sam

@wisconsam

Born 2 blog. Covering climate. Professionally nosy. News & UX u can use. Friend-aunt. Knitter. Of the prairie.

330 Siguiendo856 Seguidores852 Publicaciones

Bluesky

¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y wisconsam.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

sam@wisconsam· 25d

BRB gonna go breathe outside

a map showing that the air quality is better

sam@wisconsam· 25d

The Persian cat guardian meme with a screenshot of a post from Vox about Francesca Hong that says “she could be America’s first socialist governor” and a photo of Bob La Follette

sam@wisconsam· 25d

Iconic Wisconsin take from @andrewbloomberg.bsky.social. In my experience, the weirdo demo is bigger than a handful, but otherwise this does feel right!

Two bluesky posts the first reads: Right, WI isn't a "moderate" state, it's a hard left state and a hard right state with varying turnouts

The second reads: Also a handful of unclassifiable weirdos, to be fair

sam@wisconsam· 25d

That second air purifier sure was worth the cost. We’re doing a lot better this morning.

A map showing air quality sensor readings. The outdoor sensors are well over 200 but my indoor sensor is at 56.

sam@wisconsam· 26d

The second filter has gotten us below 100!

A screenshot of the Purple Air sensor map

sam@wisconsam· 26d

In case u needed evidence of the value of a HEPA air purifier. The two circled sensors on these maps are indoors. The pink is mine, and you can see how the air quality has improved 2hr moving our air filter to the room where the sensor is. Meanwhile, the other sensor reading continues to climb.

Two maps showing air quality sensors. There are two indoor sensors circled. The left map shows the readings at 7 a.m. The pink circled sensor is reading 196, and the green is reading 203. On the right map, showing 9 a.m., the pink sensor is reading 142 and the green 236.

sam@wisconsam· 29d

Hate this!

News story that says: Dane County 911 center introducing AI assistant for nonemergency calls. The new assistant will be answering all calls to the nonemergency number, 608-255-2345, by the week of Aug. 3.

sam@wisconsam· Jun 29

Heat wave on, porch cooler out.

A cooler that says Free Water! It also says: Heat can be deadly, stay hydrated, and stay cool take what you need.

A cooler with writing on it. The writing has the symptoms of heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Heat exhaustion symptoms: dizziness, thirst, heavy sweating, nausea, weakness. Heat stroke symptoms (call 911): confusion, headache, dizziness, no sweating, becoming unconscious.

sam@wisconsam· Jun 24

“[The U.S. had] been planning to get pretty much all of our coal plants offline by 2040,” Good said. “Those plans are basically out the window now...” due to data center power demand. — Quentin Good, @frontiergroup.bsky.social yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/06/how-...

The training and deployment of large AI tools requires so much power that it is leading to a boom in new fossil fuel infrastructure and extending the life of aging power plants.

“I like to call them zombie power plants,” said Quentin Good, coauthor of a report on data centers by the Frontier Group. “They should be dead, but we keep reviving them, and they’re walking around like zombies polluting our communities.”

The report found that the retirements of at least 15 fossil fuel plants have been postponed to meet increased energy demand. Those 15 plants alone emit more climate-changing pollution than the entire state of Massachusetts. Utilities, grid operators, and the federal government have all cited data center energy demand as a reason to keep aging fossil fuel infrastructure online. In some cases, power plant retirements have been pushed back by more than a decade.

In the case of one coal plant in southern Virginia, which was set to phase out in 2025, operations have been extended indefinitely. In 2023, the plant emitted more pollution than over 65,000 typical gasoline-powered vehicles produce in a year.

