Columbia Energy Exchange Amy Harder on Climate and Energy Reporting
Dec 2, 2025
Amy Harder, a national energy correspondent at Axios with over 15 years of experience in energy and climate journalism, explores the shifting landscape of climate reporting. She discusses the declining coverage of climate issues, the changing role of AI in journalism, and the importance of local news for energy stories. Harder emphasizes the need for transparency in reporting and the challenge of maintaining trust amid skepticism. She also highlights the evolving nature of stories—from the fracking boom to clean-tech and the urgency of addressing climate impacts.
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AI Is Reshaping Journalism
- AI is already reshaping journalism and will intensify its impact on how reporters work and what tasks remain human.
- Amy Harder says journalists must decide what human skills to retain as machines take over routine writing.
Reporting From Fracking Communities
- Amy Harder described reporting on fracking in places like North Dakota and Greeley, Colorado to capture local impacts.
- Those early beats shaped her understanding of economic and environmental trade-offs in energy coverage.
Don't Let AI Replace Core Reporting
- Avoid outsourcing core reporting and writing to AI because it erodes critical thinking and produces clichéd prose.
- Amy Harder warns journalists to use AI for research but keep control of analysis and storytelling.