Sophie Gilbert
@sophielgilbert.bsky.social
Scientist working to better value and incorporate nature into our decisions. Conservation, Communities, Climate, let's do this! Senior researcher at PERC (Property and Environment Research Center)
It’s fun watching lions on TV. It’s less fun living with them. 🧪🦁
sophielgilbert.substack.com/p/its-fun-wa...
sophielgilbert.substack.com/p/its-fun-wa...
It’s fun watching lions on TV. It’s less fun living with them.
For some, losing a cow means a year’s worth of food for a child. If we want more wild carnivores, we need to make up for that.
sophielgilbert.substack.com
September 17, 2026 at 5:04 PM
It’s fun watching lions on TV. It’s less fun living with them. 🧪🦁
sophielgilbert.substack.com/p/its-fun-wa...
sophielgilbert.substack.com/p/its-fun-wa...
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Nice story on the controversy over solar in a corner of Idaho. Nice to see the gray areas on issues instead of pretending it can be black and white. (A bit tl:dr though.) 🔌💡
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
An Idaho county banned renewables. It’s having second thoughts.
Solar developments led county officials to ban renewables in 2024. Now, the Republican commissioner who instigated the moratorium is leading the charge to…
www.canarymedia.com
September 15, 2026 at 11:46 AM
Nice story on the controversy over solar in a corner of Idaho. Nice to see the gray areas on issues instead of pretending it can be black and white. (A bit tl:dr though.) 🔌💡
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
In my most recent essay I argue that balcony solar provides a useful model for decentralized low-power grid resources with direct application to Vehicle-to-Grid. Give it a read and consider subscribing below #energysky
nickfrass.substack.com/p/balcony-so...
nickfrass.substack.com/p/balcony-so...
Balcony Solar Proves Vehicle-to-Grid Can Work
A modest proposal for a cleaner future
nickfrass.substack.com
September 9, 2026 at 4:19 PM
In my most recent essay I argue that balcony solar provides a useful model for decentralized low-power grid resources with direct application to Vehicle-to-Grid. Give it a read and consider subscribing below #energysky
nickfrass.substack.com/p/balcony-so...
nickfrass.substack.com/p/balcony-so...
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
This here, by the way, is one of the biggest reasons people overestimate the potential for ag soils to sequester carbon. It’s easy to build more C back in the soil (and above ground) if land is taken out of farming & restored to a natural state. It’s way harder if the land is kept in production.
Especially if we intend to keep using those soils to produce food and feed. It’s much easier to sequester C in soils if land is taken out of farming but that then requires using ag land way more efficiently because global food demand is going up instead of down.
September 4, 2026 at 11:55 AM
This here, by the way, is one of the biggest reasons people overestimate the potential for ag soils to sequester carbon. It’s easy to build more C back in the soil (and above ground) if land is taken out of farming & restored to a natural state. It’s way harder if the land is kept in production.
Is the world on fire, or not? Global burned area is going down, at the same time that damages from catastrophic wildfires to stuff people care about is going up. I get into it, including the 🔥🧪🌲, in long-form over here:
substack.com/@sophielgilb...
substack.com/@sophielgilb...
Is the world on fire, or not?
Yes and yes.
substack.com
September 4, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Is the world on fire, or not? Global burned area is going down, at the same time that damages from catastrophic wildfires to stuff people care about is going up. I get into it, including the 🔥🧪🌲, in long-form over here:
substack.com/@sophielgilb...
substack.com/@sophielgilb...
The AI NIMBYs are here, and they don’t like solar. We need to reform how we understand and include the preferences of the public in our decision-making.
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
As Ohio grapples with fake comments on clean energy, some want…
Apparently fake public input has promoted fossil fuels and attacked clean energy in Ohio and beyond. Here’s what officials could do to try to stymie the…
www.canarymedia.com
August 25, 2026 at 7:45 PM
The AI NIMBYs are here, and they don’t like solar. We need to reform how we understand and include the preferences of the public in our decision-making.