“[The U.S. had] been planning to get pretty much all of our coal plants offline by 2040,” Good said. “Those plans are basically out the window now.”

sam@wisconsam· Jun 11

pls appreciate that the table numbers at our wedding each had an archival photo (or, in this case, illustration) of a lesbian couple

A table at a wedding. In the foreground is a table number card with an illustration of Eleanor Butler, Sara Ponsonby, and a tiny dog. The caption reads: two upper-class Irish women who lived together as a couple, printed 1870.

sam@wisconsam· May 27

Like I said!

screenshot of bluesky post that reads: "keep thinking about how similar the resistance to data centers is to the resistance to rural renewable projects and i don't totally know what to do with that fact" attached is an AI image of crop art on a corn field that says "Wisconsin It's not worth givine up an inch of this for a data center" that waas posted to a facebook page called Wisconsin Life.

sam@wisconsam· May 15

keep thinking about how similar the resistance to data centers is to the resistance to rural renewable projects and i don't totally know what to do with that fact

An AI image of crop art on a corn field that says "Wisconsin It's not worth givine up an inch of this for a data center" that waas posted to a facebook page called Wisconsin Life.

sam@wisconsam· May 5

I always love to look at Dane County on YCOM

A map of Wisconsin counties showing support for building solar farms in survey respondents' local areas. Blue color indicates counties with less than 50% support, while yellows, oranges, and reds show more than 50% support. Dane County is solidly orange.

sam@wisconsam· Apr 9

come hang out with me at 12 p.m. ET to chat solutions yale.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

flyer for a webinar titled Communicating Climate Solutions. The webinar features yours truly and solutions researcher Miriam Remsahrd.

sam@wisconsam· Apr 7

it is important, i think, to appreciate beautiful things at any time, but especially in times of horror. like i'm reading a gorgeous rabih alameddine book and yesterday I went to the botanical garden and being alive is the most beautiful thing i could imagine

The wrong end of the telescope book cover

sam@wisconsam· Apr 7

I'm gonna be moderating a cool climate solutions comms webinar this Thursday. Come hang out: yale.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Dear Friends,
How can we most effectively communicate about climate solutions? Many people who are Alarmed about climate change aren’t taking climate action. Within the group of Americans Alarmed about climate change, 46% can be categorized as “willing Alarmed” — they are willing to engage in climate action but rarely do. Join us for a conversation with Miriam Remshard, a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge studying the barriers to effective climate action and how psychological interventions can be used to foster more impactful behavior. Samantha Harrington of Yale Climate Connections will moderate the conversation as well as provide highlights from over ten years of climate solutions coverage. She will also walk us through YCC’s Climate Solutions Hub, a tool that helps people find the actions that work best for their life.

Communicating Climate Solutions
Noon - 1pm ET, Thursday, April 9, 2026

sam@wisconsam· Apr 7

@foreverwars.bsky.social is great on this as always www.forever-wars.com/the-many-fat...

To this list you can add the Biden administration, which bowed to this longstanding bellicose consensus, operated more in line with Trump than Obama on Iran, and didn't resurrect the Iran deal. Biden became a willing accomplice of Israel in the genocide of Gaza and accompanying Israeli escalations against the Iran coalition regionally, particularly the assassinations of the Resistance Axis that produced the first-ever direct exchanges of fires between Iran and Israel. I wrote in March 2024 that the U.S. had to negotiate with Iran or the region would burn. Instead, the pro-Israel and anti-Iran coalition in both parties got a sense that this could be the moment to finally destroy the Islamic Republic, and sure enough, the region is burning.

If Trump does something in the neighborhood of what he is threatening, there will be many with blood on their hands who will rush to declare Trump an aberration, that they certainly never intended for this to happen, that they had a wiser, tougher, more effective approach. Such protestations will deserve nothing but contempt. Only by reckoning with the decades-long ease with which elite politics (as opposed to popular politics) has embraced unrelenting hostility toward Iran and punished the meagerest of efforts to end that hostility can we even begin to shatter this cycle of horror. It is already too late for between 2000 and 3500 Iranians. May it not be too late for the rest.

sam@wisconsam· Mar 25

OK now I can't stop looking at their website. Do they think Willy Street is on the square?

