Wider lens, sharper focus

How HEATED will cover the second Trump era.

Source: Getty Images

Hi all. Thanks for being patient while I took time off. I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can be most useful as a climate and environmental journalist during this second Trump administration. I’ve come to a few conclusions.

First, I’m not going to do what I did the first time around, and try to cover every single thing Trump does to stymie climate progress and increase pollution in America. That’ll overwhelm me, and it’ll overwhelm you. I’m sure plenty of other publications will also be doing that anyway.  

Instead, I’ve settled on three specific focus areas where I think HEATED can be uniquely effective as an environmental publication in 2025. And by “effective,” I mean this: “Able to fill in gaps of traditional news media, provide clarity amid mass overwhelm and confusion, and help ecologically-concerned people feel empowered to act.”

They are:

• Shining a bright light on Big Oil’s political footprint. The Trump administration is working hard to build public support for its “Drill, baby, drill” agenda, framing it as a benevolent act for ordinary Americans. However, the majority of Trump’s energy policies are primarily massive giveaways to fossil fuel CEOs—oligarchs to whom he and the Republican Party are beholden. HEATED will publish stories that illustrate this undeniable reality, to help readers feel more confident pushing back against the administration’s false narratives.
  

• Calling out bad behavior from big business. With less oversight and accountability from a polluter-beholden administration, many corporations will quietly pull back on environmental commitments and practices, while increasing greenwashing marketing to keep up appearances. HEATED will publish stories that call out these bad actors (oil companies and media companies included), helping readers decide where to spend their money—among their most effective tools for change in an openly hostile political administration.
  

• Highlighting changemakers who are effective/exciting/unconventional. “What can I do” is the most common question I get from readers. And while I’d be uncomfortable telling anyone what type of activism path is best for them individually, I do think it’s helpful for journalists to periodically highlight the various paths that are available. HEATED will publish stories of activists, political candidates, and creators who are creating real change and/or breaking the mold of what traditional change-making looks like, both in the U.S. and internationally.

These focus areas will allow us to take a more zoomed-out look at climate and environmental politics, business, and activism. With this wider lens, I believe we’ll be able to have a sharper focus.

To be sure, I’m not saying I’ll never publish any newsletters that are outside of the scope of three categories. The news cycle is unpredictable and so is my brain. But it’s safe to say readers should expect the majority of letters moving forward to fall within them.

In addition, anyone who’s done journalism before will immediately understand that this is still a whole lot to cover. So I won’t be able to cover every possible story that falls into these three topics. But I’ll try my best to pick and choose wisely, and I’ll certainly need readers’ help with that. If you have any ideas, e-mail me. 

As for cadence, after five years of doing this letter, I’ve learned at least one thing about myself: a set publishing schedule doesn’t work for me. Every news week is different: Some weeks I want to publish once, some weeks I want to publish twice, and other weeks I want to work on something more in-depth. So I’d say you can expect an average cadence from me of about once a week, the day depending simply on when it’s done.

Finally, I’m going to continue keeping the majority of newsletters free for everyone. I know it’s a better business decision to paywall, but doing that with climate and environmental coverage always feels a little gross. The only time I’ll paywall is when it’s really necessary to spur revenue to the newsletter. Articles over one year old will also remain a subscriber-only feature. 

I understand this new path forward may not sound appealing for everyone who is currently subscribed (Heck, we have over 120,000 people on the free list; I’d be surprised if we could please everyone!). But I hope, for some of you, it feels energizing, because that’s how creating this plan has felt for me. Two weeks ago, I felt totally paralyzed, continuously asking myself, “How am I supposed to do everything that needs to be done?” 

Then, over time, I realized: I can’t. So I have to just pick what I want to do. This is it. So hit that button below if you want to do it with me. We start next week.