A viewer asked our panel a simple question: with everyone talking about affordability, what's the dumbest regulation ever justified by climate change?

The answers came fast. New York City's crackdown on coal- and wood-fired pizza ovens. Limits on burning wood in your fireplace. Pushes to get gas stoves out of restaurant kitchens. Tickets for warming up your car on a freezing morning. The auto stop-start feature that shuts your engine off at every red light. The phase-out of the incandescent light bulb. And Japan's government once urging people to go to bed early to help the climate.

None of these do anything measurable for the climate. They just make everyday life more expensive and more annoying.

From The Climate Realism Show #223, "Paper Straws Suck: SCIENCE!"

#ClimateRealism #ClimatePolicy #Regulations #Affordability #EnergyPolicy

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Show notes:

Story we're talking about: Viewer question from the live chat

Supporting evidence:

Proposed pizzeria rules could slice brick-oven emissions by 75% (CBS New York): https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/proposed-pizzeria-rules-could-slice-brick-oven-emissions-by-75/

Administrator Zeldin Eliminates Off-Cycle Credit for "Almost Universally Hated" Start-Stop Feature (EPA): https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/administrator-zeldin-eliminates-cycle-credit-almost-universally-hated-start-stop

An "alarming map" making the rounds says this year's Super El Niño will cause more than 373,000 additional heat deaths between now and March, with Nigeria, India and Brazil hit hardest. The projection comes from the Climate Impact Lab at the University of Chicago, and it's precise right down to the hundreds.

On this segment of The Climate Realism Show, meteorologist Anthony Watts explains why that number is the product of a computer model, not a body count, and why people don't just sit still while bad weather heads their way. He also recalls the UN-promoted prediction of 50 million "climate refugees" by 2010. The real number was zero, and the map making that claim was quietly taken down.

Craig Rucker of CFACT points out that these doom projections always seem to multiply right before a big UN climate summit. "These aren't death certificates."

The good news: this prediction is short-term and specific. The Climate Realism Show will check it this spring.

From The Climate Realism Show #223, "Paper Straws Suck: SCIENCE!"

#ClimateRealism #ElNino #ClimateModels #FactCheck #ClimateAlarmism

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Show notes:

Story we're talking about: https://nypost.com/2026/10/28/science/super-el-nino-map-shows-where-most-people-will-die-study/

Supporting evidence:

Missing migrants (Carbon Brief): https://www.carbonbrief.org/missing-migrants/

UN Embarrassed as "Climate Refugees" Fail to Show (Competitive Enterprise Institute): https://cei.org/blog/un-embarrassed-as-climate-refugees-fail-to-show

Candidates for governor in Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Texas want to pause or even ban new data centers, and some Republicans are on board. In Florida, Democratic nominee David Jolly says he'd halt new hyperscale data centers on his first day in office. The pitch: data centers will drive up your electric bill.

On this segment of The Climate Realism Show, the panel asks whether that's true. Linnea Lueken explains why many data centers build their own power plants and why communities should judge each project case by case instead of reaching for a blanket ban. Anthony Watts describes how data centers are reviving struggling rural towns with jobs and tax revenue. And Craig Rucker of CFACT explains why states packed with data centers, like Virginia and Texas, don't pay more for electricity. What drives your rates is how your state makes its power, not whether there's a data center down the road.

In Virginia's Loudoun County, data centers pay about a third of the county's tax revenue.

From The Climate Realism Show #223, "Paper Straws Suck: SCIENCE!"

#ClimateRealism #DataCenters #ElectricityPrices #EnergyPolicy #AI

Learn more about The Heartland Institute: https://heartland.org/

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Show notes:

Story we're talking about: https://dailycaller.com/2026/10/26/democrats-governor-races-data-center-moratorium-amy-acton-david-jolly-keisha-lance-bottoms-gina-hinojosa/

Supporting evidence:

Have Data Centers Driven Up Electricity Prices? The State-Level Data Don't Support the Narrative (Institute for Energy Research): https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/the-grid/have-data-centers-driven-up-electricity-prices-the-state-level-data-dont-support-the-narrative/

Loudoun County budget hit by data center $60m tax revenue shortfall (Data Center Dynamics): https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/loudoun-county-budget-hit-by-data-center-60m-tax-revenue-shortfall/

Remember when plastic straws were going to destroy the oceans? A new government study out of South Korea says the soggy paper straws that replaced them may actually be worse for the environment.

