Revkin accepting buy-out, heading for Pace University

Andrew Revkin, the New York Times reporter who probably has done more than any other journalist to raise public awareness about the issue of climate change, is accepting a buy-out. He will leave the Times after returning from covering the climate talks in Copenhagen.

Andy will be heading for a position as a senior fellow for environmental understanding at  Pace University’s Academy for Applied Environmental Studies in White Plains, New York. He’ll do some teaching, continue writing, and develop some new exciting initiatives.

For more information, see Christine Russel’s post at the Columbia Journalism Review.

[UPDATE: This evening, Bud Ward, director of the Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media, posted an excellent analysis of what Revkin's departure means for the coverage of climate change and sustainability. Ward's post also examines the criticism Revkin has been receiving from climate skeptics, climate activists and climate scientists alike.]

[UPDATE: Joe Romm, ever true to form, shows in his post today about Revkin's departure from the Times why he has absolutely no class. "To me," Romm writes, "he leaves a mixed legacy — as these ClimateProgress posts demonstrate..." But there's nothing "mixed" about the list that follows: 10 of Romm's patented blog attacks that excoriate Revkin for one alleged transgression or another. Andy has written hundreds of stories on climate change, and an equal number of blog posts, and no doubt there are some clunkers among them. But overall, he has compiled a huge record of accomplishment. Yet Romm cannot seem to find it in himself to say even a single positive thing about Revkin. Not one single positive comment. ]

I’ve known Andy since 1981, where we both started our careers as science writers at a magazine called Science Digest. On a personal level, while I’m sorry to see the Times lose him (and I think their environmental coverage will never be the same), I’m also very happy for him. In recent years, the demands of reporting for the Times and maintaining his ground-breaking blog, DotEarth, have consumed pretty much all of his waking hours. In a recent conversation, he even admitted that he wasn’t playing guitar much — and Andy is an extraordinarily talented musician. When I heard that, I knew something had to give. On balance, I’m glad it finally has.

With this transition to academia, I’m hoping Andy will have more time to reflect on what he’s learned as a journalist — and to share it with his students as well as all of us through continued blogging and other efforts. I’m also looking forward to seeing him move into a new role of public intellectual on the most important issue humanity has ever faced. As Andy sums it up in his blog, that issue is “Nine billion people. One planet.”