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petergleick

@[email protected]

#Climate and #water scientist and communicator. Interested in many things, including #birds, mandolin, politics. You can also find my stuff (or message me) at www.gleick.com.
Author of a mess of scientific papers, the 9 volumes of The World's Water (Island Press); Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water (Island Press); A 21st Century US Water Policy (Oxford); and my new book: "The Three Ages of Water." Email me at pgleick (at) gmail

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@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

They can hide, censor, and deny change science but that doesn't change the .
They can try to repeal the Finding but that doesn't change the danger.
Reality will always win and history will never forget what they're doing and who is doing it.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

If you were holding out hopes that the collapse of the Washington Post into right-wing talking points was temporary, this despicable editorial should shatter that hope.

"EPA is right to reverse Obama overreach"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/02/10/epa-is-right-reverse-obama-overreach/

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

US Judiciary deletes a chapter on science in the newest edition of its reference manual on scientific evidence because apparently science is a left-leaning concept and MAGAs complained.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-judiciary-scraps-climate-chapter-scientific-evidence-manual-2026-02-09

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

A rant.
When I post some good news on some topic, I don't need you coming into my mentions with a "Yes but..." or a "Great but we could do better..."
Sometimes it's okay to just take the good news and leave it on the table.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

JD Vance getting loudly booed while the US athletes get cheered is the Olympics I'm here for.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Donald Trump reminds us every day that he's a miserable, corrupt, fascist, ignorant strongman. I guess today he wanted to remind us that he's also a racist.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

How to Kill Independent Media, Jeff Bezos Edition

An endless loop graphic: Fire Independent Opinion Writers; Hire Right-Wing Ideologues Lose Subscribers; Income Drops Fire Reporters; Cut News Quality; Eliminate Major Sections Lose More Subscribers; Income Drops (Rinse and repeat)
ALT
@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Jeff Bezo's destruction of the Washington Post brand is the worst brand destruction since.... Elon Musk destroyed both Twitter and Tesla, which was the worst brand destruction since Trump destroyed the USA.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

RE: https://fediscience.org/@petergleick/115840252024405576

I'm repeating this. The whole fascist, corrupt, MAGA enterprise would grind to a halt if literally half a dozen Republicans in the House and Senate would find a backbone.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

A federal judge on Friday ruled the Energy Department violated the law when Secretary Chris Wright handpicked five researchers who reject the scientific consensus on change to work in secret on a sweeping government report on global warming.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/climate/energy-department-climate-ruling.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IVA.HgP8.YKirAEpO7SYZ&smid=url-share

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Whoa.
Bruce Springsteen's new "The Streets of Minneapolis"

"Their claim was defensive
Just don't believe their lies.
It's our blood and bones
And these whistles and phones
Against Miller and Noem's dirty lies."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWKSoxG1K7w&t=3s

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

It's Miller. Miller has to go.
Miller time.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

There are no penguins in Greenland you absolute moron.

AI generated image from the White House with Trump holding hands with a penguin, which is holding an American flag. The flag of Greenland is stuck in the snow in the distance.
ALT
@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Imagine knowing your political leader is mentally unstable, dangerous, and corrupt and refusing to admit it or do anything about it.
Now meet all GOP representatives and senators.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

After an intense 1-hour workout at the gym today, our class instructor played Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream speech" during the cool down and let me tell you, it was perfect.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random
@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Senator Susan Collins killed the amendment to protect the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) -- perhaps the world's premier research center for work on , , models, and remote sensing. Remember that.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Governor Walz needs to call out the Minnesota National Guard to protect its citizens against Federal stormtroopers.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Trump to America

Trump giving the middle finger to an auto union member.
ALT
@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

The only thing that's going to prevent ICE from becoming a federally sanctioned death squad is prosecuting agents who murder.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Is 2026 never going to end?

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Honestly, how long will it be before this insane FDA/RFK Jr. cabal tells us that moderate smoking is ok because it makes people feel good? Because that's exactly what they're now saying about alcohol.

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Wellness/new-us-dietary-guidelines-include-alcohol-guidance/story?id=128994007

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

I've said this before and I'll say it again.
It would only take a tiny handful of Republican Congress members or senators to stop the slide of America toward authoritarian fascism, but nope. They're all in.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Using this logic, any country could invade Israel, capture Netanyahu, and bring him to the Hague to face his indictments by the International Criminal Court.

A post from JD Vance saying it's valid to invade Venezuela in order to bring Maduro to the US to face indictment here.
ALT
@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Imagine if scientists could figure out how Earth's climate has varied for hundreds of millions of years, build sophisticated computers to project how humans are now radically altering it, and warn the public, only to have greedy corporations & venal politicians ignore them.
That would be criminal. Immoral. Evil.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

The Library of Alexandria was burned. The Nazis burned books. Lenin destroyed Soviet science. This is no different.

