2/ “I sincerely hope you decide to stand with the journalists and other workers who make ProPublica the investigative powerhouse that it has become,” Schleuss wrote.

Dear Robin Sparkman and ProPublica board of directors: Our world needs more investigative journalism in the public interest. Continuing ProPublica’s mission will require a strong, fair collective bargaining agreement that uplifts journalistic integrity. And that means ProPublica needs to have contractual language prohibiting any potential for artificial intelligence to replace journalists and other workers who make ProPublica the important publication it is today. As the rare union leader with a background in journalism and computer programming, I fully support the need to leverage technology to improve our ability to tell stories. And there are many recent examples of how AI can be helpful in reporting, when used ethically. For example, ProPublica journalists published the “Deleting DEI” story, which chronicled how nonprofit organizations have removed language connected to diversity, equity and inclusion. Reporters used AI to help find DEI related scrubs from nonprofit statements. In “Gutted: How Deeply Trump Has Cut Federal Health Agencies,” reporters used AI to help categorize job types into groups. And then reporters manually checked them all. ProPublica journalists, represented by the Guild, have shown how AI can be used ethically, and they deserve newsroom leadership who agrees with its ethical use. Unfortunately, your leadership team is refusing common sense provisions at the bargaining table that would protect both jobs as well as the integrity of the journalism they produce. And now, 92% of ProPublica’s workers have voted to walk off the job in part due to the company’s stance on AI, in addition to its position on job security, layoff protections and wages. ProPublica management should follow the example set by nonprofit news organizations such as Grist, the Associated Press and others. For example, CalMatters has agreed to: • protect jobs from being eliminated because of AI • protect the salaries of employees from being reduced because of AI

• listen to workers’ input when evaluating the use of AI and get the consent of employees before handing off material to a third-party company for training AI systems • a strong editorial integrity clause, ensuring that AI is clearly labeled and is not published unless several requirements are met • obtain the consent of employees before impersonating someone using AI CalMatters agreed to these protections more than a year ago. Why would ProPublica management refuse similar protections? Time is quickly running out for your leadership team to make a decision that will determine whether the public can trust ProPublica on this important issue. I sincerely hope you decide to stand with the journalists and other workers who make ProPublica the investigative powerhouse that it has become. Jon Schleuss he/him President The NewsGuild - Communications Workers of America (TNG-CWA) cc: Paul Sagan Claire Bernard Tomiko Brown-Nagin Mark Colodny Steve Daetz Angela Filo Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Anu Khosla Jonathan Klein Carrie Lozano Claire Hoffman Katie McGrath Bobby Monks James M. Stone Charles Whitaker Paul Steiger

1/ Management at @propublica.org is refusing to agree to fair contract language around artificial intelligence usage, so @newsguild.org President Jon Schleuss wrote to them today to urge them to get on the right side of history.
www.propublicaguild.org/updates/news...

The Trump EPA Official in Charge of Methane Regulations Helped Write Oil Industry Argument Against Those Rules Before becoming a top official at the Environmental Protection Agency, Aaron Szabo was a lobbyist for the oil and gas industry. Metadata shows he helped draft a trade group’s 2022 letter to the EPA ob...

Aaron Szabo, as an oil industry lobbyist, helped draft a letter arguing against the methane rules that as a top Trump EPA official, he now oversees, reports @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Pay attention: Do you rely on @propublica.org's reporting and investigations right now? Support their reporters and workers

I’ve reported on some alt technologies to reduce whale strikes—such as AI systems to alert ship captains in real time—and one founder created it because reducing ship speeds wasn’t enough to save right whales. “We cannot afford to ever miss an animal,” he told me. www.biographic.com/ping-youve-g...

U.S. Judge says Kari Lake broke law in overseeing Voice of America He declared all of Lake's actions over the past year to be null and void, including the layoffs of more than 1,000 journalists and staffers.

U.S. Judge says Kari Lake broke law in overseeing Voice of America

www.npr.org/2026/03/08/n...

Screenshot of ProPublica webpage titled “Explore Financial Disclosures From President Trump and 1,500 of His Appointees,” accompanied by this blurb: “Use this database to explore potential conflicts of interest for President Donald Trump and his team. The documents disclose positions officials have held outside government, their assets and their debts, among other things.” A search bar prompts the user to search for a person or financial holding.

THREAD: We just released a tool that allows you to search billions of dollars in wealth, ties to the most powerful companies in the country, and details of the personal finances of President Trump and over 1,500 of his appointees.

Here’s how it works 1/

Trump EPA Abandons Climate Working Group Report in Endangerment Finding Repeal Emails from the hand-picked, secretive group of climate crisis deniers revealed flaws in their methods and “animus” toward leading scientists.

Quite a good article by @desmog.com about the DOE Climate Working Group report. Well done, @sharonkelly.bsky.social.

www.desmog.com/2026/02/13/t...

What we mean when we say the oil industry's "toxic wastewater" which can — and very likely does — get into people's drinking water.

More excellent reporting from @readfrontier.bsky.social and @propublica.org on what happens when the public, legislators, and regulators grapple with the legacy of historic oil and gas pollution and toxic wastewater, the amount of which only grows by the day.

The Climate Working Group was hand-picked by Energy Secretary Chris Wright "for their rigor, honesty, and willingness to elevate the debate." We see their actual process in hundreds of pages of emails and documents, including attacks on mainstream scientists and institutions and rushed review.

