Four years of HEATED
Sure, growth is good. But sustainable growth is even better.
2023 has been a rocky year for climate journalism. Essential reporters on the beat were laid off; important climate publications permanently closed; and a once-critical tool for climate communication was transformed into a disinformation hellscape.
But thanks in large part to our reader community, HEATED’s independent, ad-free climate journalism thrived in 2023. In fact, we think Year 4 was our best year yet.
We’re not just saying that because the numbers look good, though they do. In 2023, HEATED’s original reporting and analysis reached more people than ever before.
Our free subscriber community grew from 57,000 to 84,000, marking a 47 percent increase in dedicated readers.
Our articles were viewed more than 5.7 million times, far more than any previous year.
Our Instagram posts with Future Earth were viewed nearly 1 million times, bringing new audiences to HEATED’s reporting.
Our video partnership with NowThis News garnered more than 2 million views across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, expanding our reach even further.
These increases in readers and views gave us a new and honorable position: the number one climate newsletter on Substack. We think that’s something to be really proud of.
But purely from a business perspective, the thing we’re actually most proud of this year is that we were able to achieve this growth sustainably. That’s something HEATED has never done before.
As long-time readers will remember well, HEATED was built on a completely unsustainable foundation. In Year One, Emily published 205 newsletters on her own, an average of four newsletters per week. In Year Two, she published 134 newsletters by herself—and said she was embarrassed about it.
That’s why, in Year Three, HEATED temporarily fell apart. “My brain feels in a constant state of fog and overwhelm,” Emily wrote in a post announcing HEATED’s indefinite hiatus. She then spent six months attempting to heal the damage of unrelenting self-extraction, and figuring out how to build a more resilient system of work.
This year, Year Four, was the first test of that new system. With the added muscle of Arielle, we sent out a total of 95 newsletters. That’s an average of 2 newsletters per week, with a few weeks taken off for holidays and breaks. A normal, reasonable schedule.
While we may have published less journalism in 2023, we published journalism we’re proud of. And we did it with juice remaining in our batteries—batteries we hope will power us for years to come.
Here’s a summary of some of HEATED’s best journalism in Year 4:
Arielle’s reporting revealed unique challenges.
This year, HEATED’s new reporter published several creative enterprise stories found nowhere else in climate media, including but not limited to:
An investigation of taxpayer-funded “climate-friendly” beef, which led to similar stories in The New Republic and Vox. (May 2023)
An exclusive analysis of climate disinformation among Instagram wellness influencers, a community that represents “new territory for climate deniers.” (November 2023)
A two-part investigation into the environmental cost of LAPD helicopters, which included exclusive emissions data and interviews with affected community members. (April 2023)
A deep dive into a climate scientist’s firing—after which Democratic Senator Ed Markey launched a probe into the incident. (January 2023)
Emily’s analysis sparked new conversations.
Emily also continued her tradition of publishing *spicy* climate arguments, including but not limited to:
Joe Biden’s climate policies amount to “fuckboy behavior.” He said everything climate voters wanted to hear, but couldn’t deliver consistency. (March 2023)
“Natural gas” is a misleading term, and should be replaced throughout the media with the more accurate term, “methane gas.” (May 2023)
Gas stoves are the plastic straws of the climate movement–and that’s actually a good thing. (January 2023)
When it comes to climate policy, the word “historic” is relatively meaningless, used as a PR mechanism to market bare minimum actions as monumental. (December 2023)
But for most newsletters this year, we worked as a team.
Here are some of our favorite results of that teamwork.
Our reporting on fossil fuel propaganda.
In an effort to inoculate our readers against disinformation, we reported on lots of polluter-funded B.S., including:
The gas industry ads in Politico, E&E, and Axios that claim that "natural" gas is a climate solution. (February 2023)
How to recognize Big Oil’s favorite way to lie—by telling a teeny-tiny part of the truth. (April 2023)
The fossil fuel industry ads during the Super Bowl that claimed football can't exist without oil. (February 2023)
The fossil fuel groups sponsoring research at Stanford University, and the students fighting for stricter rules over funding. (October 2023)
Our debunking of right-wing climate nonsense.