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
Anyone know if wild carnivores can get alpha-gal syndrome (red meat allergy) from lonestar ticks? 🧪🐺
August 20, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Anyone know if wild carnivores can get alpha-gal syndrome (red meat allergy) from lonestar ticks? 🧪🐺
Fascinating idea...
This study proposes a strategy that couples DAC with data center operations, in which the waste heat generated by the data center is utilized for the desorption process of DAC reducing both water consumption and carbon emissions of the data center. 🔌💡
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
In-depth direct air capture integration to achieve zero-carbon and water data center
Data center accounts for a considerable amount of annual CO2 emission and water consumption, but current energy-saving technological approaches make i…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 17, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Fascinating idea...
Moooooving heat from milk to water is a great idea!
From @alisontakemura.bsky.social, some cheese nerds installed a heat-recovery chiller that moves heat from cow milk to the water they use to hose down tanks and udders.
Milk-source heat pump (MSHP)? Milk-to-water (M2W) heat pump? Pretty cool, whatever ya call it.
Milk-source heat pump (MSHP)? Milk-to-water (M2W) heat pump? Pretty cool, whatever ya call it.
World’s oldest cheddar-maker slashes energy bills with novel heat…
Innovative tech from U.K.-based Arkaya Energy cools fresh milk and redirects the resulting heat, saving Barber’s Farmhouse Cheesemakers more than $90,000…
www.canarymedia.com
August 10, 2026 at 5:26 PM
Moooooving heat from milk to water is a great idea!
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
This is absolutely insane.
Scoop: Amazon Is Behind One of the Largest Planned Gas Power Plants in the US
The company confirmed to Cleanview that it acquired the GW Ranch site in West Texas, where a 7.65 GW gas plant will power its first off-grid AI data center
www.distilled.earth
August 10, 2026 at 4:42 PM
This is absolutely insane.
I type Dvorak and it is a delight. 12/10 go learn it today!
it's always odd when "you should expose yourself to more diverse ideas" always means a certain kind of conservatism instead of like, Indigenous art, new fusion foods, math paradoxes, or the Dvorak keyboard layout
August 7, 2026 at 3:34 AM
I type Dvorak and it is a delight. 12/10 go learn it today!
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
My hot take: Abundance thinking is for environmentalists, too. We should ask ourselves what we want more of, and how we can get it.
And we should be willing to work with the Abundance movement to get there. 🧪🌲🦇👷🏡 #EnergySky #GreenSky
substack.com/home/post/p-...
And we should be willing to work with the Abundance movement to get there. 🧪🌲🦇👷🏡 #EnergySky #GreenSky
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Abundance thinking is for environmentalists, too
We should be asking ourselves what do we want more of and how can we get it?
substack.com
August 6, 2026 at 6:42 PM
My hot take: Abundance thinking is for environmentalists, too. We should ask ourselves what we want more of, and how we can get it.
And we should be willing to work with the Abundance movement to get there. 🧪🌲🦇👷🏡 #EnergySky #GreenSky
substack.com/home/post/p-...
And we should be willing to work with the Abundance movement to get there. 🧪🌲🦇👷🏡 #EnergySky #GreenSky
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Is solar the Costco or Whole Foods of energy? It turns out the answer is complicated. Solar can raise or lower electricity bills depending upon how much of it is built and where. I explore these nuances in my most recent post. 🔌💡 #energysky #climatesky
open.substack.com/pub/nickfras...
open.substack.com/pub/nickfras...
Is Solar the Costco or Whole Foods of Energy?
How to think about the cost of renewables
open.substack.com
August 6, 2026 at 6:16 PM
Is solar the Costco or Whole Foods of energy? It turns out the answer is complicated. Solar can raise or lower electricity bills depending upon how much of it is built and where. I explore these nuances in my most recent post. 🔌💡 #energysky #climatesky
open.substack.com/pub/nickfras...
open.substack.com/pub/nickfras...
My hot take: Abundance thinking is for environmentalists, too. We should ask ourselves what we want more of, and how we can get it.
And we should be willing to work with the Abundance movement to get there. 🧪🌲🦇👷🏡 #EnergySky #GreenSky
substack.com/home/post/p-...