It’s expected to be published in the federal register on Tuesday, according to sources, from what I’m hearing.

“That level of warming would result in the loss of nearly all coral reefs and significant sea level rise that would overwhelm coastal communities.”

Trump’s EPA Just Used the Clean Air Act to Prop up Coal Power The Environmental Protection Agency threw out Colorado’s entire haze reduction plan, in what critics called ‘illegal’ and a possible warning to other states not to close fossil fuel plants.

Maybe you've heard about Energy Sec. Chris Wright and the DOE declaring "energy emergencies" to keep coal plants open? Now the EPA's using the Clean Air Act to do something similar in Colorado, with implications beyond. @joefassler.bsky.social for @desmog.com 👉
www.desmog.com/2026/02/09/t...

"the [economic] models assume the future will behave like the past, despite the burning of fossil fuels pushing the climate system into uncharted territory." "Investors should also speed up the move away from fossil fuels as a fiduciary duty to avoid large future losses, said Campanale."

Donate to Support for Washington Post international employees, organized by Michelle Lee Among the hundreds of journalists laid off by The Washington Post on … Michelle Lee needs your support for Support for Washington Post international employees

You can help cover rent, legal guidance, relocation to a new or safer country, and other urgent transition needs for former Washington Post international employees not covered by Guild protections, in places from Cairo to Mexico City. www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...

Whew, Upton, what era were you writing this book?

Q&A: Tech Billionaires’ AI Space Empire Fantasies Are ‘An Insidious Form of Climate Denial’ Science journalist Adam Becker speaks with DeSmog about how Silicon Valley tech billionaires have invented new forms of greenwashing and climate denial in their quest for ever-more fantastic technolog...

You know who isn't backing off right now? @desmog.com Just today, we published Rei Takver's Q&A with @adambecker.bsky.social about how Silicon Valley tech billionaires, those one time climate saviors, have invented new forms of greenwashing and climate denial 👀 www.desmog.com/2026/02/04/q...

Smart take as usual from @sammyroth.bsky.social on what the WaPo layoffs mean for climate reporting and democracy more broadly www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/washington...

Bezos orders deep job cuts at 'Washington Post' The Washington Post embarked on severe cuts despite appeals by the newsroom to owner Jeff Bezos. The paper is to narrow its focus largely to politics and national security.

My heart goes out to all the great Washington Post journalists who lost their jobs today. www.npr.org/2026/02/04/n...

Also, your Friday reminder that some birds are parasites (!) and just say no to parenting—but can teach us a lot about how species recognition works

Update: A judge ruled it was illegal when DOE “Secretary Chris Wright handpicked five researchers who reject the scientific consensus on climate change to work in secret on a sweeping government report on global warming.” @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/c...

Federal agents arrest journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for filming protest at St. Paul church • Minnesota Reformer Federal agents arrested independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for covering a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, where a pastor is also an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enf...

“Federal agents arrested independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for covering a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, where a pastor is also an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” minnesotareformer.com/briefs/feds-...

Trump’s biggest climate rollback stalls over fears it will lose in court Trump officials have delayed finalizing the repeal of the agency’s “endangerment finding” over concerns the proposal is too weak to withstand a court challenge.

"The White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which reviews agency regulations, has expressed concerns over the strength of the scientific and economic analysis of the proposed repeal, the people said." www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

After Decades of Deflection, ExxonMobil Moves to Reshape Global Climate Accounting For decades, ExxonMobil argued consumers, not oil giants, should take responsibility for fossil fuel pollution. It’s now backing Carbon Measures’ accounting scheme, which moves pollution “liabilities”...

yet another example from @desmog.com of how fossil asset owners fixate on "managing tons" thru carbon accounting to distract from the REAL problem: burning fossil fuels.

I write about why managing tons is doomed to fail extensively in my new book Existential Politics (link in bio).

Exxon-Backed Coalition Challenges How Companies Account for Emissions. Some Say It Could Stop Them From Decarbonizing. Leading climate figures argue the “E-ledgers” approach absolves businesses of their climate responsibilities.

And to complement this reporting, check out this @wsj.com story on Carbon Measures and climate leaders' critiques of its efforts to decarbonize, featuring a quote from @desmog.com's own Brendan DeMelle www.wsj.com/articles/exx...

After Decades of Deflection, ExxonMobil Moves to Reshape Global Climate Accounting For decades, ExxonMobil argued consumers, not oil giants, should take responsibility for fossil fuel pollution. It’s now backing Carbon Measures’ accounting scheme, which moves pollution “liabilities”...

The oil major and its affiliates for years have argued that consumers, not polluters, should take responsibility for oil and air pollution. @sharonkelly.bsky.social lays out the evidence in a timeline of industry documents, from the 1960s to 2020s. Dive in 👉 www.desmog.com/2026/01/23/e...

But ExxonMobil is simultaneously suing in California over the state's current climate disclosure laws, arguing "those frameworks send the counterproductive message that large companies are uniquely responsible for climate change." Critics say it's "a transparent delay tactic.”

Now ExxonMobil has joined the Carbon Measures coalition in an effort to reshape global climate accounting standards. The coalition says they "are focused on reducing the carbon intensity of the products responsible for the majority of global emissions."