Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

@kevinjkircher.com

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Engineering prof (mechanical + electrical) at a big state school. Energy, climate, buildings, power grid, control, optimization, data science. He/him. https://kevinjkircher.com/ Email: my last name at purdue dot edu

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

I was interviewing a French journalist and he said public ownership of the major infrastructure for water and electricity is a massive anti-fascist coalition builder among labor, greens, socialists AND the public at large when benefits are widely shared and immediately felt (and would be missed!)

There is particular power in such an ideologically diverse coalition rejecting the French right because fascists should be reminded often that they’re repugnant to a broad swath of society, not just getting outmaneuvered by the wily left

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

Hello to all who added me from @costasamaras.bsky.social's climate starter pack! As the founding director of End Climate Silence, I advise policymakers, journalists, corporations, & NGOs on climate communication. I also write a weekly newsletter, and my big climate book is out in the US next week!

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

I will bang this drum forever: in THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE FREE: THE GERMANS, 1933-45 Milton Mayer interviewed 10 ordinary Germans after WW2 to learn how fascism took hold. There was never a moment when everyone woke up:

if you’re waiting for everyone around you to wake up, you’ll wait forever. this is how the people grinding our bones to make their bread WANT you to be. paralyzed, alienated & purposeless

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

"I think more than ever we need to go out and vote. We can't leave our country in the hands of these people [the far right RN party]," Mbappé said at a press conference in Hamburg ahead of France's Euro 2024 quarter-final against Portugal there on Friday." he did it www.lemonde.fr/en/politics/...

French elections: Mbappé says voting is 'urgent' after 'catastrophic' resultswww.lemonde.fr Star French forward Kylian Mbappé had previously called on young French people to vote at this 'crucial moment,' on Sunday, June 16, joining his team-mate Marcus Thuram in speaking out against the far...

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

Celebrities in the US should take note -- you don't have to stop after the word "vote." You can and should say, "for Democrats," too.

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

UK - rejects far right France - rejects far right Iran - elects a moderate President There is a global pushback against the far right building.

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

BREAKING NEWS: Voters turned out in numbers not seen in decades to stop the far-right National Rally from taking power in the French National Assembly. Polls predicted a first-place finish for National Rally, which instead came in third in initial results as polling stations closed.

Projections in France's election show voters rejecting the far rightwww.npr.org Voters turned out in numbers not seen in decades to stop the far-right National Rally from taking power in the French National Assembly. Polls predicted a first-place finish for National Rally, which ...

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

To be clear: a coalition of the Left — the socialists — and the Greens were able to block the far Right in France. And there is a lesson here for the US: voters across the West want the neoliberal experiment to end. We CAN and we MUST end it to save the future & improve people's wellbeing to boot!

Well France apparently just collabed between everyone else to kick a far right party out of the chance to take power, it can be done if enough people want it to be, folks

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

Look how fun shutting down fascists is. I want this for us, too

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

Hey look, WSJ lying to its readers again. "More than 1,200 coal-fired units have shut down in the U.S. and Europe since 2000, according to Global Energy Monitor. This has made electricity systems more vulnerable to extreme weather, as coal is a stable source of energy, albeit highly polluting"

www.wsj.com

paging @carbonbrief.org 👋😀

carbon brief has gotta regularly update this analysis. really good, really useful. have used it in dozens of talks to the public

The US (4% of the world's population) has caused about 20% of all historical greenhouse gas pollution to date. Because global temperature rise scales linearly with historical greenhouse gas pollution, the US bears outsized responsibility for causing climate change - and therefore for fixing it.

Analysis: Which countries are historically responsible for climate change? - Carbon Briefwww.carbonbrief.org Carbon Brief looks at national responsibility for historical emissions of CO2 from 1850-2021, updating analysis published in 2019.

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

I credit covid twitter (like Drs. Lenardi, @dfisman.bsky.social, @siouxsiew.bsky.social, and @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social, among so many) for granting me a healthy respect for short and long term consequences of covid and its sequelae. As a result, my family has been covid free the last 4 years.

Multiple people have literally started masking because of my posts (they told me this directly) and stopped themselves (AND others) from living a life with additional chronic illness and early death. People underestimate the impact that they can have online.

About 5 out of every 8 new electric vehicles sold in the world are sold in China, and about 7 out of 8 (~88%) in China or Europe.

Despite what some are saying, EV sales continue to grow, displacing ICE vehicles, decreasing fossil fuel consumption and emissions. With the availability of smaller cheaper models, the rate of change will accelerate. 🧪🔌💡 www.iea.org/reports/glob...

