holly jean buck
@hollyjeanbuck.bsky.social
energy & climate policy, writer, analyst
Reposted by holly jean buck
Why we need the social sciences to understand AI www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/o...
Opinion | We Can’t Know Our A.I. Future if We Don’t Study It
Just as A.I. is poised to change the world, we’re losing our best ways of studying what that change will look like.
www.nytimes.com
September 6, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Why we need the social sciences to understand AI www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/o...
great town hall this weekend with @aarongies.bsky.social (who is in a tough House race against a MAGA rep in Western NY, NY-23).
To my surprise, the very first question asked about "climate hushing". Gies's response was straightforward and expert:
To my surprise, the very first question asked about "climate hushing". Gies's response was straightforward and expert:
August 10, 2026 at 1:43 AM
great town hall this weekend with @aarongies.bsky.social (who is in a tough House race against a MAGA rep in Western NY, NY-23).
To my surprise, the very first question asked about "climate hushing". Gies's response was straightforward and expert:
To my surprise, the very first question asked about "climate hushing". Gies's response was straightforward and expert:
where else can you push back on job-eating algorithms, deep fakes, and autonomous drones?
in the workplace, with your union?
the school board?
with your electeds?
with local journalism?
in your living room?
all of these would be more effective & durable than broad moratoria on data centers
in the workplace, with your union?
the school board?
with your electeds?
with local journalism?
in your living room?
all of these would be more effective & durable than broad moratoria on data centers
The anti-data center movement isn’t just about limiting local development—it represents a new front in the fight against tech-enabled authoritarianism.
Where else can people push back on job-eating algorithms, distorting deep fakes, and autonomous drone strikes?
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Where else can people push back on job-eating algorithms, distorting deep fakes, and autonomous drone strikes?
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The fight against AI data centers isn’t just about tech – it’s about democracy | Astra Taylor and Saul Levin
Claims of nimbyism are a misunderstanding: the movement is about whether regular people have a say in fundamental decisions
www.theguardian.com
May 9, 2026 at 6:00 PM
where else can you push back on job-eating algorithms, deep fakes, and autonomous drones?
in the workplace, with your union?
the school board?
with your electeds?
with local journalism?
in your living room?
all of these would be more effective & durable than broad moratoria on data centers
in the workplace, with your union?
the school board?
with your electeds?
with local journalism?
in your living room?
all of these would be more effective & durable than broad moratoria on data centers
enjoyed talking with Jael! i now have a clear working definition of slopulism
So I touched the hot stove and interviewed @hollyjeanbuck.bsky.social about her controversial Jacobin piece arguing against a national ban on AI data centers.
We talked about “slopulism,” AI’s impact on carbon emissions and her view the climate movement might be wasting time fighting data centers.
We talked about “slopulism,” AI’s impact on carbon emissions and her view the climate movement might be wasting time fighting data centers.
Is the Left Making a ‘Massive Strategic Blunder’ on Data Centers?
A conversation with Holly Jean Buck, author of a buzzy story about Bernie Sanders’ proposal for a national data center moratorium.
heatmap.news
May 2, 2026 at 12:31 AM
enjoyed talking with Jael! i now have a clear working definition of slopulism
Reposted by holly jean buck
What does it mean if Bluesky and RFK Jr are on the same side of an issue?
Scoop for @heatmap.news:
HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is asking the federal government to review & study the health effects of noise and EMF radiation from data centers
HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is asking the federal government to review & study the health effects of noise and EMF radiation from data centers
The Loud Fight Over Inaudible Data Center Noise
Why local governments are getting an earful about “infrasound”
heatmap.news
May 1, 2026 at 6:02 PM
What does it mean if Bluesky and RFK Jr are on the same side of an issue?
"AI data center" moratoriums are not the way.
They risk pushing burdens to places with less regulation, and driving up the price of compute, which will worsen inequality.
jacobin.com/2026/04/ai-d...
They risk pushing burdens to places with less regulation, and driving up the price of compute, which will worsen inequality.
jacobin.com/2026/04/ai-d...
Democratic Governance of AI Is the Real Solution
The potential for catastrophic effects from the AI boom demands robust deliberation and real democratic governance. Localized initiatives like data center moratoria won't get us there.
jacobin.com
April 26, 2026 at 6:33 PM
"AI data center" moratoriums are not the way.
They risk pushing burdens to places with less regulation, and driving up the price of compute, which will worsen inequality.
jacobin.com/2026/04/ai-d...
They risk pushing burdens to places with less regulation, and driving up the price of compute, which will worsen inequality.
jacobin.com/2026/04/ai-d...
Reposted by holly jean buck
It's Earth Day, which means you should preorder my new book, "Building Postcarbon Futures: Land, Justice, and Energy Transitions."
cup.columbia.edu/book/buildin...
cup.columbia.edu/book/buildin...
