Welcome to Point Source! A few months ago, Emily Sanders said goodbye after a six-year run writing ExxonKnews and she promised there was something new in the works.

Here it is: Emily and longtime investigative climate reporter Rebecca Leber are teaming up on a new and expanded outlet called Point Source, where we aim to unearth stories about the fossil fuel industry’s power and influence. 

Our name Point Source is a reference to identifiable sources of pollution like a gas flare, a smoke stack, a tailpipe of a car, or a waste incinerator. Like the name implies, we aim to point to who and what are driving the most important threats to the climate and public, capturing the voices of key sources and the stories of people confronting those threats. 

We’re launching this project as the media landscape is changing rapidly and outlets are increasingly pulling back from climate change coverage. While there are bright spots in independent media (a few of our favorites being HEATED, Floodlight, DeSmog, and Drilled), many major media outlets have scaled back their climate coverage and laid off reporters. NPR, CBS, PBS, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post have pivoted away from climate beats as the Trump administration suppresses science. We need sharp watchdog reporting more than ever, not less of it.

You can expect Point Source to be committed to expanding the too-small ecosystem of watchdog reporting, centering accountability and exposing bad-faith actors in our coverage. As our About page explains, this is a project of the Center of Climate Integrity, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, but our work is a reflection of the editorial decisions of the Point Source team, not of the CCI organization. 

Our commitment remains, as always, to high editorial standards of accuracy and fairness, as was true during ExxonKnews’ tenure. We’d like to introduce you to the core team who will bring readers more of these stories.

Rebecca Leber, who has worked for Vox, Mother Jones, Grist, and The New Republic covering climate change, is joining Emily Sanders to cover even more ground on fossil fuel disinformation. She has been recognized by Covering Climate Now for work that “puts peoples’ everyday lives first and often exposes surprising cracks in systems and best-laid plans… Leber’s work is at once authoritative and accessible.” Her past reporting on the risks of gas stoves, and influence of the fossil fuel industry have helped lead to congressional inquiries and canceled government contracts. Fresh off an investigation exposing the natural gas industry’s strategic campaign to sell gas as “clean energy” and a climate solution, she is looking forward to a more regular reporting and editing schedule once again. 

Emily is a veteran reporter covering fossil fuel accountability. She started ExxonKnews in 2019 and grew it into a “must follow,” co-publishing investigations with Grist, HEATED, The Lever, Atmos, DeSmog, The Lens, and partnering with Covering Climate Now. Her original reporting has exposed oil industry lobbying to curb pipeline safety regulations, analyzed Exxon’s scheme to market “low-carbon” data centers, uncovered a quiet collaboration between government and the plastics industry, explained how oil companies could follow in the gun industry’s footsteps, and more. She regularly covers lawsuits against oil companies and the industry’s growing efforts to escape the courtroom.

The two of us are teaming up to bring readers an accountability lens that is so often missing from existing news coverage.

One event we’re looking ahead to is the October 5 Supreme Court arguments in Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County. Oil companies ExxonMobil and Suncor will argue that the justices should stop a lawsuit brought by the city and county of Boulder, Colorado, which would make the companies help pay for local climate costs because of their decades-long deceptive practices about the dangers of burning fossil fuels, from moving toward trial. The outcome could have major implications for dozens of similar lawsuits around the country. 

One of the first stories we’re publishing this week gives a lay of the land of how industry maneuvering is trying to change the landscape of legal accountability for the fossil fuel industry. You can also catch us in person and over Zoom the next few weeks. Emily is moderating a press briefing with Covering Climate Now on covering the Boulder case on September 23. Rebecca will be joining Rebecca John and Fieldnotes’ Julie Kane for a briefing on natural gas deception on September 16. Both of us will be in-person at New York’s Climate Week, and we are looking for events that should be on our radars. You can take a look at our new website here.

With our growing team, we have plans for more partnerships, more enterprise reporting, and new ambitions. Stay tuned.

Here are two new stories this week:

“They’re pulling out all the stops”: Big Oil’s all-encompassing attacks on climate lawsuits  

The fossil fuel industry and its allies are coordinating to end lawsuits that could make oil and gas companies pay for climate damages. 

The Colorado ranchers taking on Big Oil

As the Supreme Court considers a climate lawsuit against oil companies, ranchers say their livelihoods are caught in the fray.