Building on Ken's third suggestion, I'd love to see more coverage of inspiring, innovative activism / organizing. It would also be interesting to compare and contrast new tactics/strategies for climate organizing in the US vs. other countries.
One other area where I'd love to see more coverage is the flows of money for lobbying and influence from the O&G players. I think of this as akin to expanding Jane Mayer's "Dark Money" into the present: what are the API, Koch Foundation, IPAA, etc. up to now? Are there new configurations of O&G billionaires gearing up to fund a new generation of misinformation and denial? What channels and people (e.g., TPUSA) are they using? ...etc etc.
All of that said, I've loved your coverage since the beginning; so you could also change nothing and I'd still be satisfied. I also really hope you're enjoying your well-deserved vacation :).
What are you doing up at 4am? Same as me, no doubt: woke up and can't sleep. OK, I'll bite:
1) Go deeper into what Jason Hickel in his Less is More book and other writings has identified: the move away from renewables, energy efficiency and decarbonization of the economy is based on the fact that our economy is blindly wedded to maximizing profits, and in order to maintain its growth imperative, the big investors are putting their money back into the bigger profit margins they find in fossil fuels, AI, weapons industry, simply because the goal is not cheaper, lower carbon, more efficient and ecologically friendly economy, it's a better return on your investment.
2) What is happening to the Chinese economy? They have made it exceedingly clear that they can out-produce ROI-focused hedge funds in the west when it comes to producing renewables because they aren't so obsessed with eternal, limitless growth, but they are so successful that the many, many manufacturers of solar panels, for instance, are facing such a glut that it might not be sustainable. Will this mean massive collapse of the solar panel industry and other renewables in China?
3) The Where Does the Climate Movement Go from Here story is not at all finished: keep covering innovative ways that community and political organizing is happening. It's pretty clear that protests are important but not up to the task of changing the course we're on, and we need to be aware of developing visions that will do just that.
Ooh, it's 4:30am now, so I think I can go back to sleep. I suggest you do the same, if you haven't already! Hopefully these late night thoughts will have some value in the morning.....
Dear Emily, I wonder if you would be willing to help us figure out why the board of the largest pension fund in the country will not divest from fossil fuels. Here in Sacramento we have been working with Thirdact and fossil free California to get them to divest. Fossil free California has been even doing this longer for over 10 years without any result. From our previous work with trying to get the top four banks funding fossil fuels in the world which are Chase Wells Fargo city and Bank of America to divest was that we found out that 80% of the board members of these corporations were in someway tied to the oil industry. So they were captured but we have not been able to find out why CalPERS’s board refuses to consider this despite the fact that so many studies show that oil demand is decreasing in the world and theIR fossil fuel stocks and S&P 500 has steadily dropped over decades to where now it’s underperforming many other industries. Their ignorance of the fact that renewable energies are now the cheapest and most rapidly growing energy form is mind-boggling. Please consider looking into this to help us figure out why. Thank you very much for your great investigative journalism and today I signed on when I read about your investigation of Charlie Kirk and his connections with the fossil fuel industry it was very revealing.
Thanks for your work, Goli! Washington and Oregon are also in this slog to get our pubic pension boards to divest from fossil fuels. Oregon passed legislation to divest the pension fund from Coal in 2024, and now Divest Washington has a Coal divestment bill that is alive in for 2026 legislative session. (Yes, COAL!)
Thanks great news. We had a bill last year for divestment and the oil lobby got to our Mod. Dems so we lost. This year we’re working to get more unions on board.
First, happy birthday! Thanks for your principled, detailed climate journalism here. Honestly, I would be happy to see you continue to hold the fossil fuel industry and elected so-called leaders accountable. They’re not going anywhere. There are other newsletters for the “good news” climate stories, and for climate activism. What about the intersection of climate + social justice + resilience? Whatever you pursue, I know it’ll be in full integrity. Please keep Catch of the Day. 😊🐶
Popular Information featured a story earlier this week about the Ambler Road project that I would like to see covered in greater depth. I know it's not tied explicitly to fossil fuels, but a mining project that's set to disrupt Alaskan wilderness and likely show a callous disregard for indigenous communities seems worth keeping an eye on.
