Written by 
As a reader of Canada’s National Observer, I don’t have to tell you that as a country we’re at a fork in the road that will decide how we respond to the climate emergency.
Worldwide, we’re the fourth largest producer of oil and fifth largest producer of gas. With global action to transition off fossil fuels underway (albeit far too slowly), it’s morally repugnant that here at home governments are plying the world with even more of the problem.
This is why I’m reaching out to you today with urgency: we’ve set an ambitious goal of raising $150,000 to strengthen our climate journalism when it matters most. Your support now will help us hire more reporters, conduct deeper investigations, and reach more Canadians with essential climate journalism. Can we count on you to help us get there?
As a planet, we’re on track for 2024 to be the hottest year on record. Yet another year of runaway emissions wrecking ecosystems, threatening human health, imposing steep economic risks, and tearing our social fabric as mis/disinformation erodes trust in the scientific reality before us, polarizing our communities.
Just look south of the border, where the U.S. election of Donald Trump and his “drill baby drill” agenda threatens to wipe out all progress made over the last five years deploying renewables around the world — twice over. Make no mistake, torching climate and environmental policies in service of defending the oil and gas industry can happen here too. And if polls are to be believed, it’s more than likely to be our reality when Canadians vote sometime next year.
As journalists working at the intersection of climate change and politics, this will be a pivotal time for Canada’s National Observer, but we need your support.
Regardless of which party forms our next government, we will need strong journalism holding decision makers’ feet to the fire. Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are threatening to unwind most climate policies, seeing climate change as a cultural wedge issue to rile up their base. Meanwhile, Justin Trudeau’s beleaguered Liberals have introduced a number of climate policies, but they’re often too weak. We are not yet on track to meet our targets.
No matter who is elected, you can count on us to investigate and expose cozy relationships between policy makers and fossil fuel companies, write explainers that cut through the noise, and provide news, day in, day out, that we hope helps you navigate this crisis.
But with your support we could do so much more. We could travel to areas most impacted by fossil fuel development, bringing you reporting from the frontlines of the climate crisis. We could devote more time to the investigative reporting that moves the needle. We could dive into solutions journalism in new, groundbreaking ways. But all of this takes time and resources.
Since I last wrote to you with my cap out, I’ve revealed how Natural Resources Canada tapped the Canadian Gas Association to help develop the federal hydrogen strategy, exposed Canadian conservatives bringing an American provocateur to Alberta to learn how to wage a culture war, and combed through bank filings to uncover the fossil fuel linked board directors shaping how Bay Street delays climate action. In Canadian media, you’ll be hard-pressed to find consistent, critical climate investigations anywhere else.
Beyond investigations, earlier this year we launched our Powering Up series. If you’ve missed this, it’s a deep dive into how Canada is preparing power grids for the clean energy economy of tomorrow. It’s a deeply political issue, often pitting regions against each other at a time when genuine collaboration is needed. But I think it’s also a great example of how we do explainers at Canada’s National Observer. We aim to put an issue on the table, break it down to what’s important and ask how did we get here, what does it mean, and what comes next?
Responding to climate change is a slow-moving ship, and our next federal government will make or break our 2030 targets. So my question to you is: Where will you be in 2030? Will it be a Canada that has actually cut emissions and is on track for a sustainable economy? Or will we fall even further behind?
Long-lasting influence comes from the steady stream of articles that inform our national conversations about climate change. I want Canada’s National Observer to be the go-to source for every person interested in understanding Canada’s response to climate change. To achieve this, CNO needs to continue growing our reach, hiring more reporters, editors, photojournalists and more. To do this, we need your financial help.
So on that note, I’ll end with this. As reporters, we may get paid by CNO, but we work for you.
You’ll be in good company. We’re grateful to count government ministers, NGO leaders, activists, CEOs, UN delegates, university professors, and more among our supporters who rely on our journalism to understand Canada’s changing climate. Your support means we can continue to help inform millions of Canadians about the essential climate stories that affect their lives.