The study, commissioned by South Korea's Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, compared paper, plastic, biodegradable plastic and plant-based straws across 16 environmental categories over their entire life cycle. Paper straws came out with more than six times the potential cancer-causing emissions of plastic straws, and about twice the impact on acidification.

On this segment of The Climate Realism Show, the panel looks at how the anti-straw movement started (with a 9-year-old's estimate of how many straws Americans use), how activists, restaurants and regulators ran with it, and why it's part of a pattern. When California banned thin plastic grocery bags, stores switched to thicker "reusable" ones, and plastic bag waste went up by roughly half.

From The Climate Realism Show #223, "Paper Straws Suck: SCIENCE!"

#ClimateRealism #PaperStraws #PlasticStraws #Environment #UnintendedConsequences

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Show notes:

Story we're talking about: https://nypost.com/2026/10/26/lifestyle/paper-straws-worse-for-the-environment-than-plastic-ones-says-study/

Supporting evidence:

South Korean study finds paper straws have higher lifecycle impacts than plastic (Packaging Insights): https://www.packaginginsights.com/news/south-korea-straw-lifecycle-study.html

One child's outsized influence on the debate over plastic waste (NPR): https://www.npr.org/2018/07/22/631254978/one-childs-outsized-influence-on-the-debate-over-plastic-waste

California plastic bag waste increased in recent years, despite ban (FOX 11 Los Angeles): https://www.foxla.com/news/california-plastic-bag-waste-ban

Will Republicans maintain control of the U.S. Senate in the 2026 midterm elections? And which closely contested governor's races could deliver major surprises on Election Day?

The Heartland Institute's S.T. Karnick joins One America News Network (OAN) on October 27, 2026, to analyze the key races that could reshape America's political landscape.

With Election Day just one week away, Karnick examines several critical contests:

**MICHIGAN SENATE:** Republican Mike Rogers faces Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in a closely watched battle for an open Senate seat.

**MINNESOTA SENATE:** Former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya challenges Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in a race that could offer Republicans a pickup opportunity.

**MAINE SENATE:** Moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins fights to retain her seat against Democrat Troy Jackson.

**OHIO GOVERNOR:** Republican businessman Vivek Ramaswamy faces Democrat Amy Acton, Ohio's former health director, in a surprisingly competitive contest. Could Acton's role in the state's COVID-19 lockdown policies affect the outcome?

**WISCONSIN GOVERNOR:** Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany battles Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley in a crucial swing-state showdown.

Karnick also discusses the broader outlook for Congress, including the possibility that Republicans retain control of the Senate while Democrats capture a narrow majority in the House of Representatives.

Learn more about The Heartland Institute at https://heartland.org/

#Midterms2026 #Election2026 #STKarnick #HeartlandInstitute #OAN #SenateElections #VivekRamaswamy

It turns out the green scolds’ war on plastic straws really sucked. A new study from South Korea’s Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment found that plastic straws have a smaller environmental footprint than plastic straws, and paper straws produce more than six times the carcinogens. Oops!

On Episode #223 of The Climate Realism Show, we will cover that bit of Crazy Climate News of the Week, and more. Just in time for Halloween a scary new map by something called The Climate Impact Lab claims more than 373,000 additional people will die between now and March because of this year’s Super El Niño.

We will also talk about the climate and energy angle to the cult-like opposition to the building of AI data centers. And we will preview next month’s COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye where some 100,000 politicians, bureaucrats and activists will work out how to pry trillions more out of the few wealthy nations still willing to pay to the United Nations’ host of grifters.