Building Postcarbon Futures | Columbia University Press
What would a postcarbon future look like? How would a more just, decarbonized world require us to change the way we live? What would it take to build this wo... | CUP
cup.columbia.edu
April 22, 2026 at 6:55 PM
It's Earth Day, which means you should preorder my new book, "Building Postcarbon Futures: Land, Justice, and Energy Transitions."
cup.columbia.edu/book/buildin...
cup.columbia.edu/book/buildin...
Reposted by holly jean buck
I did a lengthy interview with the CEO of Stardust, in which he walked back the solar geoengineering startup's testing and deployment plans a bit. The company also intends to release details about its proprietary particles early next year and expects to open a US office soon.
How one controversial startup hopes to cool the planet
And why many scientists are freaked out about the first serious for-profit company moving into the solar geoengineering field.
www.technologyreview.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:17 PM
I did a lengthy interview with the CEO of Stardust, in which he walked back the solar geoengineering startup's testing and deployment plans a bit. The company also intends to release details about its proprietary particles early next year and expects to open a US office soon.
📱Nearly half of US teens say they use the internet “almost constantly.”
😰 Climate anxiety is growing – in one study, more than 45% of young adults said that climate anxiety was impacting their daily life.
Is there a relationship between social media use and climate distress?
new paper on this 👇
😰 Climate anxiety is growing – in one study, more than 45% of young adults said that climate anxiety was impacting their daily life.
Is there a relationship between social media use and climate distress?
new paper on this 👇
October 27, 2025 at 1:31 PM
📱Nearly half of US teens say they use the internet “almost constantly.”
😰 Climate anxiety is growing – in one study, more than 45% of young adults said that climate anxiety was impacting their daily life.
Is there a relationship between social media use and climate distress?
new paper on this 👇
😰 Climate anxiety is growing – in one study, more than 45% of young adults said that climate anxiety was impacting their daily life.
Is there a relationship between social media use and climate distress?
new paper on this 👇
How can the #IPCC navigate generative AI?
What does it mean for scientific assessment more broadly?
New working paper looks at scenarios for AI adoption & resistance, w/ @dralaaclimate.bsky.social @shinasayama.bsky.social and Oliver Geden
Reflections welcome!
www.swp-berlin.org/publications...
What does it mean for scientific assessment more broadly?
New working paper looks at scenarios for AI adoption & resistance, w/ @dralaaclimate.bsky.social @shinasayama.bsky.social and Oliver Geden
Reflections welcome!
www.swp-berlin.org/publications...
www.swp-berlin.org
October 1, 2025 at 3:45 PM
How can the #IPCC navigate generative AI?
What does it mean for scientific assessment more broadly?
New working paper looks at scenarios for AI adoption & resistance, w/ @dralaaclimate.bsky.social @shinasayama.bsky.social and Oliver Geden
Reflections welcome!
www.swp-berlin.org/publications...
What does it mean for scientific assessment more broadly?
New working paper looks at scenarios for AI adoption & resistance, w/ @dralaaclimate.bsky.social @shinasayama.bsky.social and Oliver Geden
Reflections welcome!
www.swp-berlin.org/publications...
Reposted by holly jean buck
New biochar climatetech startup just dropped
Skeleton Capture Utilization and Storage
Skeleton Capture Utilization and Storage
First thought seeing the new version of the giant skeleton:
"They are under grounding the skeleton transmission infrastructure!"
I have reached officially way to much terminal online stage, and I blame @costasamaras.com
"They are under grounding the skeleton transmission infrastructure!"
I have reached officially way to much terminal online stage, and I blame @costasamaras.com
September 30, 2025 at 12:47 AM
New biochar climatetech startup just dropped
Skeleton Capture Utilization and Storage
Skeleton Capture Utilization and Storage
Reposted by holly jean buck
If you're interested in realities (&...un-realities) of cloud seeding & the conflation of facts, assertions, & kernels of truth surrounding extreme rainfall in warming climate--check out this BBC podcast! Perspectives from me & @hollyjeanbuck.bsky.social.
BBC World Service - The Documentary Podcast, Floods hit Texas, then came the cloud talk
Did cloud seeding trigger the Texas floods? No, but that didn’t stop the online rumours
www.bbc.co.uk
September 6, 2025 at 6:58 PM
If you're interested in realities (&...un-realities) of cloud seeding & the conflation of facts, assertions, & kernels of truth surrounding extreme rainfall in warming climate--check out this BBC podcast! Perspectives from me & @hollyjeanbuck.bsky.social.
