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Annie Ropeik signs off from Climate Monitor.
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this newsletter was produced by Kate Cough

A new chapter for one Climate Monitor writer


Annie here, with some news: This will be my last Climate Monitor. It's also my final act as a journalist, for now. I've accepted a new full-time job with a renewable energy advocacy group. This is a professional change that feels at once like a huge leap and like a natural evolution, and I want to tell you about it. 


I'll be working (remotely, still from Maine) for a new-ish national nonprofit that helps local activists and organizers support the siting of wind, solar and other such projects in their communities. My job will be to create communications materials. (Feel free to find me on LinkedIn in a few weeks if you want the details.) 

Annie Ropeik kayaking in the Midcoast in 2020. Photo courtesy the author.

The turn from journalism to advocacy is a tricky one for any reporter to make, though it's not necessarily uncommon. Journalists are supposed to be neutral and objective, and advocates are paid not to be. 


Different newsrooms' understandings of journalistic objectivity, though, are evolving with the times, and that's important in the climate context. Climate journalists are increasingly rethinking how to approach balance on this beat, such as by avoiding amplifying climate science deniers just for the sake of "balance" (a practice also known as "both sides-ism"). 


There's a growing sense that we can and should frame climate change as a real and urgent problem with documented human causes, built on fossil fuel industry lies — one that poses a threat to equitable human survival, demanding solutions, adaptation and greater public engagement.


But it's not a reporter's job to support specific solutions. Instead we present all the options, their merits and trade-offs, and allow the readers to decide what they think. This doesn't necessarily mean we should reflexively downplay the benefits or costs of one solution over another ("false balance"). Nor should we present a solution's trade-offs in a vacuum, ignoring the generally far greater impacts of inaction. 


Our work, at its best, requires a relentless commitment to context and nuance. I've been proud to be part of what I see as a shift in that direction, and part of the rise of local climate reporting in general. 


But I've also found myself frustrated. I've seen Maine's progress toward a more thoughtful climate discourse — one that accepts the premise of a problem that needs solving — stumble and slow in the face of fear, apathy, distraction and disinformation. I'm ready to do more to help. 


In my new role, unlike as a journalist, I'll be helping people communicate support for specific solutions and specific projects. I'll be trying to change people's minds, not just inform them. Instead of saying, "we could take a specific action, and here's what that would mean," I'll be saying, "we should, and here's why."


I'm excited to bring my experience reporting on so many thorny community energy debates to a place where I can have a more direct impact on achieving consensus and bringing home local benefits. 


I'm also very sad to leave journalism, the field in which I've spent my entire adult life. For 15 years, I've been paid to learn about something new every day. I've lived in and traveled to amazing places, where I've been welcomed into homes and neighborhoods, factories, farms, Superfund sites, laboratories and classrooms, and the magical natural ecosystems around them.


I've gotten to ask as many questions as I want of so many incredibly interesting people, and I've gotten to translate and piece together what I learn into stories that, I hope, have helped readers and listeners become better stewards of the places they love. 


These past two years writing for Climate Monitor, watching our audience grow exponentially, have been an unexpected joy at the tail end of this phase of my career. I've muddled through my own home energy transition with all of you, building off last year's heating oil series (we're weatherized and getting our own heat pumps put in in a couple of weeks!); I've gotten nerdy parsing the state's progress on its climate goals and digging into emissions, weather and disaster data; I've ruminated on climate education, climate fiction and the opportunities at the intersection of climate migration and Maine's housing crisis.


You're in eminently capable hands with The Monitor editor Kate Cough and environmental reporter Emmett Gartner, and you can reach me at aropeik@gmail.com if you need me. I can't thank you enough for reading and for caring — it's half the battle. I'm looking forward to tackling the other half in my next chapter. I hope you'll stay in touch. 


banner that reads "on my radar this week"

My former colleagues at the New England News Collaborative took a boat trip out to the Vineyard Wind project site off the coast of Massachusetts last month and brought back lots of thoughtful reflections.


Also, here's a list from Blue Ridge Public Radio of ways to help people affected by Hurricane Helene


banner that reads "In other Maine environmental news"

While The Maine Monitor does not place its content behind paywalls, some newsrooms we link to in this newsletter may. 


Everything we know so far about the Orrington trash plant fire | Bangor Daily News


Ongoing trash fire in Orrington prompts air quality alert for Midcoast, eastern interior Maine | Maine Public


Rare whale died of chronic entanglement in Maine fishing gear | Associated Press


Death of North Atlantic right whale illustrates difficulty of protecting the endangered mammals | Portland Press Herald


Maine awarded $425M for clean energy project in Aroostook County | Maine Morning Star


New solar development rules show tensions in Maine climate goals | Maine Public


Maine opens door for landfill expansion despite community objections | Maine Morning Star


EPA: Navy has responsibility to address Brunswick PFAS spill | NewsCenter Maine


MRRA exploring alternative fire protection systems in wake of toxic foam spill | Maine Public


Brunswick Landing authority maintains it will not shut down fire suppression system | Portland Press Herald


Water samples tested after Maine firefighting foam spill, below guidelines for dangerous chemicals | Associated Press


Scarborough town leaders withdraw support for Gorham connector | NewsCenter Maine


Maine agencies sending emergency response teams to North Carolina for Helene recovery | Portland Press Herald


'Stars over Katahdin' celebrates importance of dark skies | Maine Public


Drier growing season brings healthy Aroostook potato harvest | The County


The new Maine scallop: it’s farmed, and it’s delicious | Midcoast Villager


Know of a story that we should be digging into? Send it to our newsroom


The Maine Monitor is a publication of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, an independent and nonpartisan nonprofit news organization that produces investigative journalism. We believe news is a public good and keep our news free to access. We have no paywall and do not charge for our newsletters. If you value the reporting we do for Maine, please consider making a donation! We cannot do this reporting without your support.

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