"In related news, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the U.S. would grant India a 30-day waiver to buy some sanctioned Russian oil in an effort “to keep oil flowing.”
06.03.2026 17:31
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"In related news, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the U.S. would grant India a 30-day waiver to buy some sanctioned Russian oil in an effort “to keep oil flowing.”
The rising demand from data centers is greater than the utility industry has seen in anyone’s career. What is unraveling under this pressure, and what new opportunities are emerging from the crisis? UCS’s Mike Jacobs breaks it down in his blog:
A social media graphic shows four people standing on a hill overlooking a densely built city partially covered in smoke or haze. Below the photo, on a black background, a large quote reads: “This illegal war will not bring safety or security to the American people or its allies. Congress must exercise its responsibilities to rein in President Trump and his administration.” Beneath the quote is a small headshot of Tara Drozdenko, identified as Director of the Global Security Program, along with the Union of Concerned Scientists logo and a 2026 copyright notice.
President Trump’s illegal war of aggression against Iran, in cooperation with Israel, actively undermines global security, raises the long-term danger of nuclear proliferation, and risks dragging the US into another dangerous and protracted conflict.
Read UCS’s statement: act.ucsusa.org/3N9e4ZE
“This illegal war will not bring safety or security to the American people or its allies,” said Dr. Drozdenko. “Congress must exercise its responsibilities to rein in President Trump and his administration...”
What China’s Approach to Iran Tells Us About Its Foreign Policy Re-upping an important post from a colleague.
"Academic administrators supplicate themselves to the charitable impulses of the very rich all the time, and the money they are after has rarely been acquired virtuously. How much this ought to weigh on the souls of advancement offices has long been debated in philanthropy."
"Congress should require an independent review of the Trump administration’s allegations, and the administration, with support from the CTBTO and independent scientific experts, should engage in talks with China and Russia on voluntary confidence-building transparency measures."
Without the New START treaty, do you think an arms race is on the horizon?
SP: I think it’s not on the horizon — it’s taking off. It’s unclear how fast it’s going to go, but I would expect already, as of (last) week, for the U.S. to have plans to upload more missiles...
'Mr. Trump repeated a claim the administration has made before: that prescription drug prices have been reduced by as much as 600 percent. On its face, a 600 percent reduction in drug prices would require a pharmaceutical company to pay you five times over to take a medication."
"Arms control is far from a perfect solution to the nuclear threat. … But arms control can, as a starting point, reduce the likelihood of nuclear war and provide some measure of stability and predictability."
"As part of a new plan to restart large-scale production of plutonium pits for the first time since the Cold War, the NNSA plans to ship nuclear cores across the length of US interstates without clearly informing residents."
If European governments can work to find a way to encourage this conversation now that they're demonstrating meaningful independence from the United States government.
In his blog, UCS’s @gkucs.bsky.social analyzes the recent announcement by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Davos, and what it could mean for US hegemony if other "middle powers" pursue their own strategic partnerships with China.
From Sam Collitt, Carren Jao, Cindy Tsai (2026). State of Chinese Americans Survey 2025. Committee of 100 and NORC at the University of Chicago.
立春！
"If enough members of the European Union decide to join Carney in making an equally clear and irreversible break with the US government, Chinese leaders could become more willing to work with European governments to end the fighting in Ukraine."
Surprised they did not take this step earlier.
A commentary on mega constellations and global geopolitics with references to Ukraine, Iran, China and Russia.
“The court clearly ruled that the Trump administration violated the law in setting up a secretive process with a group of hand-picked climate contrarians to draft a sham ‘climate science’ report,” said UCS President and CEO Dr. Gretchen Goldman.
"Policymakers and regulators at every level of governance must use their authority—and standing—to ensure data centers are powered by clean energy and protect ratepayers by requiring data center operators to pay their fair share of new electricity costs."
The Trump team is dropping the ball on New START, which limits deployments of nuclear weapons. Russia has offered an off ramp without negotations but the US isn't responding. This is a no-brainer, but Trump's ignorance and machismo are likely to result in the shredding of this important treaty.
Hopeful good sense from the prime minister of our neighbor to the north.
Chinese stablecoins highly likely to be denominated in US dollars, not RMB.
A perverse and not commonly discussed consequence of Trump's tariff on raw copper.
