Seth Morgan

Seth Morgan

@sethmorgan.bsky.social

Environmental economist. Interests: impact evaluation, ecosystem services, conservation effectiveness, environment for development. Opinions my own.

616 followers610 following165 posts

Seth Morgan reposted

Marcos Robles
@marcos-d-robles.bsky.social

🌳💧How often does a walk in the woods or a stroll along a river spark your curiosity? 🥽 🛣️ Click below to see our team's journey from curiosity to scientific discovery across Arizona's ponderosa forests, rivers and desert wetlands. lnkd.in/p/gW9QDGmG Watch the full video now: nature.ly/3VWHgqU

nature.lyProtecting Nature Starts With ScienceEnjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

The @liberalcurrents.com online community is genuinely great. The Discord is worth it for the book recommendations alone. And the Reconstruction Papers are just about the best thing I read about policy this year.

Liberal Currents@liberalcurrents.com

This is not a battle that can be won by individual action. It can only be won through community, through organizing, through collective action. Community is the soil from which action grows. Here at Liberal Currents, we are building one such community. Join us.

liberalcurrents.comJoin the Liberal Currents Community Today and Be Part of Our Fight for the Future of Liberal DemocracyGet a copy of The Reconstruction Papers while inventory lasts, and reserve a copy of next year’s issue.
Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

The @nytimes.com reports over $1 Billion in dark money donations this cycle. This is why we need to pass I-194 in Montana! My take in @liberalcurrents.com here: www.liberalcurrents.com/the-corporat...

liberalcurrents.comThe Corporate Power ResetLegislation in Hawaii and Montana shows how pro-democracy advocates can fight back against Citizens United.
Transparent Election Initiative@transpelectinit.bsky.social

"Secret money is not new. But the pervasiveness has reached industrial scale in 2026 and serves as a preview of its coming prevalence in 2028. Nearly every major primary and battleground race this fall has been or will be shaped by secret funds" @nytimes www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/...

nytimes.com‘The Least Transparent Midterm’: How Dark Money Is Washing Over the 2026 Election (Gift Article)At least $1 billion from anonymous donors is flowing into the midterm elections. Dark money is not new, but it now permeates nearly every major contest.
Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

Thanks to my childrens' completionist journey through every episode of @wildkratts.com I learned the Kratt brothers worked with @nature.org to establish a wildlife refuge (excuse me, "creaturefuge") for grizzly bears in Montana! Love a feel-good conservation story. creaturehero.org

creaturehero.orgKratt Brothers Creature Hero SocietyWelcome to the Kratt Brothers Creature Hero Foundation, where our focus is to work together to protect wildlife habitat where our fellow creatures can thrive.

Seth Morgan reposted

Liberal Currents
@liberalcurrents.com

Out of the Jaws #8: Brad Lander tells us who should be prosecuted after Trump's term ends. And also how it's important to be a better neighbor. www.liberalcurrents.com/mr-rogers-wi...

liberalcurrents.comMr. Rogers With a Steel Spine (Out of the Jaws #8, with Brad Lander)Today on a special episode of Out of the Jaws, Adam speaks with Brad Lander, candidate for the 10th congressional district in New York, former New York City Comptroller, city council member, and gener...
Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

Terrific conversation with @interfluidity.com here about the desirability of unbalanced trade and Waldman’s foreign payouts tax proposal. One of the most succinct and holistic summaries of our economic situation I’ve ever heard at minute 49.

Liberal Currents@liberalcurrents.com

Neon Liberalism #30: Are Trump's tariffs a personal madness, or a response to deeper dysfunctions in the world trade system? Yes. Samantha and guest Steven Randy Waldman talk about why global trade has become so imbalanced. www.liberalcurrents.com/neonliberali...

liberalcurrents.comNeon Liberalism #30: Rethinking International TradeAre Trump's tariffs a personal madness, or a response to deeper dysfunctions in the world trade system? Yes. Join Samantha and guest Steven Randy Waldman as we talk about why global trade has become s...

Seth Morgan reposted

The Nature Conservancy
@nature.org

Behind every liter of water returned to Cape Town's reservoirs is years of hands-on restoration work across the region. Take a behind-the-scenes look at efforts to innovate and test new approaches to increase the impact of the Greater Cape Town Water Fund: https://nature.ly/4x3noQa

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

I wrote about The Corporate Power Reset aka The Montana Plan—a surprising legal theory that could end dark money and corporate election spending—for Liberal Currents. @thmoore.bsky.social championed this idea at The Center for American Progress. I hope I got the intellectual history right!