Join The Heartland Institute’s Anthony Watts, Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely and CFACT president Craig Rucker for another weekly 90-minute dose of fun and spirited discussion on Friday, October 30 at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Participate in the show by leaving your comments and questions in the live chat.

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Environmentalists in California pushed for, and got approved, a ballot initiative in 2008 to build a bullet train from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Instead of flying, which is a sin against the climate, Golden State residents could settle into their seats, look out the window, and feel good about themselves for being “green” as they were whisked to their destination. It’s now almost 20 years on and not a single track has been laid despite $15 billion being spent. And what’s the biggest holdup? Some of the most-absurd environmental roadblocks you can imagine.

On Episode #222 of The Climate Realism Show, we will examine what might be the world’s greatest climate grift, the California train that even Gov. Gavin Newsom said may never be built in our lifetimes, as well as other Crazy Climate News of the Week. Now that the U.S. is getting out of the global climate grift, how much will temperatures rise? We will report on a positive “butterfly effect” not reported by once-panicked corporate media. And now that even the Labour Party has opened up the North Sea to natural gas drilling again, they say it won’t do a thing to reduce energy costs. Is that true?

Join The Heartland Institute’s Sterling Burnett, Anthony Watts, Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely and guest Lois Perry for another weekly, 90-minute dose of fun and spirited discussion about the climate on Friday, October 23 at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Participate in the show by leaving your comments and questions in the live chat.

Learn more about The Heartland Institute: https://heartland.org/

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Remember when cows were destroying the planet with their burps? Now penguins are melting Antarctica with their poop. But wait! Other scientists say penguin poop might actually help stop climate change. So which is it? Should there be a federal program to fit penguins with diapers to save the planet?

On Episode #221 of The Climate Realism Show, we will waddle into that latest bizarre climate headline and other Crazy Climate News of the Week. The New York Times is blaming climate change for the “gentrification of seafood,” whatever that means. The Washington Post is sounding the planetary alarm yet again, warning that Earth’s “vital signs” are deteriorating and climate tipping points could be around the corner. We will debunk that, and more.

Join The Heartland Institute’s Sterling Burnett, Anthony Watts, Linnea Lueken, and Jim Lakely for another fun 90 minutes on Friday, October 16 at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Participate in the show by leaving your comments and questions in the live chat.

Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

SHOW NOTES:

1. THE GENTRIFICATION OF SEAFOOD
NY TIMES: How Climate Change Is Causing ‘the Gentrification of Seafood’: As environmental forces make fishing and harvesting more costly, the price of once-everyday fish has ballooned.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/13/dining/seafood-prices-shellfish-climate-change.html

2. CHECKING EARTH’S VITAL SIGNS
WASHINGTON POST: The Earth’s vital signs are concerning, a new report says:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2026/10/14/earths-vital-signs-are-concerning-new-report-says

3. CRAPPY FEET: PENGUINS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
NY POST: Too much penguin poop in Antarctica is accelerating snow melt and rising sea levels
https://nypost.com/2026/10/13/science/penguin-poop-could-be-accelerating-antarctic-decline-study/

4. AL ROKER IS WRONG
WUWT: Just the Numbers, Ma’am. Chris Martz on Isaias and Gulf Sea Surface Temperatures
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/10/12/just-the-numbers-maam-chris-martz-on-isaias-and-gulf-sea-surface-temperatures/

The Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments in the most-important climate case in many years, perhaps ever. Suncor v. Boulder may decide whether climate activists can sue modern society out of existence, or whether common sense, the proper application of the Constitution, and science will prevail. The questions asked by the justices on Monday don’t look great for the alarmist side, but you never know.

On Episode #220 of The Climate Realism Show we will break down this monumental case with Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who was at the Supreme Court to hear the arguments, and Steve Milloy, senior policy fellow at the Energy and Environment Legal Institute.

