No journalist has covered the climate story longer or better than Bill McKibben. In 1989, as a 27-year-old staff writer at The New Yorker, he published the first mass market book on the subject, The End of Nature. Since then, he has reported from around the world, covering all aspects of the issue — science, economics, politics, ethics — with an output other writers can’t help but envy. He has done his share of calling out the fossil fuel chieftains and their government and financial enablers, but he has also paid special attention to the scientists, activists, and other civil society representatives pushing against climate breakdown.
Indeed, almost 20 years ago, McKibben did something traditional journalists frown upon: He became an activist himself. With some of his students at Middlebury College in Vermont, he formed 350.org, a group named after the atmospheric level of carbon dioxide known to be compatible with civilization as we know it. When 350.org was founded in 2008, Earth’s atmosphere contained 385 parts per million of CO2. Today, it’s 427 ppm — the highest in at least 3 million years — and rising fast.
In his new book, Here Comes The Sun, McKibben wears both his journalist and activist hats. His core argument is that the sun’s rays, transformed into electricity, might still help humanity to escape the worst of climate change. It won’t be easy, but shifting from fossil fuels to solar energy fast enough “to stay on anything like a survivable path” is “on the bleeding edge of the technically possible.”
That path, scientists have said, requires slashing emissions by half over the next five years. That could happen, McKibben suggests, because of a game-changing but under-appreciated economic development. “Sometime in the early part of the 2020s,” he writes, civilization “crossed an invisible line where the cost of producing energy from the sun dropped below the cost of fossil fuel. That’s not yet common knowledge” — mainly because “so much of [the solar revolution] is taking place in China” — but it makes a rapid, global phase out of fossil fuels not just technically possible but economically advantageous.
But if economics now favor solar, politics remain a towering challenge. The entrenched interests behind fossil fuels intend to burn “every last molecule of oil and gas” beneath the earth’s crust, the CEO of Occidental Petroleum said in 2024. So, citizen activism, McKibben adds, remains imperative.
All this and more makes Here Comes The Sun an essential read for anyone interested in where the climate story is heading. McKibben’s reporting is thorough and thought-provoking. He investigates a number of concerns about solar — are there enough raw materials and land to produce all the panels and electricity needed? — and concludes that such concerns are overstated. (More solar will indeed mean more mining for lithium and other minerals, he notes, but it will also put a halt to the vastly greater amount of mining for coal, gas, and oil.)
For journalists, Here Comes The Sun proffers a cornucopia of story ideas and a bracing re-evaluation of the future of the climate fight. It refutes the notion that society can’t afford to stop burning fossil fuels, while emphasizing that the decisive question is how quickly those fuels get left behind. “I have little doubt we will run the world on sun and wind 40 years from now,” McKibben writes, “but if it takes us anything like 40 years to get there, then it will be a broken planet; our energy sources will hardly matter.”
From Us
CCNow Basics: Reporting Climate Through a Justice Lens. Climate change impacts us all, but not equally. Those who contributed the least to the crisis are often the ones facing its harshest consequences. Join us on August 13, at 9am US Eastern Time for a live training session. Together, we’ll explore how to recognize injustice, investigate responsibilities, and tell stories that reveal the full picture. RSVP.
Journalists worldwide can now apply for a spot at The Covering Climate Now Academy, which will have 12 live sessions running September to December. Small groups, hands-on practical workshops for real-world journalism. More info and apply here.
Climate concern is growing — and it’s visible in search data. Our new, free training program, The Climate Newsroom, for digital, print, audio, and TV journalists will help your newsroom ensure that it is giving your audience the climate coverage they want. Learn more.
Quote of the Week
“Solar for All is laser focused on helping nearly a million low-income families afford electricity at a time when their bills keep going up. If the Trump administration is serious about energy abundance and affordability, then they should be working hard to accelerate — not terminate — these grants.”
– Zealan Hoover, the EPA’s former director of implementation who oversaw the rollout of the grants under President Joe Biden told The Washington Post
Noteworthy Stories
Class action. US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lee Zeldin canceled the Environmental and Climate Justice block grant program in March. This week, in a “first-of-a-kind” class action lawsuit, a coalition of grantees, including nonprofits and tribal and local governments are suing to reinstate the $3 billion program. By Nina Lakhani for The Guardian…
Solar for none. The EPA is planning to claw back $7 billion in grants for solar energy for low- and middle-income Americans and community solar programs that serve renters. By Maxine Joselow for The New York Times…
Coral die-off. The Great Barrier Reef suffered the largest drop in live coral since 1986 during the mass bleaching event in 2024, according to a new report from The Australian Institute of Marine Science. “This volatility is very likely a sign of an unstable system,” said Dr. Mike Emslie. By Graham Readfearn for The Guardian…
Heat and land use. A commission in Tamil Nadu, India, has been studying how land use change is making the state hotter — to the detriment of its people and the environment. “You can’t avoid heat, but you can plan your way around it,” says Sudha Ramen, member secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission. By Simrin Sirur in Mongabay…
COP out? Just three months before hosting the UN COP30 climate summit, Brazil’s Environmental Minister Marina Silva is “battling” to push through environmental protection revisions to a bill that Greenpeace says “could lead to a deforestation explosion” in the Amazon. By Michael Stott and Michael Pooler for The Financial Times…
Resources & Events
Investigate this. The Marshall Project has published a comprehensive guide for journalists on how to report on the impact of extreme heat on prisons and jails. Get the guide.
Dumpster dive. The Global Investigative Journalism Network has a new guide for journalists reporting on landfill methane emissions and solutions. Reducing methane emissions is the single fastest way to slow planetary warming. Investigative reporting can explore whether viable solutions are being pursued, and if not, why. Get the guide.
(No) fun in the sun. Researchers at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication recently tested the effect of mock Instagram posts about extreme heat on public risk perceptions. They found that identical messages accompanied by either negative or neutral imagery increased perceived risk and strengthened beliefs that climate change is exacerbating heat waves, whereas the same messages accompanied by positive imagery did not. Read more.
Food & climate. Join Sentient for a webinar, “Cows, Carbon and the Climate Beat with Mike Grunwald & Jenny Splitter,” on Thursday, Aug. 7, at 12pm US Eastern Time. RSVP.
Jobs & Fellowships
The Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk is looking for an editorial director, an assistant editorial director, and two expert journalists (remote, within the Mississippi River Basin). Flatwater Free Press and Grist are seeking a reporter to cover the impacts of climate change in Nebraska. The Guardian is looking for a senior investigative science reporter (Washington, D.C.). Climate Women Media Action is accepting applications from young women journalists for a free training in Al and podcasting for climate storytelling (Kampala, Uganda).
Support Covering Climate Now
We’re working to help journalists worldwide improve and expand their climate coverage. Meet our staff and learn more about CCNow.