Best Climate & Sustainability Newsletters!

“Everyone needs to be educated on climate change because climate change and our response to it is going to change the world over the next 25 years as much as the internet did in the last 25 years.” — Joe Romm

“The climate emergency is not just another issue — it’s an era.” – Alex Steffen

I'm sharing the following newsletters because I believe they will help you to better understand the quickly evolving climate crisis, how it’s affecting everything, how society is responding, and much more. Some also share what you can do about it.

It’s impossible to read all of these newsletters, so don’t overwhelm yourself. I just want to let you know what else is out there that I know of and appreciate. If you have a favorite that’s not on here please share it in the comments!

HEATED

HEATED is my absolute favorite. If you’re only going to sign up for just one, make it this one.

Emily Atkin has been a climate journalist for 8 years but recently went off on her own to start “HEATED”.

And Emily. is. awesome. She works “to expose and explain the forces behind past and present inaction on the most existential threat of our time.”

She excels at finding interesting stories, breaks news of her own through investigations, and brings us accountability journalism for the climate crisis. Get ready to better understand the pernicious role the fossil fuel industry and others have played (and are playing) to block climate action.

Most people don’t understand why we’re in this mess. Hint: it’s not because of people like you and me. This story needs to be told.

Also, if you like my style, I believe you’ll enjoy Emily’s as well.

The Climate Crisis

Bill McKibben is a living legend. It scares me to think about where the climate movement would be right now without his efforts. He is an author, activist, and co-founder of 350.org. And now he has a weekly newsletter with The New Yorker. Trust me, you don’t want to miss Bill’s insights.

Hot Take

Building on their must-listen-to podcast, Amy Westervelt and Mary Anna?se Heglar launched this complementary newsletter on “the climate crisis and all the ways we’re talking and not talking about it.”

Always a great overview, intersectional analysis, and insights on where the climate conversation is along with recommendations for further reading!

Volts

This is a fantastic newsletter by David Roberts focusing on “the technology, politics, and policy of decarbonization”.

It’s often on the wonkier side, but if you want to learn more about a specific energy or political topic, you’ll want to hear what David has to say about it. He’s been writing about this stuff for more than 15 years and always delivers high-quality info in an easy-to-understand style.

The Weekly Planet

As a part of their recognition of the climate crisis touching every part of our lives and changing everything, The Atlantic launched The Weekly Planet in 2020. In it, “Robinson Meyer brings you the biggest ideas and most vital information to help you flourish on a changing planet.”

Easy to read and Robinson has a knack for focusing on impactful stories.

Generation Dread

A critical, yet often under-discussed, part of the climate crisis is how it affects us emotionally and what it means for our mental health.

As Britt puts it, this newsletter is “the clearinghouse for new, old, and emerging ideas to strengthen our emotional intelligence, psychological resilience, and mental health while we’re in this planetary pickle.”

I believe this kind of intelligence and resilience are key to understanding each other, taking care of ourselves, and ultimately, getting climate solutions implemented at the speed and scale needed.

The Phoenix

Eric Holthaus knows we can’t just point out what we’re against – we also have to say what we’re for.

He aptly named this newsletter The Phoenix because “the world is on fire, and we’ve got to create a new one from the ashes.” Check out this newsletter focused on radical change to envision a new world that’s rooted in justice.

The Beacon

This is a daily roundup of interesting stories from Grist which is an independent, climate-focused news organization. Their mantra is “Don’t freak out. Figure it out.”

I appreciate the diversity of voices, topics, and that these journalist’s personalities often shine through in their writing.

InsideClimate News

This is a fantastic organization. They’re “A Pulitzer Prize-winning, non-profit, non-partisan news organization dedicated to covering climate change, energy and the environment.”

They helped break open the Exxon disinformation campaign in a big way with investigative reporting.

I typically scan the headlines to see what’s going on and occasionally dive into anything particularly interesting.

Joro

This newsletter is well written and has a light, clever style about it. It gives quick overviews to a wide range of climate-related news, spotlights someone doing good work, and offers additional resources you may be interested in (books, videos, events).

Joro is actually a carbon footprint app so the newsletter often focuses on personal footprint actions.

Yale Climate Communications

Some of Yale and George Mason’s social scientists have teamed up to study the public opinion and behavior of people in the US when it comes to climate change. Very interesting to see where people stand and how these trends are changing over time.

Almost always comes with charts and data!

Crowdsourcing Sustainability

Be warned! I write this one so I’m a bit biased :)

(I can’t not plug my own newsletter, right?)

If you're reading this, you get most of what I write, but not everything. Signing up for this gives you everything for free, hot off the press.

I basically write the climate newsletter I wanted to read. I focus on what I believe are the most important things to know about the climate crisis and share meaningful actions we can all take to help reverse global warming ASAP.

“Strikes a perfect balance between smart, understandable, funny and compelling.” — Jackie F.

Again, there’s no way to read all of these. My hope is that this list introduces you to some new amazing people working on climate, leads you to information that helps you on your climate journey, gives you ideas that light you up, and ultimately helps us to rebuild a safer, healthier, and more just world a tiny bit faster.

Take care,

Ryan

P.S. If you believe this work is valuable, please consider donating to sustain it and keep our impact growing. Your help is deeply appreciated.

If you're unable to comfortably give financially, sharing the newsletter with a friend also helps a lot! (email version or today's LinkedIn version)

Finally, if you sign up for our main sustainability newsletter here, you'll receive every newsletter I write and get access to the growing Crowdsourcing Sustainability community on slack where you can connect and collaborate with others working to reverse global warming!

(This article was originally published here on Crowdsourcing Sustainability.)