Amy Harder Headshot
Report a problem with this profile
[email protected]

Amy Harder        

Climate Change Journalist & Executive Editor of Cipher by Breakthrough Energy

Amy Harder is one of the top national energy and climate change reporters in the country, having built up a reputation over a decade of being a uniquely balanced and influential journalist with respect across the spectrum. She joined Breakthrough Energy in early 2021 to launch a new journalism initiative covering the opportunities and challenges of the energy transition. She also writes on these topics in her regular Harder Line column for Axios as an outside contributor.

Before joining Breakthrough, Amy was with Axios full time since shortly after it launched in 2017. In that role, Amy reported on trends and exclusive scoops, while also distilling into understandable formats complex energy and climate issues relevant to people outside the industry. Harder has interviewed some of the biggest CEOs in the energy industry, and at the same time bridges the gap between what CEOs say and what everyday people care about.

Previously, she covered the same issues for The Wall Street Journal, based out of its Washington, DC, bureau, and before that at National Journal, also in Washington DC. She was also the inaugural journalism fellow for the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute for the 2018-2019 school year, where she moderated events and took part in other university initiatives.

She has appeared on PBS' NewsHour, CSPAN, MSNBC, CBS, and NPR, among many other media outlets. She is regularly sought out to speak and participate in events, including moderating and participating in panel discussions and giving speeches around the country and world.

Amy’s arrival at Breakthrough coincides, serendipitously, with a move to Seattle. She is originally from Washington State and moved back in 2020, after a dozen years in Washington, D.C. She received a BA in journalism with honors from Western Washington University. She loves discovering the Pacific Northwest’s best trails for running and cross-country skiing.

Related Speakers View all


More like Amy