and oil industries receive most transportation 💰, and for decades have lobbied to prioritize highways over people. See @UCSUSA @AceEJ @LinkUtah @loop_it_49’s new report for a vision of a clean, just, and prosperous future. www.ucsusa.org/resources/fr...
Freedom to Move
Now is the time to fight for policies that support a transportation system that truly centers the communities it’s meant to serve
www.ucsusa.org
October 23, 2024 at 8:36 PM
It's no accident. The auto and oil industries receive most transportation 💰, and for decades have lobbied to prioritize highways over people. See @UCSUSA @AceEJ @LinkUtah @loop_it_49’s new report for a vision of a clean, just, and prosperous future. www.ucsusa.org/resources/fr...
State factsheets just dropped! Info for all 50 states and the District of Columbia on the climate and savings benefits of EVs, what they do for public health, and some sample trips you can do in an EV. Check it out. www.ucsusa.org/resources/st...
State Electric Vehicle Benefits
In virtually every state, electric vehicles are cheaper than gasoline-powered cars to fuel and drive.
www.ucsusa.org
September 30, 2024 at 8:02 PM
State factsheets just dropped! Info for all 50 states and the District of Columbia on the climate and savings benefits of EVs, what they do for public health, and some sample trips you can do in an EV. Check it out. www.ucsusa.org/resources/st...
Reposted
stock photo of a biker, suffering from the heat but not contributing to it, instead of a car, with the riders insulated from the heat and contributing to it
About 75 million people, from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic coast, are under heat alerts as abnormally high temperatures blast the eastern United States.
Here’s how hot it will be in cities where some of the most intense heat is predicted through midweek:
Here’s how hot it will be in cities where some of the most intense heat is predicted through midweek:
Record heat is closing out August in the East: City-by-city forecasts
Heat indexes over 100 are forecast for St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Nashville, Atlanta and D.C. through midweek.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 27, 2024 at 3:46 PM
stock photo of a biker, suffering from the heat but not contributing to it, instead of a car, with the riders insulated from the heat and contributing to it
This is an excellent article at Yale Climate Communications that showcases both the seriousness of the climate emergency, and the hope for the future.
yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/08/when...
yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/08/when...
When will climate change turn life in the U.S. upside down? » Yale Climate Connections
Intensifying extreme weather events and an insurance crisis are likely to cause significant economic and political disruption in the U.S. sometime in the next 15 years.
yaleclimateconnections.org
August 26, 2024 at 1:20 PM
This is an excellent article at Yale Climate Communications that showcases both the seriousness of the climate emergency, and the hope for the future.
yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/08/when...
yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/08/when...
Kids' elementary school is starting off the school year with a lockdown drill. This is good and normal and a healthy introduction to school for kindergartners and far better and more sensible than just regulating assault weapons.
August 23, 2024 at 5:20 PM
Kids' elementary school is starting off the school year with a lockdown drill. This is good and normal and a healthy introduction to school for kindergartners and far better and more sensible than just regulating assault weapons.
Reposted
aaand here we are
August 22, 2024 at 11:53 AM
aaand here we are
Want to know more about how all the EV credits shake out and make (some) cars much more affordable? blog.ucsusa.org/dave-reichmu...
Improved EV Credits Makes the Switch Even Easier for US Drivers
EV buyers have saved over $1 billion in upfront costs.
blog.ucsusa.org
July 25, 2024 at 3:57 PM
Want to know more about how all the EV credits shake out and make (some) cars much more affordable? blog.ucsusa.org/dave-reichmu...
The numbers in the latest UCS report on the risks from #climatechange on sea level rise are pretty stark: under the *medium* scenario, we'd see over 6500 critical buildings (schools, hospitals, water treatment, etc) flooding twice annually by mid-century.
www.ucsusa.org/sites/defaul...
www.ucsusa.org/sites/defaul...
July 24, 2024 at 7:48 PM
The numbers in the latest UCS report on the risks from #climatechange on sea level rise are pretty stark: under the *medium* scenario, we'd see over 6500 critical buildings (schools, hospitals, water treatment, etc) flooding twice annually by mid-century.
www.ucsusa.org/sites/defaul...
www.ucsusa.org/sites/defaul...
