A new poll for Grist says 58% of likely voters believe climate change will hurt their shot at the American Dream. But read the fine print: when the same voters were asked what threatens the American Dream TODAY, 55% said cost of living, and just 2% said climate change.

Jim Lakely, H. Sterling Burnett, Jason Isaac, and Linnea Lueken break down what's really driving the affordability crisis (supply, interest rates, inflation, property taxes, and CLIMATE POLICY, not climate change), why a private company's "climate risk scores" on Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor.com are hitting home values, and why two state attorneys general are now suing. Plus: Linnea on the poll's biggest contradiction. If climate change isn't causing more extreme weather, crop failures, or warmer temperatures, how is it raising your cost of living?

#AmericanDream #ClimateChange #Housing #CostOfLiving #ClimateRealism

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Show notes:

Story we're talking about: https://grist.org/culture/american-dream-climate-change-poll-costs/

Supporting evidence:
Nebraska AG files lawsuit against First Street over climate risk scores (1011 Now): https://www.1011now.com/2026/08/27/nebraska-ag-files-lawsuit-against-first-street-over-climate-risk-scores/
Uthmeier: Property risk-assessment company "is marketing fear to advance a climate activism agenda" (WLRN): https://www.wlrn.org/government-politics/2026-10-27/uthmeier-property-risk-assessment-company-is-marketing-fear-to-advance-a-climate-activism-agenda

A nonprofit called the Planetary Sunshade Institute says we could start building a giant umbrella in space within the next 20 to 40 years: either a swarm of about 5,000 spinning satellites or a huge cloud of reflective dust, parked 2.36 million kilometers from Earth to block about 1% of the sun's light and cool the planet by up to 1 degree Celsius.

The catch? According to the report, it would take about 70 million tons of material, roughly 1,500 times the mass of everything humanity has ever launched into space. Elon Musk thinks mass drivers on the moon could handle it.

On this segment of The Climate Realism Show, Anthony Watts calls it "not junk science, garbage science." H. Sterling Burnett asks what blocking sunlight would do to the plants and crops that need it, and how much rocket fuel it would burn. And Linnea Lueken explains why serious climate activists actually hate ideas like this: if you can engineer the problem away, there's no reason to keep oil and gas in the ground.

From The Climate Realism Show #224, "Climate, Energy, and The Midterm Blue Wave."

#ClimateRealism #Geoengineering #SpaceSunshade #ClimateChange #ElonMusk

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

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Show notes:

Story we're talking about: https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/climate-change-space-sunshade-elon-musk/amp/

Supporting evidence:

Should we put a giant sunshade in Earth orbit to fight climate change? (Space.com): https://www.space.com/sunshade-earth-orbit-climate-change

Democrats won big on Tuesday, taking control of the House and Senate, several governor's mansions and a long list of state legislatures. Climate activists are already celebrating. Grist calls it a historic opening for climate action: subpoenas for Trump officials, leverage over must-pass spending bills, and a shot at restoring the clean energy subsidies Republicans cut.

But there's a catch. Democrats didn't run on climate change. They ran on affordability. As H. Sterling Burnett explains on this segment of The Climate Realism Show, much of what the Trump administration did can't easily be undone, and voters who just asked for lower prices didn't sign up for a climate agenda that drives energy costs higher.

Linnea Lueken, Anthony Watts and special guest Jason Isaac of the American Energy Institute weigh in on what comes next, including why even Politico says climate has become a political loser.

From The Climate Realism Show #224, "Climate, Energy, and The Midterm Blue Wave."

#ClimateRealism #Midterms #ClimatePolicy #EnergyPrices #Affordability

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

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Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

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Show notes:

Story we're talking about: https://grist.org/elections/midterms-2026-blue-wave-climate-races-data-centers/

Supporting evidence:

The Earth is sizzling, but climate isn't a hot topic for Democrats in this year's campaigns (Associated Press): https://abcnews.com/US/wireStory/earth-sizzling-climate-hot-topic-democrats-years-campaigns-136053180

Factbox: Energy affordability dominates US midterm contests as climate takes backseat (S&P Global): https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/electric-power/080426-factbox-energy-affordability-dominates-us-midterm-contests-as-climate-takes-backseat

Elected Democrats Have Embraced 'Climate Hushing' (Inside Climate News): https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24062026/analysis-shows-democrats-embrace-climate-hushing/

Texas just elected its first Democratic governor in more than 30 years. Former Texas state Rep. Jason Isaac says Republicans have to own a big part of why, starting with Texans' electric bills.

Since Winter Storm Uri, Texas has added tens of gigawatts of wind, solar, and batteries but only a sliver of new natural gas, and residential electricity costs have climbed by about 30%. Now Texans face billions more for new high-voltage transmission lines that will be passed on to ratepayers. Jason and H. Sterling Burnett explain how the state ended up subsidizing both sides of a distorted power market, and why that frustration showed up at the ballot box.

