Since former Vice President Al Gore fooled the world with An Inconvenient Truth two decades ago, climate alarmism has kicked into overdrive. Over the years, politicians and bureaucrats around the globe have committed to spending trillions of taxpayer dollars and making your life as miserable as possible to prevent the Arctic ice caps from melting. Some of the younger generations aren’t even having children because the planet is dying or something. But it turns out that conditions are not as dire as the doomers said.
Bill Gates Ends Climate Alarmism
In October, billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates published an essay on his Gates Notes website, urging the world to adopt a “strategic pivot” in the fight against climate change. He contended that policymakers should transition from limiting near-term emissions to preventing disease and poverty. Gates criticized the “doomsday view of climate change” and accepted that it “will not lead to humanity’s demise.”
“Although climate change will hurt poor people more than anyone else, for the vast majority of them it will not be the only or even the biggest threat to their lives and welfare,” Gates wrote. “The biggest problems are poverty and disease, just as they always have been. Understanding this will let us focus our limited resources on interventions that will have the greatest impact for the most vulnerable people.”
Of course, it was no shock that Gates received considerable pushback, including from Michael Mann, director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability & the Media and author of the famous “hockey stick” graph. “There is no greater threat to developing nations than the climate crisis,” Mann said. “He’s got this all backwards.”
But Gates, for all his faults, may have a point, given the plethora of developments that occurred over the past year.
What Happened to Hurricane Season?
The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season ended not with a bang but rather a whimper. Put simply, no hurricanes made landfall in the United States for the first time in ten years.
What made this interesting was that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted above-average activity during the Atlantic hurricane season, forecasting as many as ten hurricanes, three to five of which were supposed to be Category 3 or stronger.
Experts attributed the lack of activity to favorable weather patterns. Whatever the case, this should elicit joy for those who practice climate alarmism and light a candle to Patron Saint Al Gore. Instead, there has been radio silence. Of course, if it were a busy hurricane season, they would be blaming President Donald Trump for some reason.
Bjorn Lomberg, president of the Copenhagen Consensus and author of False Alarm, noticed as well, writing in The Wall Street Journal:
In October, billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates published an essay on his Gates Notes website, urging the world to adopt a “strategic pivot” in the fight against climate change. He contended that policymakers should transition from limiting near-term emissions to preventing disease and poverty. Gates criticized the “doomsday view of climate change” and accepted that it “will not lead to humanity’s demise.”
“Although climate change will hurt poor people more than anyone else, for the vast majority of them it will not be the only or even the biggest threat to their lives and welfare,” Gates wrote. “The biggest problems are poverty and disease, just as they always have been. Understanding this will let us focus our limited resources on interventions that will have the greatest impact for the most vulnerable people.”
Of course, it was no shock that Gates received considerable pushback, including from Michael Mann, director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability & the Media and author of the famous “hockey stick” graph. “There is no greater threat to developing nations than the climate crisis,” Mann said. “He’s got this all backwards.”
But Gates, for all his faults, may have a point, given the plethora of developments that occurred over the past year.
What Happened to Hurricane Season?
The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season ended not with a bang but rather a whimper. Put simply, no hurricanes made landfall in the United States for the first time in ten years.
What made this interesting was that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted above-average activity during the Atlantic hurricane season, forecasting as many as ten hurricanes, three to five of which were supposed to be Category 3 or stronger.
Experts attributed the lack of activity to favorable weather patterns. Whatever the case, this should elicit joy for those who practice climate alarmism and light a candle to Patron Saint Al Gore. Instead, there has been radio silence. Of course, if it were a busy hurricane season, they would be blaming President Donald Trump for some reason.
Bjorn Lomberg, president of the Copenhagen Consensus and author of False Alarm, noticed as well, writing in The Wall Street Journal:
“Climate reporting too often does little more than string together one disaster after another, blaming the climate and ignoring countervailing information. This fuels fear rather than insight. A better approach is to examine the big picture.
“We need sober analysis to guide smart policies. For hurricanes, that means effective approaches like better building codes. Cherry-picking bad news for climate campaigning doesn’t inform, but simply scares the public while eroding trust.”
Canada Kills the Consumer Carbon Tax
When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ascended to the throne in 2015, he promised to put a price on carbon. “In 2015, pretending that we have to choose between the economy and the environment is as harmful as it is wrong,” he said in a speech. If you did not support it, the Liberals thought you hated Mother Nature and wanted your grandchildren to drown.
Well, Trudeau followed through on the campaign pledge and introduced a consumer and industrial carbon tax in 2019, adding to the nation’s energy and food costs. Now, however, the same party has put the kibosh on the consumer carbon tax. Quite ironic – and apparently Ottawa had to choose between the economy and the environment.
Newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney stated that his decision will help Canadians. “This will make a difference to hard-pressed Canadians, but it is part of a much bigger set of measures that this government is taking to ensure that we fight against climate change, that our companies are competitive, and the country moves forward,” he said to the press in March.
While this was a wise decision, it was an embarrassing move for the fearmongers peddling climate alarmism.
Trumponomics
One of the worst things to happen to the clean energy movement was President Trump. In his first year in the Oval Office, Trump scaled back climate regulations, stalled clean‑energy projects and initiatives, revived long-dormant pipeline proposals, approved major new liquefied natural gas terminals, and advanced plans to open additional land and offshore areas to drilling. This has resulted in crude oil and natural gas production at record levels.
At the same time, Trump promised to lower gasoline prices and utility costs. Did he deliver?
US oil prices have plummeted about 18% this year to around $56 per barrel. The national average for a gallon of gasoline is firmly below $3, and many states are enjoying sub-$2.75 a gallon. Natural gas has been erratic this year, ranging between $2 and $5 per million British thermal units (Btu). Electricity costs surged almost 5% in the first six months of 2025 but have since flatlined and even fallen 0.7% in September.
What’s Next?
The climate change debate could be best summarized by NBC meteorologist Al Roker, who said earlier this year that the extreme cold temperatures experienced in February were because of global warming. So, when it is cold, it is because of global warming. When it is hot, it is because of global warming. When there are no hurricanes, it is because of climate change. Hurricanes occur because of climate change.
In the meantime, fork over $93 trillion for the Green New Deal, or you will be confined to a chair watching An Inconvenient Truth on repeat for an entire week.
Andrew Moran, Economics Editor at LibertyNation.com. Andrew has written extensively on economics, business, and political subjects for the last decade. This article was first published HERE
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