Environment and Climate News Podcast

Earlier this week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its AR6 climate change report. Expectedly, the report is defined by serial doomcasting and claims of impending catastrophe despite the growing mountain of failed predictions that are conveniently ignored.One of the most controversial claims made in the report is that anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main driver of temperature change. Real-world data has proven this false, yet it’s the main takeaway in each IPCC report.First released on Monday was the “Summary for Policymakers,” a section intended to guide policymaking decisions across the globe. The AR6 report continues to omit key information in favor of sensationalized claims that are easily refuted. For example, the 36-page summary doesn’t include a single mention of the logarithmic relationship between atmospheric CO2 concentrations and global temperature. Surely, policymakers should know that each unit of CO2 added to the atmosphere has a decreasing effect on temperature. The IPCC’s omission of this relationship implies that the warming effect of CO2 concentrations is linear, leading policymakers to overestimate the impact of CO2 emissions on global temperature and overcommit to emissions reduction strategies that are expensive and ineffective.Don't miss this data-driven discussion with host Anthony Watts and panelists, H. Sterling Burnett and Linnea Lueken, on Climate Change Roundtable, live every Friday at 12pm CT on YouTube, Facebook, and Rumble.

In this week’s episode of Environment & Climate News, we ranked the 16 most widespread myths about climate change and had them face off in a head-to-head bracket-style tournament! Host Anthony Watts and guests H. Sterling Burnett, Linnea Lueken, and Jim Lakely will vote on which myth they believe is the most misleading or harmful. A surprise myth takes down an early favorite to win! Which one? Listen and find out!

Heartland Institute President James Taylor on Tuesday, March 14 was a guest on Tony Katz Today on WIBC radio in Indianapolis to talk about President Biden’s announcement this week about drilling in Alaska. (See our press release on that.)While the environmental left is angry at Biden for opening up any drilling in Alaska (the Willow Project), Taylor explains that the president actually closed off a lot more resources than he opened. “This is economic self-mutilation,” Taylor said. “The media is in the bag for the environmental crazies.”“We have more oil than Saudi Arabia. We have more oil than Russia,” Taylor said, adding that the drive for “green energy” will make the United States and the world dependent on rare earth minerals largely controlled by China. Enjoy this conversation on “energy security,” as Katz puts it in his interview with Taylor. 

In this episode of Environment & Climate News, we discuss how international agencies, corporations, and governments are treating developed countries as if they were back in the colonial era. Our guest, Vijay Jayaraj of the CO2 Coalition, highlights how climate policies and limits on energy and economic development are keeping the very poorest people in the world impoverished in an effort to fight the Western elites' boogeyman, climate change.Jayaraj argues that it is immoral to deny developing economies use of coal, oil, and gas. More, climate change does not pose a threat to the world's poor. But poverty, lack of food, and lack of other essentials which fossil fuel use can advance, does.Join us as we explore the intersection between climate change policies, economic development, and poverty reduction.

Join us on Environment & Climate News as we explore the latest insights on climate policies and the use of flawed climate models in shaping them. Today’s podcast features Ron Davison of Friends of Science who discusses the importance of balancing climate change discussions with real data and the need for policies that make people wealthier to better adapt to inevitable occurrences of extreme weather events.

In this episode of Environment & Climate News, we dive into the controversial topic of offshore wind power and its potential negative impact on the environment and economy. We explore the violation of the Endangered Species Act through the construction of wind turbines in the critical habitat of the North Atlantic Right Whale, which could threaten its survival, and the potential loss of the domestic seafood supply due to the disruption of the commercial fishing industry.We also examine the high costs and minimal reduction of carbon dioxide emissions associated with this renewable energy source, raising the question of whether offshore wind power is a sustainable solution for our energy needs.

One of the most common accusations against climate change skeptics is that they are in the pocket of big oil and other corporations. These claims are often made without evidence and are used as a smear tactic to imply that climate skeptics receive dirty money.In reality, climate skeptics receive a negligible amount of funding compared to the vast amount of money invested in climate research and political causes. The argument is pointed at the wrong side.In a recent article titled "Politics, cash, fame: what motivates climate change deniers,” author Roland Lloyd Parry parrots the claim that climate skeptics are purely motivated by greed.In episode 50 of Climate Change Roundtable, Anthony Watts, Sterling Burnett, and Linnea Lueken will explore the issues surrounding climate fun

Zero-emission energy mandates are undermining grid reliability and substantially increasing energy costs in Minnesota and Wisconsin. These mandates pose similar problems for the grid nationwide. Public utilities are profiting from the legislative push for zero-emission energy mandates. Unfortunately, these mandates increase the amounts of expensive, intermittent wind and solar added to the grid. increasing black outs and brown outs. Legislators should put an end to the premature retirement of existing coal plants to ensure grid reliability. Reliability, not fighting climate change, should be the primary goal of public utility commissions. 

In general, natural gas appliances are more efficient and less expensive to purchase and operate than electric appliances. Claims that they are a public health threat based on a single study by an environmental group are refuted by decades of safe use. Proposals floated by the Biden administration and New York's governor to ban various natural gas appliances have sparked a backlash, and rightly so, since this robs consumers of choice for no real benefit.

In his book Clean Energy Crisis, Donn Dears explains why it is impossible for society to reach net zero carbon emissions. Dears explains why it would be a bad idea to attempt to go net zero if this was a realistic possibility. Fossil fuels are energy dense, having relatively little impact on the land and environment. Wind and solar require far more land, leaving a massive environmental "footprint." Not only are the so-called green energy replacements for fossil fuels not green, but they are expensive and unreliable. As wind and solar power is added to the grid, lives are placed at risks from outages while jobs are lost due to unreliable energy supplies.