Reposted by holly jean buck
Earlier this year, I made two trips to Sudan, where a terrible civil war has displaced 14 million people. The state is absent, international institutions are weak.Outside powers, motivated by greed and nihilism, have stepped into the vacuum
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
This Is What the End of the Liberal World Order Looks Like
In a post-American world, greed and nihilism are destroying Sudan.
www.theatlantic.com
August 6, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Earlier this year, I made two trips to Sudan, where a terrible civil war has displaced 14 million people. The state is absent, international institutions are weak.Outside powers, motivated by greed and nihilism, have stepped into the vacuum
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
new paper about US attitudes on solar geoengineering, para-environmentalism, and this idea that airborne atmospheric modification is already happening
rdcu.be/eyJX5
rdcu.be/eyJX5
August 1, 2025 at 2:10 PM
new paper about US attitudes on solar geoengineering, para-environmentalism, and this idea that airborne atmospheric modification is already happening
rdcu.be/eyJX5
rdcu.be/eyJX5
icymi: part 2: why we should treat AI like a public utility. jacobin.com/2025/07/arti...
Part 1 also available in Spanish: jacobinlat.com/2025/07/el-d...
Part 1 also available in Spanish: jacobinlat.com/2025/07/el-d...
Treat AI Like a Public Utility
It seems increasingly likely that artificial intelligence will mean major changes to the economy and daily life. We need a public jobs program for displaced workers, and we should regulate AI as a pub...
jacobin.com
July 29, 2025 at 8:49 PM
icymi: part 2: why we should treat AI like a public utility. jacobin.com/2025/07/arti...
Part 1 also available in Spanish: jacobinlat.com/2025/07/el-d...
Part 1 also available in Spanish: jacobinlat.com/2025/07/el-d...
Is massive unemployment from AI just hype, or a real threat?
AI companies are going to overhype their products - but the risk is real.
Why progressives can't miss the opportunity to lead on policy solutions -> new from me & the excellent @matthuber.bsky.social
jacobin.com/2025/07/arti...
AI companies are going to overhype their products - but the risk is real.
Why progressives can't miss the opportunity to lead on policy solutions -> new from me & the excellent @matthuber.bsky.social
jacobin.com/2025/07/arti...
AI-Driven Worker Displacement Is a Serious Threat
By many estimates, the increasing use of artificial intelligence is set to produce significant job losses. The prospect of serious disruption demands that we start formulating egalitarian policy solut...
jacobin.com
July 15, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Is massive unemployment from AI just hype, or a real threat?
AI companies are going to overhype their products - but the risk is real.
Why progressives can't miss the opportunity to lead on policy solutions -> new from me & the excellent @matthuber.bsky.social
jacobin.com/2025/07/arti...
AI companies are going to overhype their products - but the risk is real.
Why progressives can't miss the opportunity to lead on policy solutions -> new from me & the excellent @matthuber.bsky.social
jacobin.com/2025/07/arti...
Reposted by holly jean buck
June 19, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Is “abundance” basically “development” with a glow-up?
What does it mean to talk about development when the Trump administration is basically on a project of reversing development?
and how should we be talking about “development” in 2025, anyway?
new article:
www.compactmag.com/article/the-...
What does it mean to talk about development when the Trump administration is basically on a project of reversing development?
and how should we be talking about “development” in 2025, anyway?
new article:
www.compactmag.com/article/the-...
June 19, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Is “abundance” basically “development” with a glow-up?
What does it mean to talk about development when the Trump administration is basically on a project of reversing development?
and how should we be talking about “development” in 2025, anyway?
new article:
www.compactmag.com/article/the-...
What does it mean to talk about development when the Trump administration is basically on a project of reversing development?
and how should we be talking about “development” in 2025, anyway?
new article:
www.compactmag.com/article/the-...
Nice essay from someone who works on development policy.
"at its core, Abundance is a book of economic development. ... For abundance to truly serve as the transformative worldview Klein and Thompson hope, it must be extended to the world."
"at its core, Abundance is a book of economic development. ... For abundance to truly serve as the transformative worldview Klein and Thompson hope, it must be extended to the world."
Here's my review thinking about what global abundance would mean, and how Abundance the book (less so the online abundance debate that is often unhinged on all sides...) echoes longstanding debates about global development
timhirschelburns.substack.com/p/abundance-...
timhirschelburns.substack.com/p/abundance-...
Abundance in One Country?
The most pressing place to expand abundance is in the countries facing the greatest scarcity
timhirschelburns.substack.com
June 19, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Nice essay from someone who works on development policy.
"at its core, Abundance is a book of economic development. ... For abundance to truly serve as the transformative worldview Klein and Thompson hope, it must be extended to the world."
"at its core, Abundance is a book of economic development. ... For abundance to truly serve as the transformative worldview Klein and Thompson hope, it must be extended to the world."