I think we should be looking for what works in breaking through the misinformation to convince people that climate change is real and a threat. Right now, thousands of Americans are losing their homes through floods, storms, and fires every year. That is an incredibly powerful and compelling story. So how can we use what is happening on the ground to breakthrough the haze of misinformation? Is anyone doing this successfully at the local or state level? If not, are they doing it in other countries? What are they using to communicate — is it social media, is it billboards, is it neighbor to neighbor postcards, is it door knocking? The science is already settled, the climate change itself is already happening. What we need is a much more sophisticated communications campaign. Are there models we can look to?
What to report on? the burgeoning demand for electricity due to data centers, and the effort to sanitize and bring in nuclear power to meet that demand. Review the new book Return to Fukushima (Bass)..
Saskatchewan is pushing for a nuclear plant or two, SMR, by 2034, despite having only 1.1 million people. We produce a lot of the western world's uranium, but don't process it, or use it. We also have world class wind and solar resources, but the provincial government is essentially in control of SaskPower the Crown power utility, so very little has been done with renewables, and we still get electricity from low grade coal, and increasingly methane gas.
Here's an edgy idea. Pick on someplace small, but who is having an oversized impact on the climate, like Saskatchewan. Its Petrostate government gets less attention than Alberta's, and it is responsible for world leading carbon emissions per capita. Its Premier has said he "doesn't care" about this, while touting "Sustainable oil and gas" in Saskatchewan. Both Premier Moe and his predecessor Wall have met with the Project 2025 Heritage Foundation regularly when they go to Washington.
A little international shame might pressure the Sask Party to toss Moe finally, or cause some other improvements.
I hope you had a great birthday and enjoyed your well-deserved time off!
There’s a powerful and underreported US-Mexico fracked gas story that could make for a great HEATED investigation—or even a short series. Mexico is contractually obligated to buy fracked gas from the US (mostly Texas and New Mexico), which not only drives up prices for US consumers but is also tied to plans for the industrialization of the gulf of California by means of several LNG export terminals. That project would industrialize the region around the Gulf of California—known as the “Aquarium of the World”—threatening whale habitats and biodiversity in order to export gas to China. The gas trade and export are also central to the short- and medium-term profitability of US fracking, creating a double climate burden: emissions from both the gas itself and the system that sustains fracking.
There’s also a remarkable related story unfolding now: whales in the Gulf of California have “gone to court” through a legal case filed by Mexican environmental groups seeking to stop LNG expansion and protect the Gulf as a critical habitat. It’s the first time whales have been recognized as legal subjects demanding environmental protection. If this sounds like something you’d want to explore, I can share more background and connect you with trusted partners and sources in Mexico who are directly involved.
No shortage of options these days! A few things come to mind
- most immediately, how the shutdown might be affecting emissions. I’ve seen some reporting that coal pollution in particular rose significantly during the last one, and I can only imagine what will happen this time around
- anything on data centers, really. As it becomes clearer that the economy is just three AI generated kids in a trenchcoat, it’s very scary that the EPA wants to expedite new chemical reviews and rely on dirty energy sources to build these facilities, which only serve to exacerbate the water crisis and destroy our grids and utility bills. I’ll never use that Sora app but I wonder if there’s a lot of concurrent climate disinfo being put there
- the 2026 World Cup! I know there’s still a bit of time, and I know the tournament will get plenty of criticism for being this century’s 1936 Olympics, but I’d love (hate) to see how awful it’ll be for the environment, what with games being held across three countries and with the new format meaning that even more will be played during a short window. On a more hopeful tone, could spotlight Vermont Green FC for how they’ve taken a net zero approach to professional sports
- how Trump’s war on unions and on clean energy are intertwined. I know the RI AFL-CIO is leading the Solar for All lawsuit, and unions have been some of the loudest voices against the offshore wind stop work orders. Feels like maybe the best way to make clean energy cuts resonate with the average voter is to talk about the jobs that could be created by the industry. (Selfishly, happy to connect you with some folks if this is ever of interest to you)
Hello! Since there is such a short window left on the tax credits, anything you can do to encourage onsite solar and storage installations would be very welcome. I think people are vastly underestimating what each of US can do, personally, to put our money where our mouths are and ironically(?) SAVE massive amounts of money doing just that. Thank you!