Trump and the GOP are coming for both science and our libraries.

New York Times story about how NASA's largest library is closing amid staff and lab cuts and many of the unique materials are just going to be thrown away.
ALT
@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Let me be explicit. Here at the end of 2025, if you hear anyone say replacing fossil fuels with renewables is going to be expensive, they're either misinformed, uninformed, or lying to you.
Even leaving out the massive economic costs of changes caused by burning fossil fuels, is cheaper now.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

I wrote a book about the problems with bottled ("Bottled and Sold") several years ago. Here's just another reason to avoid it.
https://www.wired.com/story/people-who-drink-bottled-water-on-a-daily-basis-ingest-90000-more-microplastics-per-year

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

2025 will go down in history as a consequential turning point.
We just don't know yet in which direction.
And no, I don't need your prediction.
The fight continues.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Trump is manipulating national security to stop energy projects he doesn't like, while ignoring and censoring real environmental security threats.
That's corrupt and dangerous.

https://thebulletin.org/2025/12/trump-is-manipulating-national-security-to-stop-energy-projects-he-doesnt-like

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

My newest opinion piece just published.

"Trump is manipulating national security to stop energy projects he doesn’t like"

https://thebulletin.org/2025/12/trump-is-manipulating-national-security-to-stop-energy-projects-he-doesnt-like

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Stop burning fossil fuels.
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

This is not an exaggeration:
There is not a single weather forecaster, TV meteorologist, airline pilot, computer scientist, or climate scientist in the WORLD whose work or life wasn't directly or indirectly improved or influenced by the science done at NCAR.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/16/trump-dismantle-national-center-atmospheric-research-climate/87798771007/

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

If nothing's done to stop Trump and the GOP, in three more years there'll be nothing left of this country.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/16/trump-dismantle-national-center-atmospheric-research-climate/87798771007/

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Breaking news:
Trump renames Christmas as Trumpmas.
Says Christ was "woke" and not as much of a savior as himself.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

There is no stopping the progress of .

"In a First, Photos Show Moths Sipping a Moose’s Tears"
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/photos-reveal-moths-sipping-tears-from-a-moose/

A night photo from a trail camera showing several moths apparently drinking tears from the eyes of a moose.
ALT
@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

"Hmm" Trump thinks to himself, "What else can I do to destroy the US tourism industry?"

"Foreigners allowed to travel to the U.S. without a visa could soon face new social media screening"

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/foreigners-allowed-to-travel-to-the-u-s-without-a-visa-could-soon-face-new-social-media-screening

Year-over-year international visitors to the US as a column chart, monthly from May 2024 to September 2025, showing major drops beginning with the Trump administration in February. From May to August, tourism dropped by 5-10 percent from the year before. In September it was down 11 percent.
ALT
@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Water fact.
What's the single largest irrigated crop in the United States?
....
....
....
Lawns.

Substantial potential to reduce US use exists by improving watering practices for lawns, or replacing them with low-water-using gardens and alternatives.
https://pacinst.org/publication/untapped-potential-municipal-and-industrial-water-efficiency-potential-in-the-united-states/

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

I'm not sure this story is getting the attention it deserves.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/nov/21/october-inflation-report-cancelled-fed-rate

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Two groups are cheering Trump's efforts to weaken US automobile efficiency standards:

The petroleum industry
and
The Chinese automobile industry.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

If someone wanted to destroy the US automobile industry and tremendously strengthen the Chinese automobile industry, they wouldn't be doing anything differently than what Trump is doing now. China is now producing smarter, cheaper, cleaner cars than the US.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-12-02/trump-to-dial-back-fuel-economy-rules-in-nod-to-rising-car-prices

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

The last coal plant delivering electricity to California has closed.
California's energy system is now coal free.

https://www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/ding-dong-coal-dead

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Damn it. Do it anyway because it's the right thing to do.

https://www.axios.com/2025/12/01/jeffries-hegseth-impeach-venezuela-drug-boats

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

It seems we're about to find out which US senior military officers are willing to sacrifice their commands to uphold their oaths to refuse illegal orders.

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

This is explicitly a war crime under international laws of war. Hegseth and officers ordering these attacks should be charged and tried.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/28/hegseth-kill-them-all-survivors-boat-strike/

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Killing unarmed civilians is the same war crime for which Lieutenant Calley was convicted during the Vietnam war.

Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/28/hegseth-kill-them-all-survivors-boat-strike/

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Violent conflict over hit a record last year
2024 saw a record number of violent incidents over water around the world, far surpassing the 355 in 2023, continuing a steeply rising trend. Violence has more than quadrupled in the last five years.

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-11-26/la-enviro-violence-over-water

@petergleick@fediscience.org avatar petergleick , to random

Just to be clear, this administration is now aggressively attacking, threatening, and investigating people who say the military and members of the administration must follow the law.