We also had to combat disinformation from polluters’ power-seeking media mouthpieces. So, no,
New York City is not banning pizza ovens. (June 2023)
The Israel-Hamas war is not happening because Biden is too focused on climate change. (October 2023)
Renewable energy did not cause Texas power outages during the heat waves. (June 2023)
Pride month did not distract from the Canadian wildfire response. (June 2023)
Our efforts to hold mainstream media accountable.
Though not as egregious as right-wing outlets, mainstream outlets had some slip-ups we had to call out this year, including:
Framing the Willow project as a political battle, rather than a planetary one. (March 2023)
Falling for the right-wing falsehood that NYC planned to ban pizza ovens. (June 2023)
Incorrectly reporting that climate change couldn’t be blamed for the Maui wildfires. (This one is just about ABC News). (August 2023)
Publishing more than 60 beef recipes despite pledging to ban beef recipes. (This one is just about Epicurious). (July 2023)
Our exposes of climate villains.
Our 2023 newsletters also highlighted many corporations, politicians, and billionaires promoting and profiting from climate delay, including:
The oil and gas companies that made enough money in one quarter to end world hunger for nearly one year. (May 2023)
The utilities using customer payments to fund anti-climate lobbying. This story inspired an activism campaign in California. (August 2023)
The major insurance companies refusing to pay for climate coverage while continuing to underwrite fossil fuel projects. (September 2023)
The ultra-wealthy whose climate-polluting jets are subsidized by taxpayers. (May 2023)
Our stories of activists fighting injustice.
In addition to exposing the villains, we tried to highlight people fighting for progress, including:
Kaniela Ing, a seventh-generation indigenous Hawaiian who took us through the colonial history of wildfire-plagued Lahaina. (August 2023)
Hoàng Thi Minh Hồng, a Vietnamese environmental activist imprisoned by her government on bogus tax evasion charges. (July 2023)
Ndindi Kitonga, Kris Rehl, and others who helped unhoused populations in L.A. get through climate-fueled record rainfall during tropical storm Hilary. (August 2023)
Mika Tosca, the first trans scientist to lead a plenary session at AGU, who told us about the importance of solutions-forward activism. (January 2023)
Our transformations of pop culture stories into climate stories.
It is our mission to continually prove that anything can be a climate story, including:
Barbie (August 2023)
Drag queens (June 2023)
Taylor Swift (November 2023)
Screenwriter and actor strikes (July 2023)
Nipple bras (November 2023)
Our newsletters this year moved readers to action.
It can be hard for us as reporters to measure the impact of our journalism. But luckily many readers shared how HEATED’s journalism has helped move the needle for them this year. Here are some of our favorite comments this year:
“There was an article a while back about if we all do a little, it adds up. So I helped campaign for the first windmill in our area, we won on the second vote.”—David Lopez
“I attribute a lot of my climate literacy to HEATED, especially surrounding the intersections of climate justice. The newsletter contributed to my ability to transition careers and I now work in the solar industry!”—Kelsey Applegate
“I specially liked the discussion on … ‘Debunking the UAE's B.S.’ I assigned it to my Global Environmental Politics class when we were discussing the problems with the "technological fixes" approach to tackling climate change.” —Belén Fernández M.
“HEATED has made me want to do some civil disobedience—but only if I could get some 70-80-year-old friends to do it with me.”—Paula Claycomb
Everything we accomplished was made possible by readers.
Our accomplishments this year don’t just belong to us. They also belong to our paid subscriber community.
Without this small but powerful group of readers, HEATED wouldn’t exist. The fact is, we rely on readers to fund our journalism so we can stay completely independent and free of corporate influence.
Right now, only five percent of HEATED readers choose to pay for this product. The more people who make that choice, the more resources we have to continue this project in 2024.
Catch of the Day: To wrap up Year 4, we have the O.G. catch himself—Fish!
Special thanks to Lara Hein, Fish’s forever companion and official bestie-of-the-newsletter, for creating this photo out of recycled party supplies from her mom’s house. What a good friend—and what a good boy!
And thanks to everyone who shared their companions with us in 2023. Your dogs, cats, birds, and even turtles brought us joy all year long.
See you next year!
Thank you both so much for the hard, invaluable work that you are doing, which I am glad to support financially! Enjoy the holidays and the time off!
Congratulations! So appreciative of you both.