Introducing Window guest editor Amy Harder

Amy Harder, the founding executive editor of Cipher News, is providing guidance and expertise this month as Window magazine’s guest editor in an issue devoted to the clean energy transition.

Cipher publishes news and analysis on clean energy and the technologies that are helping to solve climate change, including the national and international trends in policy, geopolitics, and economics that shape them. Cipher’s explanatory journalism helps raise both leaders’ and the public’s awareness of clean tech solutions.

“There are a lot of new climate technologies coming into the world over the coming decades. Business and policy leaders, along with the public, need a much greater awareness of them,” Harder says. “We need to make sure the world understands everything from electric cars, to solar and wind, to hydrogen.”

Harder launched Cipher in 2021 after covering energy and climate for several national publications, including Axios, the Wall Street Journal, and the National Journal.

She and her team of five reporters and editors are based in the U.S., Europe, and have a rotating presence in the Middle East and Asia. They strive to provide “richer, more well-rounded” content to industry and policy insiders as well as anyone concerned about climate change and interested in new technologies.  

“The world doesn’t need more content,” Harder says, “it needs more good content.”

Cipher’s content is free to access and there is no advertising. The publication is supported by Breakthrough Energy, an organization founded by Bill Gates to advance clean energy technologies.

“We don’t advocate,” Harder says. “We certainly acknowledge that climate change is a big problem, that we need to solve it, and that technologies are an important part of the solution. Beyond that we don’t take perspectives and instead seek to provide a forum to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the transition.”

Examples of recent coverage include an explainer on hydrogen power, carbon markets and public funding mechanisms for clean tech. Cipher reporters also dive into data related to electric car sales, wind and solar energy, and climate tech venture capital.  Their Clean Technology Tracker maps the progress of projects throughout the U.S. from planning to operation.

Cipher also partners with The Associated Press to co-develop articles that are distributed throughout the AP’s worldwide network. The first story in partnership with AP profiled a program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology teaching students to mediate disputes related to clean energy developments.

“That’s an example of the type of technology story that’s interesting to a broad number of people,” Harder says. “It’s also extremely important to the development of clean energy, because if you can’t build new energy infrastructure, we’re not going to effectively address climate change. At the same time, you need to make sure that you’re being receptive and open and collaborative with communities.”