Something I'd like to know more about is the big picture of the government influence in climate science. A little discussed fact is that the IPCC was established with the dominance of the US and purpose to study the problem without solving it. However, it seems that climate scientists are generally unaware of this fact or do not discuss this. But now climate science is under attack by the US government? Why? Why not allow it to occur or in what ways has climate science been threatening-- it can't be all of it that is threatening, but is it the attribution science primarily?
I am a professor at a university and we were told by office of risk & compliance that we can't use the word climate change or the feds would close our doors by not allowing the university to accept financial aid for students. Still not getting clear guidance about this, but the language on our PhD program website was changed to no longer have the words climate change. How are universities fighting or not fighting back to preserve themselves? Are they really as helpless as they say?
Also... I would like to know more on the connection of authoritarianism, militarism, and climate. Reading about Venezuela and oil on the NYT, they did not connect this to climate change at all. In a recent paper, I really struggled to find much on this.
Building on Ken's third suggestion, I'd love to see more coverage of inspiring, innovative activism / organizing. It would also be interesting to compare and contrast new tactics/strategies for climate organizing in the US vs. other countries.
One other area where I'd love to see more coverage is the flows of money for lobbying and influence from the O&G players. I think of this as akin to expanding Jane Mayer's "Dark Money" into the present: what are the API, Koch Foundation, IPAA, etc. up to now? Are there new configurations of O&G billionaires gearing up to fund a new generation of misinformation and denial? What channels and people (e.g., TPUSA) are they using? ...etc etc.
All of that said, I've loved your coverage since the beginning; so you could also change nothing and I'd still be satisfied. I also really hope you're enjoying your well-deserved vacation :).
What are you doing up at 4am? Same as me, no doubt: woke up and can't sleep. OK, I'll bite:
1) Go deeper into what Jason Hickel in his Less is More book and other writings has identified: the move away from renewables, energy efficiency and decarbonization of the economy is based on the fact that our economy is blindly wedded to maximizing profits, and in order to maintain its growth imperative, the big investors are putting their money back into the bigger profit margins they find in fossil fuels, AI, weapons industry, simply because the goal is not cheaper, lower carbon, more efficient and ecologically friendly economy, it's a better return on your investment.
2) What is happening to the Chinese economy? They have made it exceedingly clear that they can out-produce ROI-focused hedge funds in the west when it comes to producing renewables because they aren't so obsessed with eternal, limitless growth, but they are so successful that the many, many manufacturers of solar panels, for instance, are facing such a glut that it might not be sustainable. Will this mean massive collapse of the solar panel industry and other renewables in China?
3) The Where Does the Climate Movement Go from Here story is not at all finished: keep covering innovative ways that community and political organizing is happening. It's pretty clear that protests are important but not up to the task of changing the course we're on, and we need to be aware of developing visions that will do just that.
Ooh, it's 4:30am now, so I think I can go back to sleep. I suggest you do the same, if you haven't already! Hopefully these late night thoughts will have some value in the morning.....
Thanks Ken! I’m ambiguous about my location these days for safety reasons, but I will say, it wasn’t 4am where I’m at!
Dear Emily, I wonder if you would be willing to help us figure out why the board of the largest pension fund in the country will not divest from fossil fuels. Here in Sacramento we have been working with Thirdact and fossil free California to get them to divest. Fossil free California has been even doing this longer for over 10 years without any result. From our previous work with trying to get the top four banks funding fossil fuels in the world which are Chase Wells Fargo city and Bank of America to divest was that we found out that 80% of the board members of these corporations were in someway tied to the oil industry. So they were captured but we have not been able to find out why CalPERS’s board refuses to consider this despite the fact that so many studies show that oil demand is decreasing in the world and theIR fossil fuel stocks and S&P 500 has steadily dropped over decades to where now it’s underperforming many other industries. Their ignorance of the fact that renewable energies are now the cheapest and most rapidly growing energy form is mind-boggling. Please consider looking into this to help us figure out why. Thank you very much for your great investigative journalism and today I signed on when I read about your investigation of Charlie Kirk and his connections with the fossil fuel industry it was very revealing.
