A winter solstice message from Currently's founder, Eric Holthaus

Hi everyone, it’s been awhile.

If it seems like you haven’t read a Currently email in awhile, you’d be right. This is our first email since December 1st, and over the past three weeks I’ve been meeting with our writers, investors, and potential partners to chart a sustainable path forward for our organization.

And I’ve come to a temporary conclusion: We’re taking a publishing break.

Winter solstice is an appropriate time to share this news. It’s the darkest day of the year — but it’s also the moment when the sun literally pauses in the sky, reverses course and begins the slow journey back towards midsummer.

It’s my favorite day of the year. It’s the moment when you absolutely know that no matter what you’ve been through in the year you’ve just finished, there’s only more light ahead.

It’s been a year of transition at Currently. Almost exactly one year ago, we completed one of the biggest crowdfunding fundraises in the history of climate journalism. In April, we almost landed two major advertising partnerships, either of which would have powered our goal of becoming a weather service for the climate emergency for everyone — regardless of language or ability to pay. In the end, neither came through. In May, we parted with all our staff in the hopes that refocusing on our member-supported newsletters would be able to power those same goals without outside support. In November, we attempted another smaller crowdfund that didn’t work.

So, there’s really no choice now but to hunker down for awhile, and continue doing the work of bringing our shared vision into being.

During this time of transition, paid members should feel free to put your renewals on pause, or cancel your paid subscriptions altogether. However, continuing your paid subscription (or even starting a new one) will be the fastest way for us to resume our regular publishing schedule.

Again, in our current membership structure, there is no difference in member benefits between our free and paid plans — other than paid members help keep our service running and receive ownership shares.

The most important thing that everyone should know is: Like the promise of the winter solstice itself, you have my promise that we’ll be back.

In the meantime, I’ll be focusing all of my energy on three things:

• Getting our new weather service up to full speed + inviting everyone currently on the waitlist

• Seeking out new publication partners for Currently newsletters to massively expand our reach

• Growing our new distribution partnership with Blue Raven Solar

Oh yeah, we just landed a super exciting partnership that I’m thrilled to tell you about.

Blue Raven Solar is now partnering with Currently to provide discounted rooftop solar just for Currently readers across the US. It’s a partnership that I’m hoping will help us expand our reach to new cities, and also help our readers save money and save the Earth at the same time.

If you own your home and reading this from the United States, there’s a great chance that you qualify for a subsidized solar system for your house. We put together a two-minute survey that will help us check to see if your home qualifies, and then I will personally run the numbers for you and do a one-hour consult to help you collaboratively design your system. If everything sounds good at that point, you’ll get 18 months free solar + a special Currently discount when you schedule your install.

Book your time with me here:

My partner and I got our solar system installed this summer from Blue Raven and it was such a great process. So much so that I reached out to their headquarters to ask for a deeper partnership, and they accepted.

Over the past several weeks, Blue Raven trained me with some of the best solar experts in the nation, and it’s been a thrilling process. I strongly urge anyone reading this who has considered solar to take the quiz and book some time with me. This is a super great opportunity and I’m so excited to help bring solar to more families through Currently.

Thanks so much for reading Currently, and I’ll be providing periodic regular updates of our progress on the weather service, the newsletters, and our solar installations.

May you have good weather,

— Eric Holthaus