We will also cover some of the Crazy Climate News of the Week, including the climate panic movie “Digger” shoveling Warner Bros.' money into a furnace, Virginia’s insane and environmentally destructive solar power plan, and debunking a so-called record wildfire season in the U.K.

Join us Friday at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Participate in the show by leaving your comments and questions in the chat.

Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

For the first time in more than 100 years, no hurricanes formed in the Atlantic Ocean from the start of hurricane season through September. This is amazing, and great news for people who live in Hurricane Alley in the US, but this is not what the climate alarmists promised us. Humans would be punished for creating global warming with an endless parade of larger, stronger, and deadlier storms. So what happened? We have a couple of meteorologists to explain.

On Episode 219 of The Climate Realism Show the Heartland Institute’s Sterling Burnett, Anthony Watts, Linnea Lueken, and Jim Lakely will also discuss some of the Crazy Climate News of the Week, including the end of quest to eliminate the internal combustion engine, a critical climate case going to the Supreme Court, and climate change putting humans at risk of more mosquito bites, bat attacks, and being mauled by bears.

Join us Friday at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Participate in the show by leaving your comments and questions in the chat.

Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

At Day 3 of the World Prosperity Forum in Zurich, held alongside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Polish academic and political advisor Mariusz Zagórski, PhD delivers a powerful historical and geopolitical case for why independent, family-owned farming is a cornerstone of freedom, sovereignty, and long-term prosperity.

Drawing on Poland’s unique post-World War II experience, Zagórski explains how Polish farmers successfully resisted communist collectivization—preserving private land ownership when the rest of Eastern Europe lost it. That single fact, he argues, prevented food weaponization by the state, sustained civil society, and ultimately helped make the fall of communism possible.

From there, the speech traces Poland’s transformation over the last three decades into a modern agricultural powerhouse. Zagórski details how family-owned farms evolved into highly efficient producers, turning Poland into a leading exporter of poultry, apples, frozen fruits, and other low-emissions food products—often outperforming countries that embraced centralized, industrialized farming models.

But the talk is not just about past success. Zagórski issues a sharp warning about present and future threats to European food sovereignty, particularly from EU regulatory overreach, supply-chain dependency, and trade agreements like Mercosur that favor multinational agribusiness over local farmers. He argues that many of Europe’s current agricultural risks are not accidental, but policy-driven—and that they risk making entire regions dependent on external powers for food, energy, and inputs.

The presentation also highlights Poland’s forward-looking response: investment in precision agriculture, AI-driven satellite systems, advanced bio-fertilizers, and alternatives to chemical pesticides. Zagórski frames these innovations not as tools of centralized control, but as ways to strengthen independence, efficiency, and environmental stewardship without sacrificing productivity.

Ultimately, this speech reinforces the core mission of the World Prosperity Forum: offering a serious alternative to the centralized, collectivist, and alarmist worldview promoted at Davos. Zagórski closes with a call for international cooperation among nations and farmers who believe that prosperity flows upward from free people—not downward from global technocrats.

This is a must-watch presentation for anyone interested in agriculture, sovereignty, free markets, and the real foundations of economic resilience.

At the World Prosperity Forum in Zurich, held alongside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Marcel Crok, co-founder of the Climate Intelligence Foundation (CLINTEL), delivers a detailed, data-driven critique of Europe’s net zero climate agenda—and its real-world consequences.

Introduced by James Taylor, president of the The Heartland Institute, Crok examines how legally binding emissions targets, aggressive renewable mandates, and carbon pricing schemes are reshaping Europe’s economy, energy systems, and industrial base.

Drawing on examples from Germany, the Netherlands, and across the European Union, Crok explains how Europe’s climate policies—despite accounting for a shrinking share of global emissions—are contributing to soaring energy prices, factory closures, job losses, grid instability, and declining global competitiveness. He contrasts Europe’s trajectory with developments in the United States and China, and questions whether Europe’s sacrifices will have any measurable impact on global temperatures.

Crok also discusses CLINTEL’s World Climate Declaration, the findings of its independent assessment of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, and why climate realism continues to face institutional resistance in European policymaking circles—even as economic pressures mount.