Thank you,
Goli with Thirdact Sacramento.
Love this idea
Thanks for your work, Goli! Washington and Oregon are also in this slog to get our pubic pension boards to divest from fossil fuels. Oregon passed legislation to divest the pension fund from Coal in 2024, and now Divest Washington has a Coal divestment bill that is alive in for 2026 legislative session. (Yes, COAL!)
Thanks great news. We had a bill last year for divestment and the oil lobby got to our Mod. Dems so we lost. This year we’re working to get more unions on board.
Let’s make a compelling case for INVESTING in the alternatives
That’s ca great approach!!!
First, happy birthday! Thanks for your principled, detailed climate journalism here. Honestly, I would be happy to see you continue to hold the fossil fuel industry and elected so-called leaders accountable. They’re not going anywhere. There are other newsletters for the “good news” climate stories, and for climate activism. What about the intersection of climate + social justice + resilience? Whatever you pursue, I know it’ll be in full integrity. Please keep Catch of the Day. 😊🐶
Popular Information featured a story earlier this week about the Ambler Road project that I would like to see covered in greater depth. I know it's not tied explicitly to fossil fuels, but a mining project that's set to disrupt Alaskan wilderness and likely show a callous disregard for indigenous communities seems worth keeping an eye on.
I think we should be looking for what works in breaking through the misinformation to convince people that climate change is real and a threat. Right now, thousands of Americans are losing their homes through floods, storms, and fires every year. That is an incredibly powerful and compelling story. So how can we use what is happening on the ground to breakthrough the haze of misinformation? Is anyone doing this successfully at the local or state level? If not, are they doing it in other countries? What are they using to communicate — is it social media, is it billboards, is it neighbor to neighbor postcards, is it door knocking? The science is already settled, the climate change itself is already happening. What we need is a much more sophisticated communications campaign. Are there models we can look to?
What to report on? the burgeoning demand for electricity due to data centers, and the effort to sanitize and bring in nuclear power to meet that demand. Review the new book Return to Fukushima (Bass)..
Saskatchewan is pushing for a nuclear plant or two, SMR, by 2034, despite having only 1.1 million people. We produce a lot of the western world's uranium, but don't process it, or use it. We also have world class wind and solar resources, but the provincial government is essentially in control of SaskPower the Crown power utility, so very little has been done with renewables, and we still get electricity from low grade coal, and increasingly methane gas.
Here's an edgy idea. Pick on someplace small, but who is having an oversized impact on the climate, like Saskatchewan. Its Petrostate government gets less attention than Alberta's, and it is responsible for world leading carbon emissions per capita. Its Premier has said he "doesn't care" about this, while touting "Sustainable oil and gas" in Saskatchewan. Both Premier Moe and his predecessor Wall have met with the Project 2025 Heritage Foundation regularly when they go to Washington.
A little international shame might pressure the Sask Party to toss Moe finally, or cause some other improvements.
Hi Emily,
I hope you had a great birthday and enjoyed your well-deserved time off!
There’s a powerful and underreported US-Mexico fracked gas story that could make for a great HEATED investigation—or even a short series. Mexico is contractually obligated to buy fracked gas from the US (mostly Texas and New Mexico), which not only drives up prices for US consumers but is also tied to plans for the industrialization of the gulf of California by means of several LNG export terminals. That project would industrialize the region around the Gulf of California—known as the “Aquarium of the World”—threatening whale habitats and biodiversity in order to export gas to China. The gas trade and export are also central to the short- and medium-term profitability of US fracking, creating a double climate burden: emissions from both the gas itself and the system that sustains fracking.