Liberal Currents@liberalcurrents.com

“when Hawaii’s State Senate Bill 2471 goes into effect in 2027, it will be illegal for corporations to spend money to influence elections in Hawaii.” www.liberalcurrents.com/the-corporat...

liberalcurrents.comThe Corporate Power ResetLegislation in Hawaii and Montana shows how pro-democracy advocates can fight back against Citizens United.
Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

Heck, misnumbered my thread. Where is the phantom 7th post? I’m sure that one would have gone viral…

Seth Morgan@sethmorgan.bsky.social

Will this work? I don’t know! It may very well get struck down by the Supreme Court eventually. But in my piece I advocate for a spaghetti against the wall approach. Might as well put the corporate oligarchs on the defensive, especially when out of power! 8/

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

I’m grateful to Liberal Currents for publishing my article about a legal theory being tried in Hawaii & Montana which would ban corporate election spending in spite of the Citizens United ruling. How would that work? A 🧵 1/

Liberal Currents@liberalcurrents.com

"States never gave up the right to define the powers given to corporations. Hence they have the right to remove political spending from these powers." www.liberalcurrents.com/the-corporat...

liberalcurrents.comThe Corporate Power ResetLegislation in Hawaii and Montana shows how pro-democracy advocates can fight back against Citizens United.
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Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

So please read my liece on Liberal Currents and check out some of the links to the legal research that went into what is variously known as The Corporate Power Reset of The Montana Plan. It’s interesting stuff! /9

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

Last thought: I saw Ben Wikler say we’re defined in the public‘s eyes by the fights we pick. This seema to me like a good fight to pick! Even if it gets struck down. You can find out if someone is trying it in your state here: transparentelection.org/find-your-st... /end

transparentelection.orgTransparent Election InitiativeSee what's broken in our politics, how The Montana Plan fixes it, and how to bring transparent, accountable, local elections to your state.
Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

I’m grateful to Liberal Currents for publishing my article about a legal theory being tried in Hawaii & Montana which would ban corporate election spending in spite of the Citizens United ruling. How would that work? A 🧵 1/

Liberal Currents@liberalcurrents.com

"States never gave up the right to define the powers given to corporations. Hence they have the right to remove political spending from these powers." www.liberalcurrents.com/the-corporat...

liberalcurrents.comThe Corporate Power ResetLegislation in Hawaii and Montana shows how pro-democracy advocates can fight back against Citizens United.
View full thread
Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

Where I live in Montana they call it The Montana Plan to End Dark Money, and it is moving forward as a ballot initiative in November. Hawaii just passed a bill through their state legislature to do the same thing. 6/

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

Will this work? I don’t know! It may very well get struck down by the Supreme Court eventually. But in my piece I advocate for a spaghetti against the wall approach. Might as well put the corporate oligarchs on the defensive, especially when out of power! 8/

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

I’m grateful to Liberal Currents for publishing my article about a legal theory being tried in Hawaii & Montana which would ban corporate election spending in spite of the Citizens United ruling. How would that work? A 🧵 1/

Liberal Currents@liberalcurrents.com

"States never gave up the right to define the powers given to corporations. Hence they have the right to remove political spending from these powers." www.liberalcurrents.com/the-corporat...

liberalcurrents.comThe Corporate Power ResetLegislation in Hawaii and Montana shows how pro-democracy advocates can fight back against Citizens United.
View full thread
Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

To simplify interstate commerce around the turn of the century states started granting general powers. Made everything much easier! But they never gave up the right to limit corporate powers 4/

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

I’m grateful to Liberal Currents for publishing my article about a legal theory being tried in Hawaii & Montana which would ban corporate election spending in spite of the Citizens United ruling. How would that work? A 🧵 1/

Liberal Currents@liberalcurrents.com

"States never gave up the right to define the powers given to corporations. Hence they have the right to remove political spending from these powers." www.liberalcurrents.com/the-corporat...

liberalcurrents.comThe Corporate Power ResetLegislation in Hawaii and Montana shows how pro-democracy advocates can fight back against Citizens United.
Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

The majority in Citizens United held that corporations as artificial persons have 1st amendment rights. Most people think that’s crazy! But an intriguing aside by Alito noted that corporations are subject to the powers given them by state law 2/

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

States used to grant corporate charters with very limited powers. E.g. to import tea or make striped socks, or, you know, colonize vast subcontinents (ok that’s the East India Company and not relevant here but you get the idea) 3/

Seth Morgan reposted

Tony Almquist
@tony-almquist.bsky.social

by @sethmorgan.bsky.social 1/3 "when Hawaii’s State Senate Bill 2471 goes into effect in 2027, it will be illegal for corporations to spend money to influence elections in Hawaii. This will be the first test of a legal strategy focused on state corporate charters and the powers they grant..

liberalcurrents.comThe Corporate Power ResetLegislation in Hawaii and Montana shows how pro-democracy advocates can fight back against Citizens United.