“What does a human slowly going insane look like to a corporation?” Mr. Yudkowsky asked in an interview. “It looks like an additional monthly user.”
People are having very strange conversations with ChatGPT, in which they discover secret cabals or conspiracies or that we are all in fact living in The Matrix.
It sends these people into delusional spirals.
Then ChatGPT tells them to email me about it.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...
It sends these people into delusional spirals.
Then ChatGPT tells them to email me about it.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...
They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.
www.nytimes.com
June 13, 2025 at 2:00 PM
“What does a human slowly going insane look like to a corporation?” Mr. Yudkowsky asked in an interview. “It looks like an additional monthly user.”
Science editor from 1970 in the chat
June 3, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Science editor from 1970 in the chat
Reposted by holly jean buck
AI becoming more prone to blackmailing users, just as companies start giving AI access to our digital histories - what could go wrong?
May 23, 2025 at 12:17 PM
AI becoming more prone to blackmailing users, just as companies start giving AI access to our digital histories - what could go wrong?
I asked ChatGPT 4o what I should work on and it said I should write something on "'Carbon Colonialism Revisited: The New Scramble for Geochemical Space' – a geopolitical analysis of CDR land/sea use."
I asked it if "geochemical space" was a thing or if it just made it up. it made it up
I asked it if "geochemical space" was a thing or if it just made it up. it made it up
April 30, 2025 at 8:48 PM
I asked ChatGPT 4o what I should work on and it said I should write something on "'Carbon Colonialism Revisited: The New Scramble for Geochemical Space' – a geopolitical analysis of CDR land/sea use."
I asked it if "geochemical space" was a thing or if it just made it up. it made it up
I asked it if "geochemical space" was a thing or if it just made it up. it made it up
one of the strangest things about this new government website, which states that "Public health officials often mislead the American people," is that Trump was president for like the first year of this pandemic
🧪Holy shit. The Covid.gov website directs to the WH website claiming that covid came from a lab leak. And they are blaming Anthony Fauci. And calling the NIH a failure. I am utterly speechless. Anti-science propaganda running its wheels in real time.
Lab Leak: The True Origins of Covid-19
THE ORIGIN “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2” publication — which was used repeatedly by public health officials and the media to discredit the lab leak
Covid.gov
April 19, 2025 at 10:18 PM
one of the strangest things about this new government website, which states that "Public health officials often mislead the American people," is that Trump was president for like the first year of this pandemic
If you want a sense for what the admin intends for higher ed writ large, read the DOJ's letter to Harvard demanding that departments be externally audited and reformed for faculty "viewpoint diversity".
glad Harvard is standing up - finally.
great to see the Cambridge city council engaged too.
glad Harvard is standing up - finally.
great to see the Cambridge city council engaged too.
An email from Harvard University President Alan Garber to the university community, titled "The Promise of American Higher Education," links to the DOJ's letter and Harvard's response:
www.harvard.edu/research-fun...
www.harvard.edu/research-fun...
www.harvard.edu/research-fun...
www.harvard.edu/research-fun...
![Dear Members of the Harvard Community,
For three-quarters of a century, the federal government has awarded grants and contracts to Harvard and other universities to help pay for work that, along with investments by the universities themselves, has led to groundbreaking innovations across a wide range of medical, engineering, and scientific fields. These innovations have made countless people in our country and throughout the world healthier and safer. In recent weeks, the federal government has threatened its partnerships with several universities, including Harvard, over accusations of antisemitism on our campuses. These partnerships are among the most productive and beneficial in American history. New frontiers beckon us with the prospect of life-changing advances—from treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and diabetes, to breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, quantum science and engineering, and numerous other areas of possibility. For the government to retreat from these partnerships now risks not only the health and well-being of millions of individuals but also the economic security and vitality of our nation.
Late Friday night, the administration issued an updated and expanded list of demands, warning that Harvard must comply if we intend to “maintain [our] financial relationship with the federal government.” It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner. Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the “intellectual conditions” at Harvard.
I encourage you to read the letter to gain a fuller understanding of the unprecedented demands being made by the federal government to control the Harvard community. They include requirements to “audit” the viewpoints of our student body, faculty, staff, and to “reduc[e] the power” of certain students, faculty, and …](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2r7ljryv4mdb7e4svonbhugk/bafkreic7mubtl3qojedpbpjusckhkpnj5tp3xltvl65ccqmpjy2rgh2jmi)
April 14, 2025 at 5:51 PM
If you want a sense for what the admin intends for higher ed writ large, read the DOJ's letter to Harvard demanding that departments be externally audited and reformed for faculty "viewpoint diversity".
glad Harvard is standing up - finally.
great to see the Cambridge city council engaged too.
glad Harvard is standing up - finally.
great to see the Cambridge city council engaged too.