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As we head into this next chapter of climate reporting, Covering Climate Now is modifying our newsletter to better serve journalists’ needs. We’re going to treat these emails as a kind of “bulletin board” for climate journalists as well as other folks interested in learning more about climate change.
Here, you can catch up with the latest climate news and stay current about CCNow’s activities, including our “Talking Shops,” climate journalism training opportunities, and other events. We’ll also highlight notable developments in the larger climate and journalism spaces. And we’ll continue providing our regular column on climate journalism, which will be noted in brief in future Climate Beat newsletters and, as always, available for republication by partners.
We hope you find the new format helpful and digestible. If you have any feedback, or know of another event or have news that should be included here, shoot us a note at editors@coveringclimatenow.org.
New From CCNow
Talking Shop. On December 2nd, from 12 noon to 1pm Eastern Time, CCNow will host our next Talking Shop webinar, focused on what president-elect Joe Biden’s victory means for the future of climate reporting. Panelists include Justin Worland, chief climate correspondent at TIME magazine; Neela Banerjee, climate editor at NPR; Matt Green, climate correspondent at Reuters; and Mark Hertsgaard, executive director of CCNow and environment correspondent at The Nation. Expect further information from us in the coming days.
UN Secretary General Interview. Also in early December, CCNow is again interviewing UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, this time in advance of the fifth anniversary of the signing of the historic Paris Climate Agreement of 2015. Conducting the interview will be Margaret Brennan, the host of “Face The Nation” at CBS News; Manka Behl, the climate correspondent at The Times of India; and a third reporter still to be determined. CBS will provide edited video and audio pieces in English that all CCNow TV and radio outlets may broadcast, starting on December 2. Text stories for digital and print outlets will also be available to publish on December 2, in English, Spanish, and perhaps other languages. More from us on this soon.
Essential Climate News
Stay on top of major developments in the climate story
- On Monday, Hurricane Iota made landfall in Nicaragua, threatening the same part of Central America that Hurricane Eta thrashed less than two weeks ago. Iota is the thirtieth named storm of this extraordinary Atlantic hurricane season, the strongest storm of the year, and the ninth storm this year to rapidly intensify, a phenomenon that is occurring with increased regularity, due largely to climate change. From CBS News…
- The youth-led Sunrise Movement claims it reached 3.5 million voters in swing states ahead of the presidential election — and now the group plans to hold President-elect Biden accountable for his campaign promises, even if he faces obstruction from Republicans. “We will have to see if [Biden] is true to his word … but rest assured the movement will be there to remind him every moment of the way,” the group’s co-founder Varshini Prakash said. From The Guardian…
- Georgia’s runoff elections in January, between two incumbent Republican senators, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, and Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff have profound implications for climate action in the US. If the Democrats win both seats, they will become the majority party in the US Senate and make Biden’s climate policies more likely to become law. From InsideClimate News…
- Senator Perdue is a vocal climate denier who strongly supported president Trump’s environmental deregulation. But the gated, beachfront community Perdue calls home has taken climate change extremely seriously, installing jetties and seawalls to protect his 9,000 square foot mansion and adjacent properties from sea level rise. From The Intercept…
- With Biden pledging bold and swift climate action, expect to see a cavalcade of influence and disinformation campaigns supporting the fossil fuel-heavy status quo. Energy companies often finance such campaigns, but the global consulting firm FTI has helped them obscure their efforts by disguising industry messaging as coming from the grassroots, including via false social media accounts. From The New York Times…
- All across Indonesia, the world’s third largest democracy, communities are clashing with extractive companies — loggers, miners, and more — trying to wrest control of longstanding farmland. Many of the protests are led by women who once led simple lives and now face regular intimidation and threats of violence and prison as they fight to protect culture and land. A compelling longform feature, from Mongabay…
Events and Other Items
Nation Festival | November 18-November 21. CCNow co-founder The Nation hosts its first-ever Nation Festival, focused on “Reimagining America.” Of special note, Thursday, November 19, will feature CCNow executive director Mark Hertsgaard, renowned climate author Bill McKibben, and Senator Bernie Sanders. Learn more and register here…
“Mock COP 26” | November 19-December 1. With the UN’s real Conference of the Parties 26 — the follow up meeting to the 2015 summit that produced the historic Paris Climate Agreement — postponed to 2021, students around the world are hosting a “Mock COP 26.” The intent is to “show the world what would happen if young people were the decision makers” on the climate crisis and its solutions. Learn more…
Congratulations to CCNow partner The Invading Sea, a collaboration of newspaper opinion pages throughout Florida that focuses on climate change, for receiving a $50,000 grant from the Environmental Defense Fund to bolster their operations. Read more at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel…
And three cheers for CCNow partner WFAA-TV Dallas, now a finalist for a duPont-Columbia award for its “Verify” documentary, in which correspondent David Schechter took one of his viewers, an avowed climate skeptic, to Alaska to witness the effects of climate change firsthand. The awards called the piece a “fresh take on climate change.” Watch the WFAA report…