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

As summer burns on and more disruptive climate activism is planned, I continue to remind the media what we know and what we need to know: "Historically, there is substantial evidence that shows that the radical flank drives support for the cause and moderate factions" www.barrons.com/articles/air...

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

Happy #primeweek! I just want to let y’all know that the Amazon shipping warehouse where my husband works is denying workers fans during a nationally recognized heat emergency and everything you order during time week places workers’ lives at risk.

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

A person on their own can kill maybe a few hundred people. White collar crimes have killed tens of thousands. Its hard not to look at the Bhopal disaster (union carbide India was 50.1,% USA owned) and think that wasn't violent

A hill I will die on: all white-collar crimes are violent crimes. It's just that the violence is removed from the perpetrator because the perpetrator is wealthy.

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

Also hurricanes

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

Hi people who added me from @costasamaras.bsky.social’s climate starter pack! I work on decarbonizing power grids, transmission development, & equitable access to clean energy. Up until last week I worked for the state of New Mexico. In August I'll be with Western Resource Advocates, an eNGO.

Great essay by @jmijin.bsky.social on what exactly a "just transition" away from fossil fuels means. I'm excited for her forthcoming book, "A Just Transition for All: Workers and Communities for a Carbon Free Future" from MIT Press! www.break-down.org/post/what-is...

What is a Just Transition?www.break-down.org As the idea of the

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

Ahead of my book release, I wrote a piece for the newly launched Break/ Down, which focuses on capitalism and the climate crisis. In it, I preview one of my main arguments on what a just transition does- and doesn’t- entail

What is a Just Transition?www.break-down.org As the idea of the

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

Here’s a message: the next four years sets the landscape for the rest of the century for America. Democracy, a livable climate, & justice for all is a path we can choose. Because of the hard work and accomplishments of the 1st term, a better future for all is within sight. Let’s go get it, together.

Which is obviously not future-oriented! But it's a kind of alternate reality future. I do think whatever happens with this period and whether it's Biden or someone else, a vision of what's over the horizon is pretty important and has been a bit absent in this campaign.

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

Good news: In 8 years, electricity generation from non-fossil-fuel sources (including nuclear) rose by 44% Bad news: In the same period, global electricity output increased 23% and generation by fossil fuels reached an all-time peak.

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

This is why fiction and art are so important. They can deal with the tech too, of course :) That's always fun. But to be able to envision the role nature plays, how the new world will taste, feel... and the new ways we may relate to each other.

I agree with the need to articulate a vision of the future, but don't think it can just be about solar panels in the deserts, wind turbines in the plains, power lines to the cities, and EVs/heat pumps replacing combustion vehicles/heaters. Infrastructure is great, but doesn't inspire most of us.

There's a world on the other side of this with a huge, vibrant, unionized and high-paying industrial base remaking the physical world for the post-fossil fuel age. It's already starting and I think even Trump can't *fully* destroy it, but he can slow it down and make us lag wayyy behind.

Warning: Wonky 🧵 on vague energy/climate modeling ideas. Many papers I read in this field aim to compare climate mitigation scenarios or optimize mitigation pathways. The modeled transitions have lots of impacts: ⬆️ or ⬇️ deaths, illnesses, jobs, money, and so on.

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

the real way to fight climate change is public transit and bikeable/walkable cities. not cars made for individuals that are still expensive consumer products at the end of the day

Electric vehicles can save lives by polluting the climate less than fossil-fueled vehicles in most places. Yet EVs are much heavier and accelerate faster, so are more dangerous in crashes. @costasamaras.bsky.social argues that increased car-crash deaths could be on par with lives saved via climate.

Make electric vehicles lighter to maximize climate and safety benefitswww.nature.com Tax heavy cars and shrink batteries to consolidate the gains from electrifying transport. Tax heavy cars and shrink batteries to consolidate the gains from electrifying transport.

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

Always amusing to see where “climate” separates from “justice” for some people. We’re living through multiple genocides, global fascist power grabs, extreme mass inequality, and blowing through every planetary limit “red line” but I’m sure ignoring 3 of 4 of those will go fine for you.

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Prof. Kevin J. Kircher

Read this great thread below. We can build a climate community on Bluesky. Here’s a starter pack for folks to follow some people who work on climate. go.bsky.app/Aa1sErQ

Yesterday, I shared this same Canada Day thread on Bluesky, Threads, and X. Here's what I found. 🧵

Do Something About Climate Change Starter Parkbsky.app Join the conversation