Food enthusiasts will find plenty to enjoy on Willy Street. Graze and The Old Fashioned serve up beloved Wisconsin classics, while Vintage Brewing Co. and Essen Haus create lively beer hall experiences for relaxed nights out. The Willy Street Co-op provides fresh, local groceries, making daily shopping a neighborhood-centered experience.

sam@wisconsam· Mar 25

OK the apartments dot com listing still has it

Your lease includes more than a place to live-it comes with a complete health diagnostics package through our on-site clinic, gym, and wellness lab. You'll receive a VO2 max test, resting metabolic rate measurement, DEXA scan, full blood panel, mobility analysis, and a one-on-one consultation with our resident doctor. From there, you can opt into one of our personalized health and well-being programs-so whether you're focused on longevity, recovery, or simply feeling your best, there's a clear next step right where you live.

sam@wisconsam· Mar 16

There's a foot of snow everywhere except on the sledding hill

A wind-blown sledding hill near a lake. There is only a faint dusting of snow on most of the hill.

A lot of snow along a street as people shovel sidewalks

sam@wisconsam· Feb 20

???

A post from the City of Madison Water Utility that reads: Congratulations, Alysa Liu! You've captured the authentic joy the Madison Water Utility WU Crew feels providing clean, safe water every day! Yes, even those -15 degree days!!

sam@wisconsam· Feb 20

in fact it turns out you don't need to be an ice princess to be america's marketing sweetheart

American Bird Conservancy post that reads:
🥇 We aren't saying Alysa Liu "Stole the Look" from the White-crowned Sparrow, but we aren't not saying it either. Congrats on an epic win!
Learn how to help birds on and off the ice on our blog:

American Girl dolls that are supposed to look like Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, and Isabeau Levito

sam@wisconsam· Feb 20

Can’t stop laughing at the Runthrough podcast doing a dramatic reading of Alysa Liu’s 2022 retirement IG post youtu.be/z_YyH09oZBk?...

sam@wisconsam· Feb 20

I could write 10k words about these two photos, and all of them are angry, hopeful love for every girl or young woman chasing dreams and fighting to be themselves in broken systems

Alexandra Trusova was distraught after she found out she got silver at the 2022 Olympics. The caption reads: The Russian declared she 'hated' skating and reportedly initially refused to go on the podium.

Alysa Liu celebrates Ami Nakai getting bronze at the 2026 Olympics with Ami Nakai

sam@wisconsam· Feb 17

true

sam@wisconsam· Feb 17

found my sui / han meme folder

sam@wisconsam· Feb 14

Went out on the lake for maybe the last time this winter and saw many good dogs

A human skiing and a dog carrying a stick

A human and a dog walking while the sun sets

sam@wisconsam· Feb 12

Among many things we don’t talk about enough when we talk recent American history, are the protests against the Iraq war. So much brave and incredible work to organize in that moment and it just was ignored by basically all elected leadership.

A photo of a page in the book Reign of Terror that reads:

In Democratic politics and much self-identifying liberal journalism, there remained a fundamental allergy to leftist critiques of the War on Terror. The largest mass protests in human history-including a
12-to-14-million-person demonstration in eight hundred cities on February 15, 2003, the largest single-day protest recorded thus far- had as little influence on the senior Democratic leadership as it did on Bush. Few reporters attended a cathartic 2008 evening in Washington, D.C., emceed by antiwar journalist Jeremy Scahill, at which a service-member panel convened by Iraq Veterans Against the War discussed what they considered the horrors they had committed or witnessed. It attested to a marginalization of the left that seemed, in retrospect, foreordained the moment the planes hit the Twin Towers.

sam@wisconsam· Feb 12

When I started skating again last year after (14????) years away, I just kept saying all I want is to do a toe loop again one more time in my life and I just came off a practice where I did so many toe loops, half flips, waltz jumps and scratch spins and I’m really just so full of joy about it