Going for it on Substack, final Friday "news" letter, David Keith on Geo-engineering

Following in the footsteps of the green chicken...

A Northern Cardinal going to town in my birdbath, January 6, 2023, 1:38 pm.

I remember well my first paycheck in journalism. In about 1987, I wrote a piece for Third Coast magazine for their entertainment section and was paid $40. The editor was Polly Lanning, who remains a dear friend of ours. Since then, I’ve published more than 1,000 articles and had bylines in dozens of publications ranging from the Christian Science Monitor and Field & Stream to Texas Monthly and the Washington Post. But over the past few months, I’ve realized that I need a change. I have seen the success that my friends, including Roger Pielke Jr. and Michael Shellenberger, are having on Substack. I’ve also had a front-row seat to the rank dishonesty of legacy media outlets. (Yes, I’m looking at you, New Yorker magazine). I’ve also enjoyed the simplicity and immediacy of the publishing process on Substack. In case you missed it, on Wednesday, I published this piece on whales and offshore wind.

This morning, I had a long chat with Doomberg (who was on the podcast last year) about Substack and how to grow an audience. Doomberg has one of the most successful Substacks on the platform. The famous green chicken encouraged me to give Substack a shot. Now, I don’t know about you, but whenever a chicken gives me directions, I follow them. Thus, this epistle will be the last one that uses the old format.

In 2023, I will focus my writing efforts on Substack. I may publish some pieces on other platforms over the course of the year. And I will keep building my speaking business. (I’ve already booked about 15 engagements for 2023. If you want me to talk to your group, send me an email.) But I am going to make Substack a primary focus of my work. For now, I am not going to accept paid subscriptions. (I know a few of you have done so already, thank you). Instead, I’m going to keep my Substack free and focus on building my audience. When the time is right, I will switch to a paid model. It’s a little painful to make this switch as my Friday “news” letter has been rewarding. It’s been a pleasure to get such positive feedback about my predilection for birds and birdwatching. But it is time for a change. Birding is an avocation, not a vocation. I want to make Substack the place where I can produce high-quality content and not have it filtered or diluted by someone else’s brand. It’s a challenge, but it’s one that I look forward to.

This week, I am including a note on the latest Power Hungry Podcast. And for old times’ sake, I included the photo above of a Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) taking a vigorous swim in the birdbath on my porch. But for the rest of 2023, this Substack will focus exclusively on my issues: energy, power, innovation, and politics.

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David Keith on geo-engineering

I’ve met a lot of people in my career. I’ve done hundreds of interviews with all kinds of people. I cannot sugar coat this: David Keith, a professor of applied physics at Harvard, was perhaps the most arrogant person I’ve ever talked to. A friend suggested I talk to Keith because of his work on geoengineering, a topic that I do not know well and wanted to learn more about. I was hoping to get a full hour with Keith, but as you will see, he cut the interview short. Despite his condescending attitude, it was an interesting discussion. He explained why we should be thinking seriously about injecting sulfur or other materials into the atmosphere to reduce the amount of solar radiation that hits the surface of the Earth, why the science of geoengineering needs more funding, and some of the issues that will have to be resolved to allow more robust experimentation with the technology. Keith has written a lot about the topic. For more see of his stuff, see here and here. The episode was recorded on September 28, 2022. For the transcript and audio, click here. And of course, it’s on YouTube. While you’re there, be sure to subscribe.

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