In this episode, we criticize the way news media report climate science, AND the way that the scientists express it. We have a communication breakdown. The message that volatile weather is due to climate change isn't coming through clearly in news coverage. So scientists (myself included) : let's look in the mirror. We can't wait for the 99% statistical significance threshold each time a reporter has a question. Also: artificial intelligence data centers are an easy climate-related issue for community organizing. And other climate topics.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you know that climate change is causing devastating weather, drought, and heat, and it's all piling up in July. From a flood in Accra, Ghana to drought-fueled fires throughout Britain to atrocious air quality across the midwestern and eastern United States, this was an awful month.

Alycee and Matthew talk about the EMPTY promises of Cop 26. Governments from around the world gathered in Glasgow to perform a ritual of talking about climate change while doing absolutely nothing to tackle halt our unfolding climate emergency. As the world faces increasing climate catastrophes that displace millions, accelerate extinction, threaten our food supply, and compromise our health, leaders gathered not to 'phase out' but to 'phase down' subsidies for oil and gas. And no surprise there. The fossil fuel industry constituted the biggest delegation at Cop 26"they literally had more lobbyists than any country had delegates"a delegation that continues to steer humanity toward collective disaster. This is the fifth anniversary of that meeting, humanity's last chance to act boldly to avert catastrophe.

"Close the 1.5 degree Celsius gap to stay alive." That's a quote straight out of a World Health Organization report, a report we discuss in this episode. No mincing words. No sugar coating. Just the plain truth: To stay alive, we must close the 1.5 degree Celsius gap. We'll also be speaking with members of the Coalition of Concerned Medical Professionals (CCMP) about our climate crisis and health. And finally we have a few words to say about the Democratic establishment's derailing of India Walton's bid to become Mayor of Buffalo, New York. Originally produced in late 2021 but completely relevant to the global and political situation in 2026, this is not a rebellious conversation you want to miss.

Let's take a look at what climate change has already caused. We do our best to convey the level of destruction and disruption that is happening now. Heat waves, fires, super typhoons, mass evacuations in almost every part of the world. We list it all off, just from recent months (March-June 2026 to be exact). It gets worse from here unless we stop burning fossil fuels.

Alberta, rich in tar sands oil, has a referendum coming up on whether to secede from Canada. Is Canada really so irredeemable that you want to permanently sever yourself from all of its institutions? Even if the answer is yes, what about that large country bordering you to the south with a president who has no problem with attacking and controlling oil-rich countries? Shorn of its military protection and NATO membership and bulging with oil, Alberta would be defenseless. The only question is how fast the US would burn all that tar sands oil.

What planet is Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on? Not this one. He's recently said that renewables are unaffordable, unsecure, and unreliable so we should use only oil and gas. I wish I was making this up. He has it precisely upside down: It's fossil fuels that are unaffordable, unsecure, and unreliable, as anyone who has tried to buy gas lately knows. Unfortunately New York and New England state governments aren't pushing back. They're slowing down renewable energy, sacrificing long-term stability for short-term budget cycles.

What is climate change doing to the planet, and the humans and animals who live on it, right now? We answer this question listing some of the major floods, fires, and fatalities of recent months, skipping ahead to the latest heat waves that broiled Europe and spoiled July 4 celebrations in much of the United States.

With the help of one of the world's leading scholars on international relations, we try to re-think the concept of national security for a climate changed world. As the world sees one climate catastrophe after another, it becomes clear that the things we care about cannot be secured by people with guns. So how can we secure it? Also we look at the Russia-Ukrainian border through the lens of climate change and the role fossil fuels play in this dangerous stand-off.

Lee Raymond was one of the great mass murderers in the history of the world. A longtime executive, President, and CEO of ExxonMobi and the mastermind of climate denialist misinformation, he was an ecocidal lunatic who seemed to believe in making more money No Matter What, even if it killed millions and made the world burn. Good riddance, Lee Raymond, and other climate news.