Justine Calma

Some happy news! won a @coveringclimatenow.org award for my reporting on how to bring a forest back to life in a warming world for @theverge.com. Thank you @icfjorg.bsky.social & Punto y Aparte, I couldn’t have reported this on the ground without your support coveringclimatenow.org/projects/the...

Anthropic is clear that data centers will run on gas, to the company’s own detriment. www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

Nice @justcalma.bsky.social piece here on the incredible rise of gas in the pipeline of new power in the US, driving by rising power demand www.theverge.com/science/1013... EDF report: library.edf.org/AssetLink/0e...

Had a good time on Today, Explained talking about how badly data center hyperscalers have pissed people off ghttps://megaphone.link/VMP8675260688

Microsoft wants to make its data centers greener, with more gardens and native trees on-site. The company thinks these efforts will limit problems its facilities have caused for neighbors, like noise pollution and the loss of green space. Read more from @justcalma.bsky.social: buff.ly/lESSXTX

Microsoft is expanding ‘biomimicry’ at its data centers as it faces more pushback from locals over construction, pollution, and noise. www.theverge.com/tech/1003681...

I've said it before and I'll say it again: WUI fires are one of the sneakiest health threats in recent history. apnews.com/article/clim...

Talking about AI and fossil fuels, Huang says ‘in order to save you, they’ve got to hurt you first.' Huang’s extreme level of privilege is glaring (gift link) www.theverge.com/tech/1000140...

With AI, he says, ‘in order to save you, they’ve got to hurt you first.‘ www.theverge.com/tech/1000140...

New legislation will finally force data centers to disclose more information about how much water and electricity they use in California. www.theverge.com/policy/99941...

When @justcalma.bsky.social spoke to cybersecurity experts, they were still more worried about generative AI in the hands of bad actors than they were about rogue agents.

But they’re more dangerous with AI. www.theverge.com/science/9978...

📣 CCNow is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2026 CCNow Journalism Awards! Our awards program honors excellent reporting on many critical dimensions of the climate story. Together, their work constitutes the leading edge of climate storytelling. ...🧵↓

AI e-waste could fill enough shipping containers to circle Earth six times by 2050 www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

There couldn’t be a worse time for the US to stop regulating carbon pollution from power plants. www.theverge.com/news/995051/...

The Trump administration is sacrificing Americans’ health to build data centers, former EPA officials warn. www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

The challenges that come with managing limited water supply from the Colorado River are only going to grow as AI demands a larger share www.theverge.com/science/9935...

Students deserve access to the news that matters. That’s why students get a plan of their own. Subscribe today: buff.ly/eUwahgL

Cook nudged Apple in a more sustainable direction, but the company may struggle to stay on that path. www.theverge.com/tech/987550/...

NEW: Thermal drone footage shows the Microsoft-backed DataOne AI data center in Vineland, NJ is running dozens of gas generators. None of them have permits. A Floodlight visual investigation with @us.theguardian.com:

An obscure rule change could make it harder to fight data centers www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

Climate change has led to at least one additional month of heat stress for 43 percent of all kids in the 0-9 age group — 560 million little ones. That’s nearly triple the number of people aged 60-69 exposed to the same amount of climate-induced heat stress. Read more from @justcalma.bsky.social:

@justcalma.bsky.social is back from parental leave with a dire but important account of what it's like raising kids in a warming world www.theverge.com/news/985225/...

Kids are growing up with an extra month of heat stress thanks to climate change. I just wrote my first story since coming back from maternity leave, and I couldn't help but vent www.theverge.com/news/985225/...

While the average American has yet to see the kinds of big leaps forward that are being promised by the AI industry, they’re increasingly likely to see the costs of a new AI data center moving next door. Read more from @justcalma.bsky.social:

In awe of the visualizations AND perspective in @justcalma.bsky.social's mega report: "Who's afraid of the big, bad GPU?" www.theverge.com/cs/features/...

Do potential AI-driven advances in weather forecasting or wildlife conservation justify the environmental footprint of a data center? And what about the GPUs in a gaming PC or iPhone — do they deserve just as much scrutiny? Read more from @justcalma.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/cs/features/...

Reminded each time I step out with my newborn into record-breaking heat how much harder climate change makes it to be a mom

How the spiraling Iran conflict could affect data centers and electricity costs

Long-lasting conflict could play into Donald Trump’s plans to “drill, baby, drill” — but that doesn’t necessarily protect Americans from higher energy prices www.theverge.com/science/8885...

What Trump’s war on Iran means for the US energy crunch

Great piece from @seanhollister.bsky.social and @justcalma.bsky.social on whether you need a robot trashcan that turns soft plastics into plastic bricks... that you ship off to Indiana to get "recycled"

The Israeli military has committed more targeted killings of journalists than any other government’s military since CPJ began documentation in 1992. The deliberate targeting and killing of a journalist by any military constitutes a war crime. cpj.org?p=553549

Scoop: The Climate Prediction Center is being folded into other agencies overseen by the National Weather Service The change follows moves by the Trump administration to dismantle climate science programs By @weathersullivan.bsky.social & @laurenthal.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump is making coal plants even dirtier as AI demands more energy

📣 Submissions are now OPEN for the 2026 CCNow Journalism Awards! 🔔

Louisiana has built back time and again from storm after storm, but now community members and advocates want assurances that Meta's data center won’t add to the costs www.theverge.com/science/8765...

🚨 CPJ strongly condemns the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for their reporting on a protest in Minnesota, arrests which mark a serious escalation of attacks on the press in the United States. Read more: cpj.org/2026/01/cpj-...

"School bus drivers should not need special training on what they should do if ICE shows up at a stop. Parents should not need to explain the routine presence of masked agents wearing military fatigues and carrying guns." Read more from @scottmeslow.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/policy/87072...

It’s a new heyday for gas thanks to data centers

It’s too early to say how data centers affected power grids during #Fern, with impacts varying by region. Still - this week’s cold snap is a key stress test as U.S. grids face a shifting energy landscape and a changing climate. (via @justcalma.bsky.social / @theverge.com)

The winter storm tested power grids straining to accommodate AI data centers

I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com

"I didn’t realize, in the hours before his name was released to the public, that the man millions of people had seen lying facedown on the pavement from multiple angles of eyewitness video was my childhood best friend." Read more from @kristenradtke.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/policy/86856...

Excellent reporting and another reason why I subscribe to @theverge.com

“The speed, the scope and the severity of the attacks on science are beyond anything we’ve ever seen,” says @gretchentg.bsky.social. My @nature.com story on the human toll of the 2nd Trump presidency. Thx to @dochfroehlich.bsky.social, @briannosek.bsky.social, @katharinehayhoe.com & others.

Another year, another round of layoffs at Vox Media. In solidarity with our laid-off colleagues, here is our full statement: