ClimateProgress Defunct (Joe Romm goes general)

“Joe Romm’s for-the-moment exaggerations (“stunning” was his favorite adjective for what was liked; “heads exploding” was his refrain for the disliked) grew tiresome. Crying wolf for so long resulted in laryngitis, media-wise.”

Nothing is forever. But if the “indispensible blog” for climate alarmism/forced energy transformation (per Thomas Friedman) is shut down in an age of virtually unlimited green funding and rampant climate media alarm, then something seems amiss.

With its last post dated September 5th, there is no new content at ClimateProgress (2006–2019).

Maybe, just maybe, the creeds of the founder/leader of Climate Progress
(2006–2019) grew tiresome and turned off the incremental audience the site was intended to influence. Joe Romm, after all, was only for the hardcore, although MasterResource tracked him closely as a leading scribe of modern Malthusian angst.

“Front Page Live”

Joe Romm is not gone. He is reinventing himself with Front Page Live, advertised as a “Left” version of The Drudge Report. Good luck with that; Drudge has influence across the political spectrum as a barometer of news-story importance.

Media Bias/Fact Check, a watchdog group, summarized Romm’s new venture as follows:

Launched in 2019 and co-founded by Joe Romm, Front Page Live (FPL) is a progressive news and opinion website. The website does not disclose the other co-founders or how the website was/is funded.

However, through a search we uncovered that former Fox News Reporter Carl Cameron is the other co-founder. Front Page Live provides a masthead that lists top level people associated with the website as well as a description of their mission:

“At Front Page Live, we don’t tell you what to think. We share stories and articles we trust and let you make your own informed decisions…about what you can do for issues you care deeply about.  We’re dedicated to real facts, diverse voices, and the support of honest journalism that tells the truth and reflects the values and voices of the majority of Americans.”

Joe Romm currently serves as CEO and Editor-in-Chief. Joe Romm is the founding editor of ClimateProgress.

Interpreting a Reinvention

This seems to be a setback for Romm given all of the self-written glory at Wiki. For instance,

Romm’s 2018 book, How to Go Viral and Reach Millions, “teaches everything from word choice to how to recast your scientific stories in ways that connect with people emotionally. … Romm teaches [how] to become a force of good in this world using time-tested techniques”.

Reviewing Romm’s 2010 book Straight Up, Bill McKibben wrote that Romm “knows his climate science … [and] has been a persuasive voice for the most important truth about global warming: that it is a far worse problem than either politicians or the general public understand. … Romm has been consistent in insisting that we have much of the technology necessary to at least begin tackling the problem.”

[McKibbon] called Romm

a tireless foil to the ‘right-wing disinformation machine’ that has tried – with great success … to delay action by confusing and disheartening Americans about global warming. … It requires a thick skin to take on the daily task of dealing with the disinformers, but Romm has the taste for this kind of blood sport, and the talent as well.

But as I postulated in Petulant Joe Romm Tries to Expand His Climate/Energy Reach, his for-the-moment exaggerations (“stunning” was his favorite adjective for what he liked; “heads exploding” was his refrain for the disliked) grew tiresome. Crying wolf for so long resulted in laryngitis, media-wise.

Front Page Live covers all the Left/Progressive issues, with one section devoted to climate change: #ClimateCrisis (after #ViralNow, #Impeachment, #2020 Race–and before #Justice and #CarlCameron. So the planet’s “existential crisis” of global warming/climate change now has to take its place alongside America’s next election.

What is the argument? In a July 2019 post, We Don’t have 12 Years to Save the Climate. We Have 14 Months, Romm opined:

If the world is to have any plausible chance of saving the climate, we need the strongest possible action by 2030, and that means we need to elect a president in 2020 who understands the urgency, and who understands that deadlines matter in the face of irreversible catastrophe.

The war against Trump knows few boundaries. But when it comes to energy and climate, his reelection will help put a futile crusade against dense energy and consumers out of its misery. Call it the decline and fall of the Romm-an empire.