Historian of Energy, Tech, & Environment, Professor @SIUE, Author of ETHANOL: A HEMISPHERIC HISTORY, and TACONITE DREAMS, Public & Oral Historian
Joined March 2008
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192 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
7 Oct 2025
It's publication day for ETHANOL: A HEMISPHERIC HISTORY FOR THE FUTURE OF BIOFUELS. Want to know why the US turns 40% of its corn crop into fuel? How the US and Brazil became the world's two largest ethanol producers? Tom Rogers and I have answers.
oupress.com/9780806196015/et…
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Mar 26
I don't know how Amazon's algorithms work, but ETHANOL: A HEMISPHERIC HISTORY FOR THE FUTURE OF BIOFUELS is now 20 percent off in hardcover. It's a lot of energy history for less than five gallons of gas in California!
amazon.com/Ethanol-Hemispher…
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Feb 28
Thanks to @adam_tooze for featuring the paintings of Paula Kamps, a friend and talented artist, in today's Chartbook.
adamtooze.substack.com/p/top…
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8 Sep 2025
One month away from the publication of ETHANOL: A HEMISPHERIC HISTORY FOR THE FUTURE OF BIOFUELS. Tom Rogers and I describe the linked history of the US and Brazilian ethanol programs for the first time. Online pre-order available now.
oupress.com/9780806196015/et…
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Jeff Manuel retweeted
2 Oct 2024
#WomensHistoryMonth
"By answering the call to defend Alberta’s oil industry against a critical public and politicians in Ottawa, Canadian petroleum became more than just a job for these women; it became an identity and a way of life." - @jeffmanuel
niche-canada.org/2024/05/30/…
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5 Sep 2024
The geography of refinery supply chains is endlessly fascinating. California’s refineries are importing Iowa’s soybean oil while the Midwest’s refineries bring in Alberta’s dilbit.
5 Sep 2024
Heads up: if elected, Trump's promise to tariff imports of oil from Canada could cause #gasprices to surge 25-75c/gal in the Midwest if enacted. The bulk majority of refineries in this region have been processing Canadian crude, nearly exclusively, for decades.
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5 Sep 2024
Probably the result of too much time looking at those cartoon natural resources maps as a kid.
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5 Sep 2024
Teaching Crosby’s _Children of the Sun_ today, we talked about fire as a uniquely human tool. But then a student told us all about Australian Firehawks, raptors who intentionally set wildfires. Every time we draw a line between human and non-human nature, the animals surprise us.
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5 Sep 2024
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Jeff Manuel retweeted
20 Aug 2024
Book bans and books in dumpsters get a lot of attention when in comes to libraries. But pay attention too to books just going unbought. At Western Illinois University, “there’s been some years we haven’t purchased any new books at all.” (h/t @jeffmanuel) insidehighered.com/news/busi…
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20 Aug 2024
I know the fiscal landscape is bleak everywhere in higher ed, but spare a thought for Western Illinois University where they just laid off **all the library faculty.**
insidehighered.com/news/busi…
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20 Aug 2024
“Because of budget cuts, there’s been some years we haven’t purchased any new books at all”
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18 Aug 2024
Anyone interested in ethanol and biofuels should read Colin’s thread. This is the nuance and science that’s often ignored in the political debate.
17 Aug 2024
I sympathize with the frustration over how the Iowa primary has distorted US biofuel policy, but this is probably not a great idea. 🧵
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15 Aug 2024
The most hated sports team in Alberta is the hockey team from Alberta’s largest city 😂
14 Aug 2024
The Most Hated Sports Team In Each State & Province (from @ASCSportsMedia)
brilliantmaps.com/hated-spor…
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12 Aug 2024
A detailed but fascinating dive into climate models and Corn Belt warming. Key background to today’s discussion of US ag yields.
12 Aug 2024
Donald Trump recently shared a plot noting that many climate models have historically overestimated summer warming over the US corn belt.
But it turns out this is an egregious unrepresentative cherrypick, as @AndrewDessler notes over at The Climate Brink: theclimatebrink.com/p/are-cl…
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8 Aug 2024
Working as a reporter today, covering an SAF-focused conference. First thought—industry conferences are *a lot* different from the history gatherings I’m used to.
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7 Aug 2024
The EPA is investigating whether the used cooking oil supply for biofuels is legit. It's a reminder that the biofuels industry has been dogged by fraud for most of its history. (@TDysonRogers and I wrote about this in a 2020 article)
brasilwire.com/ethanol-fuel-…
Exclusive: US EPA says it is auditing biofuel producers' used cooking oil supply reut.rs/4cfl9hQ
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6 Aug 2024
Not the most important aspect, I know, but this really captures MN high school football in the 1990s. I played for a powerhouse program in that era (Go Tornadoes!) but a defense could 100% read every one of our plays by following the pulling guards 😅
6 Aug 2024
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