And we should be willing to work with the Abundance movement to get there. 🧪🌲🦇👷🏡 #EnergySky #GreenSky
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Abundance thinking is for environmentalists, too
We should be asking ourselves what do we want more of and how can we get it?
substack.com
August 6, 2026 at 6:42 PM
My hot take: Abundance thinking is for environmentalists, too. We should ask ourselves what we want more of, and how we can get it.
And we should be willing to work with the Abundance movement to get there. 🧪🌲🦇👷🏡 #EnergySky #GreenSky
substack.com/home/post/p-...
And we should be willing to work with the Abundance movement to get there. 🧪🌲🦇👷🏡 #EnergySky #GreenSky
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Got a good job down at the Data Center. I work on the line, and it's hard work but it's honest and the wage is fair; my family and I are grateful for it. I rivet the word "absolutely" onto the little apologies that chatbots do when they misunderstand a prompt.
Hassett: "Data centers are very good for towns bc they create so many jobs & bring people in with high incomes that can buy houses & stuff like that. So if you take a sleepy town that hasn't seen much in the last 30 years & put a data center there, there are gonna be a bunch of happy residents."
July 31, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Got a good job down at the Data Center. I work on the line, and it's hard work but it's honest and the wage is fair; my family and I are grateful for it. I rivet the word "absolutely" onto the little apologies that chatbots do when they misunderstand a prompt.
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Ok so this lady says solar panels are getting built on "the most productive farmland" in her area.
Which just ain't true at all.
It ain't true here in NC either. Where I ALSO hear that talking point over & over again.
Smells like astroturf!
So let's get the dirt on solar farms & dirt ✨
Which just ain't true at all.
It ain't true here in NC either. Where I ALSO hear that talking point over & over again.
Smells like astroturf!
So let's get the dirt on solar farms & dirt ✨
I genuinely don't know what to do about this. In our diseased information environment, one MAGA-adjacent "influencer" can do more to shape public opinion than mountains of studies or facts.
Where are the pro-clean-energy influencers to counter this shit?
Where are the pro-clean-energy influencers to counter this shit?
The influencer teaching millions to fear solar
Alexandra Fasulo says she’s protecting farms and wildlife. How much of her rhetoric is actually true?
heated.world
July 30, 2026 at 9:36 PM
Ok so this lady says solar panels are getting built on "the most productive farmland" in her area.
Which just ain't true at all.
It ain't true here in NC either. Where I ALSO hear that talking point over & over again.
Smells like astroturf!
So let's get the dirt on solar farms & dirt ✨
Which just ain't true at all.
It ain't true here in NC either. Where I ALSO hear that talking point over & over again.
Smells like astroturf!
So let's get the dirt on solar farms & dirt ✨
How could we reform the ESA so that it not only works to displace housing from species’ habitat (which is it should work- this is the “stick”), but also incentivizes housing in non-habitat (via regulatory relief for infill, a new “carrot”).
marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevo...
marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevo...
The Endangered Species Act Reduces Housing - Marginal REVOLUTION
Max Tabarrok’s paper on the Endangered Species Act and housing (WP) has just been published in the Journal of Public Economics! It’s a clever paper: Max observed that the moment an animal is put on th...
marginalrevolution.com
July 30, 2026 at 10:17 PM
How could we reform the ESA so that it not only works to displace housing from species’ habitat (which is it should work- this is the “stick”), but also incentivizes housing in non-habitat (via regulatory relief for infill, a new “carrot”).
marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevo...
marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevo...
Equating the environmental impacts of a data canter and a solar farm is just wild, like saying a grizzly bear and a cow are equally likely to maul you because they are both big and brown. Nice reporting by @jael.bsky.social for @heatmap.news. heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...
