Today Next City joins a coalition of media organizations in covering climate change, and we’re committed to publishing stories until the UN Climate Action Summit on September 23. We are one among a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets, called #CoveringClimateNow, that are accepting responsibility as journalists to sound the alarm.
But a single week won’t be enough time to talk about what cities are doing to safeguard our future. The climate crisis demands in-depth, ongoing attention.
According to a CBS News poll released today as part of the #CoveringClimateNow coalition, nearly two-thirds of Americans say climate change is a “crisis” or a “serious problem,” and a majority want immediate action. But without action coming from the federal level, cities are taking it on themselves to reduce emissions, slow down temperature rise, and adapt to a new future that lives within the realities of climate change.
Few other media outlets this week will reach the same audience as Next City. We play a special role, connecting movements that are sometimes working alongside each other in cities, but not together. In reader surveys, 74% of you say Next City’s journalism helps inform your work. You are the doers and changers in cities. You are from urban planning, architecture, transportation, finance, arts, academia, and any sector within cities where good people are working for greater equity. It is this group who searches for real solutions that make cities sustainable and safer from the effects of climate change. This group understands that marginalized populations will suffer disproportionately without our help. Because the journalists who write for Next City understand your job, we can help you do your job.
Next City already reports on sustainability and resilience, but we want to do more. In August, Next City reported on climate solutions implemented on a smaller scale, such as a North Miami neighborhood that is repurposing a lot prone to flooding. In our housing newsletter, Backyard, correspondent Jared Brey reported on how disasters can become a “threat multiplier” on the affordable housing shortage. And in Philadelphia, Jared also reported on the explosion at an oil refinery and the possible future of what had been the city’s biggest single source of greenhouse gas emissions. “If the world expects to forestall the worst effects of climate change, economies will have to rebuild with less fossil-fuel demand, and sites like these will need to be reimagined everywhere,” wrote Brey. This is exactly why we do the work we do.
To drive home the urgency of the climate crisis, Next City must ramp up our reporting. That means writing more stories. With $24,000, we can do a story every month for a year on small-scale solutions. Or we could run five in-depth, 3,000-word features, like the oil refinery story from Philadelphia. The bottom line is that Next City is a nonprofit news organization, and we rely on your support to fund these stories.
Will you donate $50 today to more reporting on climate? Or, if you’ve already donated, please consider becoming a sustaining member at $10 per month. Every bit makes a difference in the number of solutions we can uncover and share with you.
Sincerely,
Lucas Grindley
Executive Director
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