Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Politics

The Great Clamming-Up

No one wants to talk about Trump — at least not to a reporter.

Walking away from a megaphone.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

These are strange times to be a reporter. The vice president has openly mocked journalists concerned about apparently arbitrary limits to their reporting abilities. Referring to the Gulf of Mexico as such can get you barred from the White House. Say the wrong thing on air and one of the most powerful people in the country might demand you face “a long prison sentence.”

The Trump administration’s flagrant disregard for the law and its mass firings of career civil servants have created an atmosphere of chaos and confusion — one that reaches far beyond Washington. In recent weeks, longtime reliable sources have ghosted Heatmap reporters. Household-name brands and organizations, sought for comment on the administration’s new policies, have avoided responding to queries or apologized for “not being able to contribute at the moment.” Questions sent to government email addresses have begun to return to sender. The pattern of hesitance cuts across sectors: advocacy groups, academics, nonprofits, and commercial enterprises have all declined to comment.

In my own experiences as a reporter, I’ve never found it this difficult to get people to speak with me. To be fair, not everyone has clammed up: Last week, I had an excellent conversation with Corley Kenna and Matt Dwyer, Patagonia’s chief impact officer and vice president of product footprint, respectively, in which we candidly discussed how much Biden-era policies informed their ambitious corporate sustainability goals (almost not at all, they said), as well as some of the backtracking on green initiatives by banks and other major corporations since Trump has taken office.

But tight lips nevertheless abound, and for a number of reasons. Some sources have said they’re unable to offer additional information or clarity on a situation; even experts often can’t hazard a guess as to what will happen next. For example, my colleague Jael Holzman has reported on the “confusing state of affairs” for the renewables industry, with the Army Corps of Engineers sending contradictory messages. The entire federal environmental review process is currently a giant question mark as well — never mind the overarching uncertainty of whether Trump is allowed to be doing any of this in the first place.

But I suspect there’s a more significant reason sources have clammed up: fear. Some might be worried about what will happen if they stick their necks out and are playing a sort of wait-and-see game with everyone else; others, justifiably, might be scared of more direct forms of retribution. Some organizations have policies against their employees speaking on Trump-related developments, or are otherwise preparing or engaged in lawsuits that prevent them from talking to the press more candidly. Even offers to go off the record or publish comments anonymously have been turned down. The hesitation is understandable: Musk and Trump have said they’re eager to snuff out “leakers.”

This makes it challenging to report stories, of course. But it’s also, more existentially, a crisis of democracy. “Although the press is not always the first institution to be attacked when a country’s leadership takes an antidemocratic turn, repression of free media is a strong indication that other political rights and civil liberties are in danger,” Freedom House, a global watchdog, writes. An independent and free press serves to hold power accountable, and it relies on the stories and voices of the people in order to do that well.

The more difficult it becomes to find people willing — or able — to speak freely about what they’re seeing and experiencing, the ever more vital it becomes to report just that.

And, well, if you do have something you want to get off your chest? You know where to find us.

Green

You’re out of free articles.

Subscribe today to experience Heatmap’s expert analysis 
of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability.
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
or
Please enter an email address
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
Politics

AM Briefing: Big Oil's Green Contrarian

On abandoning Antarctica, an EV milestone, and this week’s big earnings

An Oil Giant Makes a Contrarian Bet on Clean Energy
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Heavy rainfall in China has left at least 30 dead as forecasters predicts more days of downpours ahead • Severe thunderstorms are hitting the Midwest as a cold front suppresses the heat dome • The wildfires blazing across Canada are stretching into Alaska, with dozens of fires raging in the foothills of the Brooks Range.


THE TOP FIVE

1. An oil giant bucks the majors by betting on green energy

Last year, oil giants Shell, ExxonMobil, and BP either abandoned their decarbonization goals or dialed down investments in green energy. Last week, the Financial Times also reported that the oil industry had put its effort to establish a net-zero emissions standard on pause as major companies quit the initiative. But at least one oil titan is doubling down on clean energy. On Monday, the Italian oil giant Eni said it expects its green business to rival revenues from oil and gas within a decade.

Keep reading...Show less
Yellow
A heat dome.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Like a bomb cyclone, a polar vortex, or an atmospheric river, a heat dome is a meteorological phenomenon that feels, well, a little made up. I hadn’t heard the term before I found myself bottled beneath one in the Pacific Northwest in 2021, where I saw leaves and needles brown on living trees. Ultimately, some 1,400 people died from the extreme heat in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon that summer weekend.

Since that disaster, there have been a number of other high-profile heat dome events in the United States, including this week, over the Midwest and now Eastern and Southeastern parts of the country. On Monday, roughly 150 million people — about half the nation’s population — faced extreme or major heat risks.

Keep reading...Show less
Climate

AM Briefing: Congress Saves Energy Star

On betrayed regulatory promises, copper ‘anxiety,’ and Mercedes’ stalled EV plans

Congress Balks at Trump’s Bid to Shoot Down Energy Star
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: New York City is once again choking on Canadian wildfire smoke • Torrential rain is flooding southeastern Slovenia and northern Croatia • Central Asia is bracing for the hottest days of the year, with temperatures nearing 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Uzbekistan’s capital of Tashkent all week.


THE TOP FIVE

1. Congress pushes back on Trump’s plan to kill Energy Star

In May, the Trump administration signaled its plans to gut Energy Star, the energy efficiency certification program administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. Energy Star is extremely popular — its brand is recognized by nearly 90% of Americans — and at a cost to the federal government of just $32 million per year, saves American households upward of $40 billion in energy costs per year as of 2024, for a total of more than $500 billion saved since its launch in 1992, by the EPA’s own estimate. Not only that, as one of Energy Star’s architects told Heatmap’s Jeva Lange back in May, more energy efficient appliances and buildings help reduce strain on the grid. “Think about the growing demands of data center computing and AI models,” RE Tech Advisors’ Deb Cloutier told Jeva. “We need to bring more energy onto the grid and make more space for it.”

Keep reading...Show less
Yellow