Notices by David Ho (davidho@mastodon.world)

The future is electric

https://electrek.co/2026/04/18/massive-600-ton-liebherr-mining-excavator-converted-from-diesel-to-electric/

One of the world's largest cement manufacturers and two executives were found criminally liable for financing terrorism in Syria for knowingly paying terrorist groups to keep their Syrian plant operational.

I hope this sets a precedent for holding fossil fuel companies liable for climate change. It certainly underscores the importance of journalism, as this case began with an investigative story in Le Monde.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/opinion/lafarge-corporate-terrorism-syria-france.html?unlocked_article_code=1.blA.wY7z.9kTl5Gzcbwq5&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Pope Fiction

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/pete-hegseth-pulp-fiction-fake-bible-verse-prayer-service-1236723446/

Unless someone has a genuine need, no car should be bigger than this.

Not now, super El Niño!

https://wapo.st/3PVFJOS

This illegal war on Iran is benefitting very few people and screwing everyone else now and in the future.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/07/iran-war-global-dependence-fossil-fuels-biggest-emitters-reaping-rewards?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=bluesky&CMP=bsky_gu_env

I will say this again: Science isn’t just something that nerds do, it’s the foundation of the modern world.

It’s why this app exists. It’s why child mortality rate isn’t 50% anymore. It’s how we’re able to launch people to the moon. It’s how we’re able to grow food that feeds half the world’s population.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01105-7

My USDA-Forest Service-funded project with scientists there was about water in the western United States. I guess that’s not a concern anymore.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/climate/forest-service-research-stations.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YFA.U-Ft.t0H1T_XfI6DU&smid=bs-share

There’s a special place in hell for people like this: Homeowner called ICE on migrants working on her roof to avoid paying them.

https://www.newsweek.com/homeowner-called-ice-on-migrants-she-hired-worker-says-11742032

I don't think people fully appreciate how apocalyptic things are for US science. I haven't received any new funding since 2024, but I'm still ok since grants are typically for 3 years. This means next year I will be completely out of funding and will have to fire everyone in the lab. It's not great.

In my 25-year career, I’ve never NOT had funding. I typically have 4 to 8 grants, which you need if you’re running an observation science program and have a technician, students, and postdocs.

Did CH₄ write this?

https://economist.com/leaders/2026/03/19/gas-will-not-be-killed-off-by-renewables-any-time-soon?giftId=YmVhMzFkZDctMWJjZS00YjhhLTk3MTctZDNiNzI2OTM1ZDUz

Not so marvelous news.

~95,000 scientists have left the federal government since the Trump regime took over.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/climate/kate-marvel-nasa-resign.html?unlocked_article_code=1.V1A.4Lwb.Ls2T5tdxd_QE

Another way they want to steal the sky from us.

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2026-03-24/walmart-delivery-by-google-drone-may-soon-be-coming-to-san-francisco-bay-area

I’d rather live next to wind turbines and solar panels.

https://apnews.com/article/refinery-explosion-texas-coast-60ecf6d9a70a2f1d5494fb8e38a84c4a

We should paint more roofs white for climate.

The US-Israel war on Iran has emitted 5 million tonnes of CO₂ₑ in its first 14 days. The world currently has 0.6 million tonnes of novel and permanent CO₂ removal (CDR) capacity annually.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/21/middle-east-iran-conflict-environment-climate

I'm sure this is fine: A single TV company will serve 80% of American households.

https://wapo.st/4sgE4S8

The US National Academies of Sciences refused to remove a climate change chapter from the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, despite pressure from Republican attorneys general.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/national-academies-of-sciences-resisting-pressure-to-pull-climate-info/

Everything we've made will break, buildings and streets will crumble, and cities will be abandoned. But the CO₂ we emit into the atmosphere will persist for millennia, and its climatic impacts will last longer than human civilization has existed. This is our legacy for the future.

We're governed by morons: "…as President Trump weighed whether to launch military attacks on Iran, Chris Wright, the energy secretary, told an interviewer he was not concerned that the looming war might disrupt oil supplies in the Middle East and wreak havoc in energy markets."

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/us/politics/how-trump-miscalculated-iran-response.html?unlocked_article_code=1.SVA.yJMv.Gwegd7GPVPBa