curated citations to news sources
Bill McKibben: A Tale of Two Countries
Two superpowers, one behaving pathetically
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China first. Remarkable new details emerged yesterday of a trend we’ve been talking about for years in this newsletter: the rapid spread of clean energy and its associated appliances not only in China but in all the countries increasingly in their sphere. The folks at the Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab at Johns Hopkins published a huge new study detailing the “rapid scale- up of overseas Chinese clean-tech manufacturing investments.”
Investment volume: Chinese firms have pledged at least USD 227 billion across green manufacturing projects. A high-end estimate approaches USD 250 billion. This surge of overseas green manufacturing investment is unprecedented; it now surpasses the USD 200 billion (in current 2024 dollars) invested by the US over four years of the Marshall Plan, at a time of similar American dominance of manufacturing in key industries.
I want you to go back and reread the last sentence of that paragraph—bigger, in real dollar terms, than the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan, of course, was what America spent to rebuilt the world in the wake of World War II, and it was a key driver of what became the most prosperous economy the world has ever seen. The American century was built in no small part on making sure that our allies (and enemies) in the Second World War recovered and were fitted into our trading system. Now the Chinese are doing the same thing, except somewhat bigger and faster. …
(Bill McKibben more…)
Emily Atkin: Trump sends fracking CEO to Europe to sell climate denial—and gas
Debunking some of Chris Wright’s most egregious lies
Imagine if Donald Trump had nominated a Purdue Pharma executive to lead the FDA, and that executive took a multi-day, taxpayer-funded international trip to tell world leaders that the opioid epidemic not a big deal and the best way to make citizens healthier is actually to buy more Oxycontin.
A similar, non-hypothetical example of institutional corruption is playing out this week. Chris Wright, the massively wealthy former fracking executive who leads the DOE, is currently on a multi-day, taxpayer-funded trip to Europe to tell world leaders that the climate crisis is not really a big deal, and that the best way to protect their citizens is actually to buy more American gas.
(Emily Atkin more…)
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – September 12, 2025
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This morning, Trump announced on the Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends that he had just heard “they have the person that they wanted.” That person turned out to be 22-year-old Utah native Tyler Robinson, who turned himself in to authorities after his father urged him to. Robinson’s parents are registered Republicans; he was not affiliated with a political party and was an inactive voter. Over the past years, Robinson’s mother posted a number of pictures of him and his brothers posing with guns.Robinson had recently had a conversation with a family member about why they didn’t like Kirk’s viewpoints. Robinson appears to have admired the “Groypers,” led by Nick Fuentes, who complain that more mainstream organizations like Kirk’s Turning Point USA are not “pro-white” enough and have publicly harassed Kirk in the past.
Allison Gill of The Breakdown explained that the rumors the shooter had engraved anti-fascist rhetoric on some of the bullet casings found at the scene turned out to be a misunderstanding of terms from the video game Helldivers2. The claim that he had used “transgender ideology” was apparently a misreading of the headstamp “TRN” that marks ammunition as the product of Turkish manufacturer Turan.
Almost as soon as Robinson was identified, the tone of MAGA leader’s conversation about the shooting changed. Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC), who had used a slur to refer to the shooter as pro-transgender, posted on social media: “We know Charlie Kirk would want us to pray for such an evil, and lost individual like Tyler Robinson to find Jesus Christ. We will try to do the same.”
For his part, Trump seemed to have lost interest in Kirk even earlier. …
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)Dean Blundell: Ultra MAGA Is Eating MAGA
Inside the “Groyper” pipeline turning the far right against itself—and why the same machine keeps producing violent extremists now going after their own.
Lev Parnas: Infighting, Assassination, and the Truth They Don’t Want You to Hear
How Charlie Kirk’s death exposed the civil war within Trump’s movement — and why they’re desperate to spin the narrative.
(Lev Parnas more…)Jonathan M. Katz: On political violence
We’re going from bad to worse
Lucian K. Truscott IV: As a MAGA martyr, Charlie Kirk is worth more dead than alive
Crooks & Liars: ‘Disgusting’: GOP Senator Calls Out MAGA For Threatening War Over Kirk’s Death
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Rook T. Winchester: The Blacklist Is Here
Charlie Kirk’s death is being used to silence soldiers, fire workers, and punish anyone who won’t play along.
A couple of months ago, Laura Loomer was shrieking into her phone that Charlie Kirk had stabbed Donald Trump in the back. MAGA’s attack dog had him marked as a traitor, an apostate, another soft-boy conservative who wasn’t vicious enough for the blood cult. Then Kirk gets shot, and suddenly Laura is draped in black, clutching pearls, wailing like a widow at a mob funeral. …
(Rook T. Winchester more…)
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Intercept: Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Is Part of a Trend: Spiking Gun Violence in Red States
It’s not Washington or Chicago but Republican-run, reliably right-wing states that lead the nation in gun violence rates.
(Intercept more…)
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Jason Easley: Leaders Vow Memphis Will Not Fall To Trump
Tennessee state senator London Lamar slammed Trump and his party for increasing crime and said that Memphis will not fall to Trump.
(Jason Easley more…)
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Sarah Jones & Jason Easley: Missouri Voters Immediately Sue Over New Gerrymandered Map
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NewsMax: Report: Bolton Evidence From US Hack of Foreign Govt
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Crooks & Liars: Epstein Told Maxwell ‘Remove Trump’ From Associates List After Arrest
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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