Seth Morgan reposted

The Nature Conservancy Science
@science.nature.org

Hi everyone! I’m Dr. Joe Pollock, Senior Reef Strategy Lead with TNC, taking over the TNC Science Bluesky account from Palmyra Atoll. Over the next few posts, I’ll share what we’re learning about coral reef resilience and how these reefs offer hope and lessons for reefs worldwide 🪸🌊

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

Full transparency: I collected signatures for the ballot initiative in MT with @transpelectinit.bsky.social. If the idea of banning dark money is exciting to you, you can find out if there is an initiative to do this in your state here: transparentelection.org/find-your-st...

transparentelection.orgTransparent Election InitiativeSee what's broken in our politics, how The Montana Plan fixes it, and how to bring transparent, accountable, local elections to your state.

Seth Morgan reposted

Iykyk
@lipstickscribbles.bsky.social

Having taken a few days to read the piece, on the surface I like the nuts/bolts of the proposal (am quite active in ex/im so didn't need the first sections framing the issue, but appreciate most will). However, I caution that many parties of variant scale are involved that must be teased out. 🧵

Seth Morgan@sethmorgan.bsky.social

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Steve Randy Waldman’s foreign payouts tax aka “free but balanced trade” since I read it. One potential warning sign in the piece though… 1/n

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

Joe is a fantastic scientist and a great communicator. This should be cool 👇

The Nature Conservancy Science@science.nature.org

Just a reminder: Dr. Joe Pollock will be taking over the TNC Science Bluesky account tomorrow from Palmyra Atoll! 🪸 From coral bleaching and reef recovery to the surprising role of sharks, he'll share stories and science from one of the world's most remarkable coral reef ecosystems. Don't miss it!

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

True. I’m still mad about the portrayal of crop disease at the start of Interstellar 😂

Ethan Kocak@ethankocak.com

I have a personal belief that the more a person is a nerd for something: dinosaurs, The Odyssey, etc, the less likely they are to enjoy a popular entertainment version of that thing.

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Steve Randy Waldman’s foreign payouts tax aka “free but balanced trade” since I read it. One potential warning sign in the piece though… 1/n

Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li@sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com

one of the things i like about waldman's "free but balanced trade" is that it represents an end run around the moral and legal quagmire of trying to enforce fair trade by transnational institutions

liberalcurrents.comThe Reconstruction PapersThe Reconstruction Papers is ready to order in the US. Global readers can order a print-on-demand version. US Readers Order Here For nearly a century, the conservative movement's white w...
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Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

But if domestic goods were not good substitutes for stuff the rest of the world already consumed then the foreign firms would just have to raise prices and we’re back with (admittedly less corrupt) tarrifs 5/n

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Steve Randy Waldman’s foreign payouts tax aka “free but balanced trade” since I read it. One potential warning sign in the piece though… 1/n

Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li@sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com

one of the things i like about waldman's "free but balanced trade" is that it represents an end run around the moral and legal quagmire of trying to enforce fair trade by transnational institutions

liberalcurrents.comThe Reconstruction PapersThe Reconstruction Papers is ready to order in the US. Global readers can order a print-on-demand version. US Readers Order Here For nearly a century, the conservative movement's white w...
View full thread
Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

It would take a model to tease out but I’m guessing the solution would have something to do with the price elasticity of demand for the foreign goods and the relative price and substitutability of domestic goods for other foreign goods 3/n

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

If domestic goods were easily available, competitively priced, and substitutable with other goods the foreign country already consumed then the efficiency cost would be low and the incidence would I guess fall on foreign producers 4/n

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Steve Randy Waldman’s foreign payouts tax aka “free but balanced trade” since I read it. One potential warning sign in the piece though… 1/n

Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li@sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com

one of the things i like about waldman's "free but balanced trade" is that it represents an end run around the moral and legal quagmire of trying to enforce fair trade by transnational institutions

liberalcurrents.comThe Reconstruction PapersThe Reconstruction Papers is ready to order in the US. Global readers can order a print-on-demand version. US Readers Order Here For nearly a century, the conservative movement's white w...
Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

is that he notes that foreign firms could react to a payouts tax in one of two ways: they could raise prices to cover it, or buy domestic goods. Which of these is more likely would have consequences for both incidence and efficiency 2/n

Seth Morgan
@sethmorgan.bsky.social

My new favorite genre of good news is “indigenous people building affordable housing.” Warms my YIMBY heart.

Montana Free Press@montanafreepress.org

The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana has gained the city's approval to build a large affordable housing development on land that was once home to the Indigenous poor in Great Falls.

montanafreepress.orgLittle Shell housing project gets approval from Great Falls officialsOnce known as the "landless Indians," the tribe aims to build 115 homes, adding to a growing portfolio of completed and prospective real estate projects around Great Falls.

Seth Morgan reposted

The Nature Conservancy
@nature.org

America's public lands have a secret ally: the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Many people have never heard of LWCF, but it helps protect parks, trails, forests and historic sites nationwide. Tell Congress to defend this critical program: https://nature.ly/4vrG2zX