This speech is part of the World Prosperity Forum, an international gathering created to provide serious counter-arguments to the centralized, collectivist, and alarmist policy framework promoted by the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Topics covered include Europe’s net zero targets, emissions trading systems, renewable energy mandates, electricity and gas price disparities, deindustrialization trends, nuclear phase-outs, and the growing disconnect between climate ambition and economic reality.

At the World Prosperity Forum in Zurich—held alongside the World Economic Forum in Davos—climate scientist Anika Sweetland delivers a provocative and deeply personal address that challenges the foundations of modern climate orthodoxy.

Drawing on her own education and professional experience, Sweetland recounts how climate science training fostered fear, despair, and unquestioned consensus rather than open scientific inquiry. She argues that generations of students have been indoctrinated with alarmist narratives that distort climate history, suppress debate, and justify sweeping political and economic control.

In this speech, Sweetland examines:

- The psychological impact of climate alarmism on children and students

- Media-driven climate narratives and shifting doomsday predictions

- Historical climate cycles, ocean dynamics, and orbital forces

- The role of international institutions and the concentration of power

- Why carbon dioxide is portrayed as a villain—and why she disputes that claim

- How climate policy, finance, and governance have become tightly intertwined

Presented as a counterpoint to the centralized, collectivist worldview promoted at Davos, this talk embodies the mission of the World Prosperity Forum: to challenge prevailing narratives, defend sovereignty, and restore open debate on climate, energy, and economic policy.

Whether you agree or disagree, this is a speech designed to provoke critical thinking and question what is taught, what is funded, and who benefits from the dominant climate narrative.

As the World Economic Forum convened in Davos, an alternative vision was taking shape just miles away in Zurich.

On Day 5 of the World Prosperity Forum, James Taylor, President of The Heartland Institute, delivered a data-driven challenge to the centralized, alarmist energy narratives dominating global policy discussions. His message was clear: prosperity depends on energy that is affordable, reliable, and genuinely clean—not politically favored, top-down mandates.

Drawing from Heartland’s landmark policy brief, Affordable, Reliable, and Clean: An Objective Scorecard to Assess Competing Energy Sources, Taylor presents a full-system comparison of coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, and biomass—factoring in real-world costs policymakers often ignore.

In this keynote, Taylor explains:
-- Why electricity demand is surging—and why blackouts are becoming inevitable under current policies

-- How wind and solar’s hidden costs drive higher prices, grid instability, and land destruction

-- Why natural gas remains the gold standard for affordability, reliability, and environmental stewardship

-- How rare earth mineral dependence and foreign supply chains create national security risks

-- Why voters are already punishing leaders who ignore energy affordability

This is not a theoretical debate. Rising electricity prices, grid fragility, and declining living standards are reshaping politics across the U.S. and Europe right now.

If you care about economic growth, energy realism, and policies grounded in evidence—not ideology—this presentation lays out the scorecard Davos won’t show you.

Watch. Share. Decide for yourself.

Ofcom called her "dangerous" because she was laughing at the net zero agenda—and the British people started laughing with her.

Lois Perry, Director of The Heartland Institute UK/EU and founder of CAR26, speaks at the World Prosperity Forum in Zurich to discuss the seismic political shift happening in Britain.

From being chased out of COP26 by security guards (and doing a live TV interview from a disabled toilet) to helping reshape the UK's political landscape, Lois shares how a "loud blonde Essex girl" took on the climate establishment—and won.

In this conversation:

🇬🇧 Why British citizens have "had enough" of net zero policies

🗳️ The rise of Reform UK and what it means for freedom

🤝 How Heartland UK is building bridges across party lines

📺 The media's failed attempts to silence climate skeptics

💡 How "follow the science" fatigue from COVID opened the door to questioning net zero

The World Prosperity Forum brings together leaders committed to freedom and prosperity as an alternative voice to the World Economic Forum in Davos.