We're coming off of the driest summer ever in my region, and one of the hottest ever (is the hottest two-week stretch in some parts of the state.) We've made progress in climate change, but we need to speed it up.
July 21st (Sunday) was the hottest day ever on record on planet Earth.
The most anomalously warm places were Antarctica and Western Canada where several hundred wildfires blaze, many out of control.
July 20th pictured on the map (21st not available yet via Copernicus)
The most anomalously warm places were Antarctica and Western Canada where several hundred wildfires blaze, many out of control.
July 20th pictured on the map (21st not available yet via Copernicus)
July 23, 2024 at 3:28 PM
We're coming off of the driest summer ever in my region, and one of the hottest ever (is the hottest two-week stretch in some parts of the state.) We've made progress in climate change, but we need to speed it up.
Reposted
The Supreme Court "is not making esoteric rulings that don’t matter to most people. They are taking a chainsaw to our system of health, safety, and environmental protections." Read Andrew Rosenberg's post on the recent Chevron Deference decision.
The True Intent of Overturning Chevron: Stifle Agency Rulemaking
The court is taking a chainsaw to our system of health, safety, and environmental protections.
blog.ucsusa.org
July 9, 2024 at 7:59 PM
The Supreme Court "is not making esoteric rulings that don’t matter to most people. They are taking a chainsaw to our system of health, safety, and environmental protections." Read Andrew Rosenberg's post on the recent Chevron Deference decision.
Want still more information on why the recent #SCOTUS are so dangerous? Because I have more:
There's a lot here, but the bottom line is that the system that exists to keep us healthy, keep us safe, and limit catastrophic #climatechange is under attack.
blog.ucsusa.org/kellickson/s...
There's a lot here, but the bottom line is that the system that exists to keep us healthy, keep us safe, and limit catastrophic #climatechange is under attack.
blog.ucsusa.org/kellickson/s...
Supreme Court Sidelines Science, Threatens Public Health: These Rules-in-Progress Show What’s at Stake
Protecting people from pollution and toxic chemicals will now be more difficult in the wake of the court's recent ruling.
blog.ucsusa.org
July 9, 2024 at 2:13 PM
Want still more information on why the recent #SCOTUS are so dangerous? Because I have more:
There's a lot here, but the bottom line is that the system that exists to keep us healthy, keep us safe, and limit catastrophic #climatechange is under attack.
blog.ucsusa.org/kellickson/s...
There's a lot here, but the bottom line is that the system that exists to keep us healthy, keep us safe, and limit catastrophic #climatechange is under attack.
blog.ucsusa.org/kellickson/s...
"Lives are at stake, and the abstract legal language that the Supreme Court’s majority uses can’t hide the fact that there are real and dangerous outcomes for real people."
This was one of the most consequential Supreme Court terms in history. Read why.
blog.ucsusa.org/michell-mcin...
This was one of the most consequential Supreme Court terms in history. Read why.
blog.ucsusa.org/michell-mcin...
A Brutal Supreme Court Session Puts a Generation of Public Protections at Risk
Powerful interests know exactly what they're doing: Use the judicial system to dismantle safeguards that protect our health and safety.
blog.ucsusa.org
July 8, 2024 at 4:25 PM
"Lives are at stake, and the abstract legal language that the Supreme Court’s majority uses can’t hide the fact that there are real and dangerous outcomes for real people."
This was one of the most consequential Supreme Court terms in history. Read why.
blog.ucsusa.org/michell-mcin...
This was one of the most consequential Supreme Court terms in history. Read why.
blog.ucsusa.org/michell-mcin...
I watched this develop in Florida and don't remember ever seeing a hurricane get so strong so fast unless it was one at the end of season -- and further west -- when the water is already warm. This is not normal, and makes hurricanes even more dangerous.
“It took Beryl only 42 hours to strengthen from a tropical depression to a major hurricane, which is a Category 3 storm or higher — a feat accomplished only six other times in Atlantic hurricane history, and with Sept. 1 as the earliest date.”
Hurricane Beryl, a major Category 4 storm, bearing down on Jamaica
Forecasters warned Hurricane Beryl could bring
apple.news
July 3, 2024 at 1:53 PM
I watched this develop in Florida and don't remember ever seeing a hurricane get so strong so fast unless it was one at the end of season -- and further west -- when the water is already warm. This is not normal, and makes hurricanes even more dangerous.