The Influencer List Day 8: Amy Harder

Welcome to Day 8 of our 12 Days of Christmas' "The Influencer List" ~ 12 leading thinkers helping re-write the climate and energy narrative in 2024.

(Be sure to hit the 🛎️ on my profile so you'll be notified each day when I publish the next Influencer, and check out my profile to see any of the prior posts!)

How are we over halfway through on this series already🤯?We've featured some really great people the past week, people's whose influence has made some really great steps towards transitioning to clean energy ☀️

If you just now subscribed to Valence (thank you btw!), all the way through Jan 6 we're featuring daily influencers in the clean energy industry who we think YOU should follow in 2024 🙂 So without further ado, let's see which influencer is marking one week of this series today

Drumroll please...our next leader on the list of influencers YOU should be following in 2024 is:

Day 8: Amy Harder

There is no question that Amy Harder has become one of the more influential voices in journalism with respect to the energy transition. Many of you will recognize Amy harder as an energy and climate reporter for Axios whose eponymous article series was renowned for hard-hitting and award-winning journalistic integrity. Harder was also the inaugural journalism fellow for the University of Chicago Energy Policy Institute for the 2018-2019 school year. Earlier in her career, she covered energy and climate-change issues for The Wall Street Journal and National Journal. Harder has appeared on “PBS NewsHour,” C-SPAN, MSNBC, CBS, and NPR, among others, and speaks at events around the world.

Amy Harder is presently executive editor of Cipher News, a weekly newsletter supported by Breakthrough Energy that covers the opportunities and challenges of the energy transition. Amy is one of the top national energy & climate change reporters in the world and is respected by many for her balanced and influential journalism. Her recognition includes the 2022 Energy Writer of the Year Award from American Energy Society.

Any Harder never misses the mark when reporting crucial climate news.

Here's why [else] you should follow her in 2024:

1. Experience: With years of experience as a journalist, Amy brings a unique perspective to climate and energy issues. She has over a dozen years of climate journalism under her belt, beginning at National Journal, covering the fracking and oil and natural gas boom in the 2010s. She was then recruited by The Wall Street Journal, and then Axios in 2017 as one of only two energy reporters when the publication launched that year! Fast forward to 2021 when Amy was recruited by Breakthrough Energy to birth Cipher News later that same year (starting as a newsletter), and turned into a full-fledged news website in 2023!

2. Cracking the Code: Amy has a knack for explaining complex topics in a clear and engaging way. The name "Cipher" isn't random- cipher means "a secret or disguised way of writing; a code" and Cipher News aims to DECODE the complex topics of climate news so people from all levels in the industry can understand what is happening in the world (as well as people not in the industry who want to stay informed). Amy's writing is straight to the point, with clear language, statistics, and graphics that help the reader understand the topic as hand. Check out the latest article from Amy that discusses COP28, further demonstrating Cipher's mission of "decoding" complex climate topics!

3. Influence: Amy's work at Cipher News is widely read and respected, but not only is Amy an incredible climate and energy journalist, she's also a LinkedIn Top Voice, meaning she's are part of a trusted group of experts on the platform (an invitation-only group, might I add). So not only is Amy's work recognized and respected from Cipher, her expertise has garnered her a true badge of honor on THIS professional (social) platform!

Amy Harder's influence on climate journalism has made her a recognized and respected figure in the industry, capable of reporting on complex topics in a way that everyone can understand, driving their mission of climate awareness and solutions forward. If you'd like to see her in action (for you video junkies out there) before you make up your mind to follow her, I'd recommend any of the various panels she spoke on at last year's Aspen Ideas Festival.

Then, follow Amy on X and LinkedIn and take a look at her work on Cipher News.