The Trouble at Six Months

A letter to our readers at the six-month mark.

To our readers:

When we launched The Trouble six months ago, we did so because saw a gap that needed to be bridged. Namely, we needed a place to figure out how climate fits into the political project of the left, and how the climate left can win. In starting this magazine we sought to spur conversation between parts of the climate movement that aren’t talking to each other enough, to find commonalities that we can all rally around, to identify sticking points where we can challenge each other to become more coordinated and effective. Simply, we embarked on this journey because we want to connect, discuss, and learn from each other—because we recognized that working alone and isolated is a futile effort.

We pause here, at the six-month mark, to assess how our mission has changed and deepened, how our commitment has become more focused and specific since the magazine’s inception. We recommit ourselves to the notion that a movement is only as good as the ideas that it champions, and that it is therefore incumbent upon those of us in the climate movement to develop our strategies for victory with careful consideration of political economy, public policy, messaging, and philosophy. We are restating our mission by setting our sights on two broad questions, which will inform each article we publish: Where do we want to go? and How will we get there?

With these questions in mind, we shape our plans for the coming six months. We plan to facilitate more active discussions between branches of the climate movement, sparking debate on the policy and action of the climate left so that we might push each other on our positions and become sharper in our tactics and strategy. We’re doubling down on our commitment to political strategy as the focus of the magazine; this means both explaining and evaluating strategies that are being used in the movement, and exploring new ones. We also hope to draw in a more diverse range of contributors, with specific focus on racial and socioeconomic diversity, so that our publication is reflective of the issues and voices of those most urgently affected by the climate crisis.

Above all, we aim to improve our fight against climate destruction, acting in the spirit of the old Weber quote: “Here I stand, I can do no other.” We hope you will continue standing with us.

Editorial Board, The Trouble

Soren Dudley
Johnathan Guy
Sam Zacher

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