#Texas #ElectricBills #EnergyPolicy #ERCOT #ClimateRealism

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

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Show notes:

Story we're talking about: https://grist.org/elections/midterms-2026-blue-wave-climate-races-data-centers/

Supporting evidence:
Texas Grid Still Vulnerable (Texas Public Policy Foundation): https://www.texaspolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-12-Texas-Grid-Still-Vulnerable-Brett.pdf
Texas regulators approve Permian Basin reliability plan (Utility Dive): https://www.utilitydive.com/news/texas-regulators-approve-permian-basin-reliability-plan/728269/
Permian Basin Power Fix Becomes $33 Billion Statewide Project (Texas Scorecard): https://texasscorecard.com/?p=115961
Historical Texas Electricity Rates (ElectricityPlans): https://electricityplans.com/historical-texas-electricity-rates/

The Republican Party got a good old-fashioned butt-whuppin’ in the midterm elections on Tuesday as Democrats swept both houses of Congress making Donald Trump the lamest of lame duck presidents. The Democratic “blue wave” was so strong, they took statewide offices in places once considered safely “red,” such as Texas.

Will this remarkable political turn just two years after a similar “red wave” thwart the progress climate realists have made with sensible, science-based policy in Trump’s second term? Climate change wasn’t a big topic of discussion on the campaign trail, but taking “climate action” is always on top of mind for a now-ascendent Democratic Party.

On Episode #224 of The Climate Realism Show, we will also cover some of the Crazy Climate News of the Week, including a plan to put a giant umbrella in space to give shade to a warming earth, a claim that climate change is leaving domestic violence victims more vulnerable, and the notion that climate change caused by humans using fossil fuels is threatening the American Dream.

Join The Heartland Institute’s Anthony Watts, Sterling Burnett, Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely and “The Carbon King,” Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute. We bring you another weekly 90-minute dose of fun and spirited discussion on Friday, November 6 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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And visit the website of our guest: https://americanenergyinstitute.com/

SHOW NOTES

1. BAD CLIMATE FOR GOP
GRIST: What a historic ‘blue wave’ midterm means for climate action
https://grist.org/elections/midterms-2026-blue-wave-climate-races-data-centers/

POLITICO PRO: A new group of Democrats is coming. Climate isn’t their priority.
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026/11/a-new-group-of-democrats-is-coming-climate-isnt-their-priority-01150251

2. GIANT UMBRELLA IN SPACE?
NEWSNATION: How a giant space sunshade can help ‘solve’ climate change
https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/climate-change-space-sunshade-elon-musk/amp/

3. A VERY VIOLENT STORM
INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS: Hurricane Damage to a Florida Domestic Violence Shelter Shows Climate’s Stress on Vulnerable Groups
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02112026/florida-hurricane-damage-highlights-vulnerable-groups-climate-stress/

4. CLIMATE KILLING AMERICAN DREAM
GRIST: Exclusive: Most voters believe climate change threatens the American Dream
https://grist.org/culture/american-dream-climate-change-poll-costs/

Coal gets a bad rap, but the numbers tell a different story. Linnea Lukin of the Heartland Institute walks through why coal is still one of the most important energy sources on the planet.

A few things you might not know:
- Coal is the largest source of electricity in the world, and it’s found on every continent, including Antarctica.

- It’s cheap. Coal runs about $2.50 per million BTU, compared to $2.70 for natural gas and $38 for oil.

- It’s reliable. The average coal plant runs at a 60% capacity factor, about twice that of wind.

- Plants can store months of fuel on site, which is something even natural gas can’t do.

- The U.S. has more than 251 billion tons of recoverable coal, enough to last 435 years at 2021 consumption rates.

So why are coal plants closing early? Regulations and subsidies for wind and solar. And in states that made the switch, electricity prices have gone up and outages have become more common.

Is that a trade-off worth making? Let us know in the comments!

#EnergyFacts #Coal #EnergyPolicy #ElectricityCosts #HeartlandInstitute

Next month, tens of thousands of politicians, bureaucrats and activists will fly into Antalya, Turkey, for COP31, the United Nations' annual climate summit, running November 9–20. The United States has walked away from the UN climate process, but the rest of the world hasn't gotten the message.

Craig Rucker, president of CFACT, has attended 29 of the 31 UN climate conferences. On this segment of The Climate Realism Show, he explains why these summits are no longer really about science. They're about money: a push for up to $1.3 trillion a year in climate finance, mostly from wealthy nations. Meanwhile, the UN's own loss and damage fund has collected less than $1 billion.

And Craig has seen the hypocrisy up close: delegates arriving by private jet and limo, official vegan cafeterias sitting empty, and the real lines forming at the burger stands. As Anthony Watts puts it, call them "grift burgers."

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

#ClimateRealism #COP31 #UnitedNations #ClimatePolicy #CFACT

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

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Show notes:

Story we're talking about: [DAILY CALLER LINK: "Globalist Climate Grift Returns in Full Force" by Craig Rucker]

Supporting evidence:

COP to be hosted by Türkiye with Australia leading negotiations (Prime Minister of Australia): https://www.pm.gov.au/media/cop-be-hosted-turkiye-australia-leading-negotiations

Baku to Belém Roadmap to $1.3 trillion: Key report on climate finance released ahead of summit (Down To Earth): https://www.downtoearth.org.in/climate-change/baku-to-belem-roadmap-to-13-trillion-key-report-on-climate-finance-released-ahead-of-summit

New loss and damage fund could run out of money next year (Climate Home News): https://www.climatechangenews.com/2026/04/24/new-loss-and-damage-fund-could-run-out-of-money-next-year/

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

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

Visit our sponsors

Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

Energy Bad Boys Substack: https://energybadboys.substack.com/

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

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

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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