molly taft's Avatar

molly taft

@mollytaft.com

disaster dyke on the apocalypse beat @wired.com . very tall with a very short dog. they/them. pitch me: molly_taft@wired.com, signal: @mollytaft.76. mollytaft.com

37,058
Followers
1,033
Following
2,212
Posts
27.04.2023
Joined
Posts Following

Latest posts by molly taft @mollytaft.com

Preview
Bluesky CEO Jay Graber Is Stepping Down Venture capitalist Toni Schneider will take over as interim CEO as Bluesky’s board of directors hunts for a permanent replacement.

EXCLUSIVE: Jay Graber stepping down as CEO of Bluesky www.wired.com/story/bluesk...

09.03.2026 19:02 πŸ‘ 721 πŸ” 327 πŸ’¬ 106 πŸ“Œ 463

And if you read the @mollytaft.com fertilizer story, there could be some serious knock on effects there too. Urea and ammonia need water, and oil/soot getting into a reservoir can’t be good. (Or in the transporting of pellets in open air) www.wired.com/story/trumps...

08.03.2026 15:51 πŸ‘ 28 πŸ” 19 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Turns out, the Haber Bosch process working best with piles of cheap natural gas means that all the fertilizer is now made in like three places

08.03.2026 00:26 πŸ‘ 956 πŸ” 221 πŸ’¬ 27 πŸ“Œ 14
Preview
Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous β€˜Stop Cop City’ Protestor A court record reviewed by 404 Media shows privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail handed over payment data related to a Stop Cop City email account to the Swiss government, which handed it to the ...

New from 404 Media: Proton Mail, the privacy-focused email service, gave authorities data that let the FBI unmask an anonymous 'Stop Cop City' protester. It was payment data linked to the anonymous email account. From that, FBI ID'd them, then tracked their movements www.404media.co/proton-mail-...

05.03.2026 20:39 πŸ‘ 2483 πŸ” 1410 πŸ’¬ 91 πŸ“Œ 339
Preview
The Controversies Finally Caught Up to Kristi Noem Donald Trump said he would replace the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Noem's tenure was marked by aggressive anti-immigration tactics and ICE's killing of two US protestors.

Bye, babe:

05.03.2026 19:45 πŸ‘ 173 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 2
Preview
The Controversies Finally Caught Up to Kristi Noem Donald Trump said he would replace the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Noem's tenure was marked by aggressive anti-immigration tactics and ICE's killing of two US protestors.

well well well if it isn't the consequences of someone's own actions (w @dell.bsky.social )

05.03.2026 19:46 πŸ‘ 220 πŸ” 22 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 1

SAME JUST HEAVING SOBS??!?!

05.03.2026 17:21 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

and finally: yes, using less nitrogen fertilizer is a good idea for the environment β€”Β that's a shift that needs to happen over the long term, however. this is an immediate shock! which isn't great

05.03.2026 15:26 πŸ‘ 16 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

couple qualifications on this ~

- the shortage is not affecting potash right now, but diff fertilizers serve diff purposes. corn, for instance, needs both nitrogen AND potash
- piece focuses not on food *shortages* but how this will affect big cash crops ie corn, soybeans

05.03.2026 15:26 πŸ‘ 153 πŸ” 52 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 1

This is a very timely example of 'flimsy voluntary commitment to fend off real regulation' performance I dig into in my latest for @crikey.com.au - comparing it to how the fossil CCS industry flipped out when the biden gov't was like "oh....so, do it then??"

bsky.app/profile/keta...

05.03.2026 12:29 πŸ‘ 36 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

β€œThis is a press release designed to make it seem like they are addressing this issue. But this issue can only really be addressed by utility regulators or Congress.”

05.03.2026 11:44 πŸ‘ 19 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

ok so Pillion was phenomenal????

05.03.2026 02:39 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I regret my decision to watch the White House / Big Tech press conference about their "ratepayer protection pledge."

The highlight was when he went off-script and admitted that this is all about providing "PR help" to Big Tech companies.

04.03.2026 21:08 πŸ‘ 41 πŸ” 15 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2

it's very funny to me when big tech companies sign pledges that are just.....mostly things they had already said they'd do!

04.03.2026 22:20 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Big Tech Signs White House Data Center Pledge With Good Optics and Little Substance β€œData centers … they need some PR help,” said President Donald Trump at the event.

NEW from me: the pledge big tech companies signed at the white house today is supposed to protect ratepayers from high utility bills due to data centers β€” but the WH actually has little ability to make that happen

"this is theater," @aripeskoe.bsky.social told me

04.03.2026 22:19 πŸ‘ 143 πŸ” 49 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 7

Great piece. This is especially bad for California, which imports the majority of its fertilizer. It had already rerouted supplies away from Russia during the initial invasion, and dealt with a major price spike that never fully went away. All the more urgent to make its own with green H2.

04.03.2026 20:18 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Trump’s War on Iran Could Screw Over US Farmers The Middle East supplies a huge amount of the world’s fertilizer. Conflict in the region has sent prices soaring ahead of the critical spring planting season.

One surprising side effect of the US war in Iran: American farmers are staring down soaring fertilizer prices at the worst possible time.

From @mollytaft.com

04.03.2026 19:55 πŸ‘ 402 πŸ” 205 πŸ’¬ 53 πŸ“Œ 28
Preview
Trump’s War on Iran Could Screw Over US Farmers The Middle East supplies a huge amount of the world’s fertilizer. Conflict in the region has sent prices soaring ahead of the critical spring planting season.

there's a lot going on right now but did you know a massive amount of the world's fertilizer flows through the middle east, and did you know that that fertilizer needs to be shipped to the us *right now* for planting season, and uh did you know we are at war with iran

04.03.2026 19:10 πŸ‘ 2670 πŸ” 1114 πŸ’¬ 136 πŸ“Œ 173

MY MACROS

04.03.2026 16:40 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

truly genetically my son :)

04.03.2026 16:39 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

they don't afaik! and some cooling systems have stormwater or wastewater flows

04.03.2026 16:39 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

oh!!!

04.03.2026 16:38 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

perhaps mixing coffee with Flamin Hot Dill Pickle Cheetos on a mostly empty stomach was not the slam dunk move i thought it was

04.03.2026 16:38 πŸ‘ 138 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 23 πŸ“Œ 2

yeah dipping my toe into reporting on pfas last year made me realize that basically every other environmental output is like a big shoulder shrug in the US :)

04.03.2026 14:45 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

honestly my question was partly because i keep seeing people (not well informed activists to be fair but gen pop) bring up "water pollution" wrt data centers and i was wondering if i was missing something huge

04.03.2026 14:43 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

thank you! this was my sense as well, i hate how hard it is to actually track claims like these (and how bad we are at regulating industrial water LOL)

04.03.2026 14:42 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

thanks β€” this video mentions mostly water use, not pollution? i have reported on the boxtown facility before and haven't seen anything about water pollution

04.03.2026 14:42 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

oh and also are NOT the oregon rolling stone story about nitrates

04.03.2026 14:37 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

oh i forgot about this β€”Β i actually have a lot of issues with how the orig rolling stone investigation was put together, but i haven't seen fern's covg so i'll check it out, ty

04.03.2026 14:36 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

thanks! this is the same case as the nyt story i was referencing

04.03.2026 14:35 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0