July 24, 2026 at 8:05 PM
Equating the environmental impacts of a data canter and a solar farm is just wild, like saying a grizzly bear and a cow are equally likely to maul you because they are both big and brown. Nice reporting by @jael.bsky.social for @heatmap.news. heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
I have made this argument on my local solar law volunteer committee
farms that get subdivided to build second homes don’t go back to being farmland
solar payments can help farmers keep their land
farms that get subdivided to build second homes don’t go back to being farmland
solar payments can help farmers keep their land
Rebekah Pierce, J&R Pierce Family Farm, on the argument that solar panels ruin land for crops:
“Everything can be removed, even if the site isn’t being farmed around...Even if it’s not being farmed around, it can go back to being farmed in the future and it’s remained in that family’s name.”
“Everything can be removed, even if the site isn’t being farmed around...Even if it’s not being farmed around, it can go back to being farmed in the future and it’s remained in that family’s name.”
Understanding the conversation around solar farming in New York
Not everyone agrees with the push to use New York’s farmland for solar farming.
spectrumlocalnews.com
July 24, 2026 at 1:41 PM
I have made this argument on my local solar law volunteer committee
farms that get subdivided to build second homes don’t go back to being farmland
solar payments can help farmers keep their land
farms that get subdivided to build second homes don’t go back to being farmland
solar payments can help farmers keep their land
Hermit crabs and humans are both dependent on scarce housing, and share some solutions, including “vacancy chains” and markets.
Hermit crabs can’t vote for abundance policies, but people can.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Hermit crabs can’t vote for abundance policies, but people can.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Housing for Humans and Hermit Crabs
Musings from Maine on why these coastal crustaceans would vote for Abundance
substack.com
July 15, 2026 at 12:40 PM
Hermit crabs and humans are both dependent on scarce housing, and share some solutions, including “vacancy chains” and markets.
Hermit crabs can’t vote for abundance policies, but people can.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Hermit crabs can’t vote for abundance policies, but people can.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Really good explanation of the indirect land use effects (i.e., deforestation and other ecosystem loss) related to crop-based biofuels by @mbolotnikova.bsky.social:
This renewable energy source is actually terrible for the planet
America’s biofuels policy is helping destroy the world’s rainforests
www.vox.com
July 15, 2026 at 12:34 AM
Really good explanation of the indirect land use effects (i.e., deforestation and other ecosystem loss) related to crop-based biofuels by @mbolotnikova.bsky.social:
Being able to ride a horse or just hike through beautiful, open forests of the Sierras in California because they were kept open through prescribed burning and natural fire not being suppressed. Now it would be a miserable bush-wack.
what is the reverse historical dorito? the thing from the past that would blow our minds in a positive way
July 13, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Being able to ride a horse or just hike through beautiful, open forests of the Sierras in California because they were kept open through prescribed burning and natural fire not being suppressed. Now it would be a miserable bush-wack.
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Wherein private equity closed-end funds discover something called physical risk.
Private Equity Turns to Heat Detectives as Climate Risks Intensify
For decades, investment models at the largest private equity funds relied on assumptions of relatively stable weather patterns. Now frequent extreme events are creating new threats for their portfolio...
www.bloomberg.com
July 8, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Wherein private equity closed-end funds discover something called physical risk.
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Wildfire is once again making headlines across the western US and southern Europe. What have we learned from 20 years of the Fire and Fire Surrogates study?
Explore this "Ecological Applications" Special Feature, spanning studies of the long-term impacts of forest management: tinyurl.com/46zt776y
Explore this "Ecological Applications" Special Feature, spanning studies of the long-term impacts of forest management: tinyurl.com/46zt776y
July 7, 2026 at 1:20 PM
Wildfire is once again making headlines across the western US and southern Europe. What have we learned from 20 years of the Fire and Fire Surrogates study?
Explore this "Ecological Applications" Special Feature, spanning studies of the long-term impacts of forest management: tinyurl.com/46zt776y
Explore this "Ecological Applications" Special Feature, spanning studies of the long-term impacts of forest management: tinyurl.com/46zt776y
Interesting call for papers on eco-voltaics: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/...
#energysky 🧪🦇🐝🪺🌻
#energysky 🧪🦇🐝🪺🌻
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 30, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Interesting call for papers on eco-voltaics: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/...
#energysky 🧪🦇🐝🪺🌻
#energysky 🧪🦇🐝🪺🌻