There’s also a remarkable related story unfolding now: whales in the Gulf of California have “gone to court” through a legal case filed by Mexican environmental groups seeking to stop LNG expansion and protect the Gulf as a critical habitat. It’s the first time whales have been recognized as legal subjects demanding environmental protection. If this sounds like something you’d want to explore, I can share more background and connect you with trusted partners and sources in Mexico who are directly involved.
Really cool ideas, Jill. May take you up on that second one. Shoot me an email? emilyatkin@heated.world
This story is actively unfolding in La Paz BCS probably worth a visit
Brava, Emily, brava brava brava. Now rest rest rest and be well and strong.
I, for one, would like to suggest that we have a way to meet, either virtually, or
to have some small in-person seminar with a handful of trusted people with
informed-enough ideas, well-developed, to be meaningful to you. I'm willing
to travel a reasonable distance to some centrally-located appropriate place.
Thanks again. ~Paul
Hi Emily. I would like to hear more about the effort to introduce balcony solar in the U.S.
I understand that it is popular in Europe and, therefore, will be facing fierce opposition from the fossil fuel lobby and corporate utilities here.
Thanks for your reporting and happy birthday!
No shortage of options these days! A few things come to mind
- most immediately, how the shutdown might be affecting emissions. I’ve seen some reporting that coal pollution in particular rose significantly during the last one, and I can only imagine what will happen this time around
- anything on data centers, really. As it becomes clearer that the economy is just three AI generated kids in a trenchcoat, it’s very scary that the EPA wants to expedite new chemical reviews and rely on dirty energy sources to build these facilities, which only serve to exacerbate the water crisis and destroy our grids and utility bills. I’ll never use that Sora app but I wonder if there’s a lot of concurrent climate disinfo being put there
- the 2026 World Cup! I know there’s still a bit of time, and I know the tournament will get plenty of criticism for being this century’s 1936 Olympics, but I’d love (hate) to see how awful it’ll be for the environment, what with games being held across three countries and with the new format meaning that even more will be played during a short window. On a more hopeful tone, could spotlight Vermont Green FC for how they’ve taken a net zero approach to professional sports
- how Trump’s war on unions and on clean energy are intertwined. I know the RI AFL-CIO is leading the Solar for All lawsuit, and unions have been some of the loudest voices against the offshore wind stop work orders. Feels like maybe the best way to make clean energy cuts resonate with the average voter is to talk about the jobs that could be created by the industry. (Selfishly, happy to connect you with some folks if this is ever of interest to you)
Happy birthday, thanks for everything!
Seconding anything on data centers. Especially the way big tech abandoned all pretense of caring about climate action.
Hello! Since there is such a short window left on the tax credits, anything you can do to encourage onsite solar and storage installations would be very welcome. I think people are vastly underestimating what each of US can do, personally, to put our money where our mouths are and ironically(?) SAVE massive amounts of money doing just that. Thank you!
Something I'd like to know more about is the big picture of the government influence in climate science. A little discussed fact is that the IPCC was established with the dominance of the US and purpose to study the problem without solving it. However, it seems that climate scientists are generally unaware of this fact or do not discuss this. But now climate science is under attack by the US government? Why? Why not allow it to occur or in what ways has climate science been threatening-- it can't be all of it that is threatening, but is it the attribution science primarily?
I am a professor at a university and we were told by office of risk & compliance that we can't use the word climate change or the feds would close our doors by not allowing the university to accept financial aid for students. Still not getting clear guidance about this, but the language on our PhD program website was changed to no longer have the words climate change. How are universities fighting or not fighting back to preserve themselves? Are they really as helpless as they say?
Also... I would like to know more on the connection of authoritarianism, militarism, and climate. Reading about Venezuela and oil on the NYT, they did not connect this to climate change at all. In a recent paper, I really struggled to find much on this.
Perhaps something on private equity firms taking over state PUCs -- like the current Blackstone effort in New Mexico?
Whatever you write is worth reading.
A lot of good suggestions already so I don't have anything to add. Just wanted to happy birthday!