It can be tricky to know how to stay up-to-date on climate issues — even though climate coverage has surged 300% since 2012, it’s often difficult to find climate stories amid the sea of reporting on the election, geopolitics, and more.
And, national newsrooms frequently only cover climate from a high level. What to do when you’re looking for more in-depth coverage that dives deeper into topics like the electric grid, global environmental policy, or climate finance?
Check out the following media outlets, newsletters, and podcasts that highlight good climate news and dissect the challenges of addressing the climate crisis.
Note: Author’s favorite recommendations are starred
News and media
*Latitude Media
This B2B climate tech outlet digs deep into the nitty-gritty of the energy transition: how renewable projects get off the ground, what factors influence the viability of emergent technologies, where politics fits into it all, and who dominates the market. As my former outlet and a DG+ client, I appreciate the detailed, critical takes laid out in articles ranging from geothermal energy and perovskite solar to the Inflation Reduction Act and project finance.
Article Highlights
- How to build solar in Alaska
- Farewell to the Chevron doctrine
- Quantifying the decarbonization ‘reality gap’
- Solar’s unlikeliest billionaire has a new venture
- What the Financial Times gets wrong about corporate renewable energy and carbon emissions
Canary Media
Canary explores the who, what, where, when, why, and how of decarbonization. Though they focus primarily on buildings, industry, transportation, and electricity, their coverage dives into the policy, project finance, community voices, and technical specifications of various renewable energy technologies and projects around the country.
Article highlights
- A new green aluminum plant could bring jobs — and clean energy — to Kentucky
- This startup has a plan to clean up industry: electrified bricks
- California could cut utility bills with distributed energy. Why isn’t it?
- The country’s biggest electric school-bus fleet will also feed the grid
- The clean hydrogen paradox
Grist
Grist’s climate justice-oriented journalism consistently offers a refreshing take on the climate crisis. While their coverage doesn’t shy away from the reality of the uphill battles ahead, the nonprofit outlet exemplifies solutions journalism in articles focused on food systems, equity, Indigenous affairs, extreme weather, politics, and more.
Article highlights
- As fast fashion giant Shein embraces AI, its emissions are soaring
- How Big Oil’s big money influences climate research
- From the cradle: How kids, newborns, and the unborn jump-started South Korea’s historic climate lawsuit
- How to sell an ‘ugly’ vegetable? Give it googly eyes.
- On a rural Hawaiian island, solar provides a path to energy sovereignty
Keep Cool (newsletter)
If you’re anything like me, you receive a LOT of newsletters on any given day; Nick Van Osdol’s Keep Cool newsletter is one I open anytime it graces my inbox. Van Osdol explores a different topic in climate tech and finance each week and provides a well-sourced, weekly roundup of “underpriced stories” in climate tech that you may have missed. And, he includes a lot of cool charts that bring the words to life.
Article highlights
- Greener steel exists
- A bevy of BESS
- Please stop: What the Dutch government said to its livestock farmers
- Greener rice with Mitti Labs
- Charts of the Month (August)
*Semafor Net Zero
Though Semafor’s beat isn’t climate-exclusive — they also cover global policy, technology, business, and security — their climate vertical is one of my favorite sources for deeply analytical, transparent, and well-sourced stories. Beyond the site, Tim McDonnell’s twice-weekly Net Zero newsletter highlights the intersection of energy, policy, and technology in stories from around the world; this is another must-read.
Article highlights
- Germany’s far right has a new anti-wind energy playbook
- Investors hope tech for hog poop ponds can solve AI’s water problems
- How Beijing is using the sun to fight the sand
- Malaysia begins controversial ‘orangutan diplomacy’ program
- Harris’ VP pick broke through on the US’ biggest climate challenge
Energy News Network
Broken down into regional digests, Energy News Network provides daily and weekly news roundups from their own coverage and various other sources. If you’re looking for a newsletter or media outlet that can be quickly skimmed for the day’s energy news highlights, Energy News Network is your best bet.
Article highlights
- In net metering case, New Hampshire regulators focus on costs while ignoring benefits, advocates say
- Connections confirmed between ‘grassroots’ Ohio solar opposition and dark-money natural gas group
- Startup pitches new model to unlock solar for multi-family buildings, in Illinois and beyond
- No longer a niche, Passive House standards becoming a solution for highly efficient affordable housing
- How a ‘farmer-first’ approach could lead to more successful agrivoltaics projects
*Heatmap
Founded by a team of long-term climate journalism vets, Heatmap’s coverage goes deeper than most others to tell the inside story of decarbonization. In the year and a half since its founding, the outlet has become widely known in the climate space for its vivid, deep reporting of wonky topics (like renewable energy permitting reform) and community-forward stories alike.
