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7 Dec, 6 tweets, 2 min read
Some personal news! Friday was my last day at Vox. Today I'm launching a newsletter called Volts, devoted to my twin passions: clean energy and politics. (And I am now, yes, drvolts.)

Drop by to learn more and subscribe! volts.wtf/p/welcome-to-v…
No, I was not canceled! I do not view editing as tyranny. I'm not fleeing groupthink. I had nothing but positive experiences at @Vox, remain an avid reader, & will be contributing to it regularly going forward. It is growing & expanding & has an *incredible* bench of talent.
It's time for me to be my own boss, pursue my own weird obsessions, and best of all, build a community of people who share those obsessions. I am so excited to get back to the freewheeling spirit of blogging, with more room for experiments, speculation, & conversation.
I have lots more to say about this, but I'm aware that in these types of situations my penchant for oversharing & anxious logorrhea can be annoying, so I'll just say: I'm happy to answer any questions. AMA!
Ah, before I forget: for obvious reasons, Vox is hiring a climate writer! You can read about the position and apply here: boards.greenhouse.io/voxmedia/jobs/…
Me, holding my emotional support squirrel, trying not to cry at all the kind things y'all are saying today.

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More from @drvolts

David Roberts Profile picture
3 Dec
Don't miss this chipper @JaxAlemany piece about the bright political future ahead for the daughter of an aspiring despot, who got to the WH through nepotism & has accomplished nothing in 4 years but eliciting fawning profiles from gullible journalists. washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/…
"I think she's impressive and most people see she's impressive and if she wants to stay involved with politics, people will take her with open arms." For this searing insight, a "former White House official" was granted anonymity.
To imagine Ivanka Trump "impressive," one has to find being a soft-spoken, physically attractive white lady impressive *in & of itself*. It's like performance art: how minimal in substance & accomplishment can a white lady be & still be deemed impressive by white men? Very!
Read 4 tweets
David Roberts Profile picture
30 Nov
I was just reminded that technically I'm still on vacation for two more days. Based on that info, should I:
All right, I have heard your counsel, and I am ignoring it. Instead, here's another thread on carbon capture & sequestration. (I know this gets tedious, feel free to mute me, but I'm determined to articulate this properly so I shall keep trying.)
THREAD:

As I see it, the primary job of decarbonization is electrification. See the work of Saul Griffith & the folks at @rewiringamerica: vox.com/energy-and-env…
Read 19 tweets
David Roberts Profile picture
29 Nov
Negative emissions technologies (NETs) are absolutely serving as a permission structure to continue emitting GHGs. Just as CCS subsidies in the US will serve as a permission structure to continue politics/business as usual.
All right fine a quick thread on this. The main job of reducing emissions is substituting clean techs for their dirty counterparts -- techs that produce the same goods & services, w/out the CO2 emissions. Some of those alternatives are mature & cheaper already (RE) ...
... while some are at the demonstration or even lab phase. But *even the techs that are mature & cheaper* are proving a challenge to substitute fast enough, because of politics. Again: we're having trouble *substituting something cleaner & cheaper* for the same work.
Read 14 tweets
David Roberts Profile picture
28 Nov
Extremely feeling this and the entire rant that precedes it. I don't think Tom is fluent in Woke, but the phenomena he's talking about here have names: white innocence & white fragility. Patterns of behavior & rhetoric familiar from, eg, Confederate states in the runup to the CW.
It's always the same. No matter how much cruelty & suffering they impose, however unjust the cultures they build, they are always the victims -- of misunderstanding, of condescension -- and it is always everyone else who's obliged to "reach out" & understand them better.
That's the dumbest part of it. "We need to understand Trump voters better." Guess what? They aren't that fucking complicated! They've told us, through their words & behavior, what motivates them. It's a group dynamic as old as humanity; it dominates US history. We get it!
Read 5 tweets
David Roberts Profile picture
27 Nov
This is such horseshit.
Among the many reasons this is horseshit, this whole genre of liberal-scolding rests on the premise that the offended heartlanders are responding to what Dems actually say -- the intramural debates in which people like Dowd are involved. They're not!
By & large, Trump's base has no idea what Dems actually say or do. They are responding to a ludicrous caricature they see on RW media (& RW social media). They are responding to lies & conspiracy theories. Dems changing how they talk *won't change any of that*.
Read 5 tweets
David Roberts Profile picture
27 Nov
Just got done reading The Cold Millions, the newish book by @1JessWalter. It is set amidst the labor struggles of the early 20th century, out west (Spokane & Seattle). It hit me so hard; then as now, the fight for social justice is bloody & frustrating & often seems futile.
But it also shows that all these futile actions, all these frustrations & lost battles, somehow, over time, add up to progress, thanks to people who fight no matter what, even in the face of violence & loss. Couldn't be more timely.
Should also add: it's a fantastic read! I'd place it a notch beneath Beautiful Ruins (my favorite audiobook ever), but completely worth your time. bookshop.org/books/the-cold…
Read 4 tweets

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