Article highlights
- Today’s Leased EVs Are Tomorrow’s Cheap Used Cars
- Copper Almost Killed This Arizona Town. Now Copper Could Save It.
- Americans Say ‘Okay, Whatever’ to Permitting Reform
- The Energy Mascot that Electrified America
- America’s Biggest Grid Is Losing Its Balance
Inside Climate News
Inside Climate News was the first nonprofit climate newsroom in the country — its expertise in environmental justice, policy, and fossil fuel impacts lends it a key role in any climate media roundup. The outlet frequently features climate activists and advocacy stories at home and abroad while also unpacking the environmental, health, and economic impacts of fossil fuels.
Article highlights
- Behind the Scenes: Using Direct Democracy to Keep Oil in the Ground Is More Complex Than it Seems
- 10 Tough Climate Questions for the Presidential Debate
- Big Cities Disrupt the Atmosphere, Often Generating More Rainfall, But Can Also Have a Drying Effect
- The Deteriorating Environment Is a Public Concern, but Americans Misunderstand Their Contribution to the Problem
- Ratepayers Have Had Enough Of Rising Energy Bills
Other recommended outlets:
- Hill Heat (newsletter)
- Bloomberg Green
- PV Magazine USA
- Pale Blue Tart (climate-friendly dessert newsletter!)
- Utility Dive
- Solar Power World
- LA Times Climate
- NY Times Climate
- Ed’s Clean Energy & Sustainability Jobs list (newsletter)
- Axios Generate (newsletter)
- Cipher News
Podcasts
Columbia Energy Exchange
“Columbia Energy Exchange” spotlights energy and climate leaders from around the world in a series of exhaustive conversations on geopolitical dynamics, energy markets, and technological advancements. Hosted by Jason Bordoff and Bill Loveless of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, episodes drop once a week and take a global approach to climate issues.
Episode highlights
- America’s Energy Race Against China
- The Untold History of Climate Science and Politics
- What the Chevron decision Means for U.S. Regulators
- How Climate Change is Impacting Human Migration
- Chile’s Critical Minerals
Volts
“Volts” covers clean energy and the transition away from fossil fuels — from pretty much any angle you can think of. Founder and host David Roberts chats with politicians, energy and market analysts, community leaders, and startup founders about the ins and outs of decarbonization, cleantech, and climate activism.
Episode highlights
- How is new clean energy manufacturing affecting red & purple states?
- Free the smart meter data!
- What’s the deal with perovskite solar?
- How are we going to decarbonize shipping?
- Washington Governor Jay Inslee on his last big climate fight
My Climate Journey
Curious about others working on climate, how they got to where they are now, and what climate solutions they’re working on? Each episode of “My Climate Journey” features a different climate, science, or technology champion sharing their story, their work, and where it all fits into the bigger picture.
Episode highlights
- Startup Series: Battery-Electric Rail with Parallel Systems
- Big Tech Betting on Nature-Based Carbon Removals
- Onshoring Clean Energy with Giulia Siccardo, MESC
- The Science of Startups with Activate’s Cyrus Wadia
- Exploring NOAA with Chief Scientist Dr. Sarah Kapnick
*Political Climate
Released every other week, the revamped version of “Political Climate” examines the nuances of the politics and policy inside the American climate debate. The podcast is hosted by Julia Pyper, Emily Domenech, and Brandon Hurlbut and frequently features politicians from both sides of the aisle - I never miss an episode!
Episode highlights
- DNC dispatches: It’s the climate economy, stupid!
- RNC dispatches: The GOP’s nascent climate pivot
- Rep. Scott Peters on our “old, small and dumb” grid
- Biden’s Chinese EV and solar tariffs: Big boost or hot air?
- Taking stock of IRA wins and political threats
Catalyst
In “Catalyst,” Shayle Kann dissects the ins and outs of the energy transition: what kind of technology — and how much money — will actually help decarbonize the planet? Where do the electric grid and yet-unproven-at-scale energy sources fit in? Episodes feature analysts, researchers, investors, and other industry leaders to unpack the current state of affairs in climate tech.
Episode highlights
- The rise of climate adaptation tech
- Hunting for geologic hydrogen
- Understanding the transmission bottleneck
- The EV market’s awkward teenage years
- Decarbonizing the high seas
Others on my to listen list:
- Factor This!
- The Big Switch
- Hardware to Save a Planet
- Regenerative Agriculture Podcast
- A Matter of Degrees
- Drilled
- The Energy Gang
- How to Save a Planet
- Politico Energy
- Electrek
- Energy Policy Now
- SunCast
- Zero
Regardless of what media format you choose, we hope you show your support for climate newsrooms and engage with their content to learn more about the climate crisis and how we can address it.
Want to see your company featured in one of these outlets? Contact us for more information about our PR and communications offerings.
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