Worst Climate Stories of the Week—The Endangerment Finding Is On Its Last Legs

Our long national nightmare appears to be over. Twenty years of flawed science costing untold amounts of national treasure—down the drain. Now America can begin the healing process, and we can all stop calling the atmosphere a pollutant.

This week, the Trump administration got the ball rolling on reversing the "endangerment finding" that lists carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gases" from the list of dangerous pollutants. The EPA released its new Climate Assessment Report by the Department of Energy, authored by preeminent experts in climate science. This will inevitably lead to the federal government reversing its regulations on the emissions of naturally occurring components of Earth's atmosphere, and allow us to get back to climate science grounded in reality and honest debate.

You can imagine the outcry from the far-Left radicals in the Democratic Party and the mainstream media (not to be redundant).

There are plenty of other crazy climate stories this week. So, after a victory lap over the endangerment finding, the usual suspects also make an appearance. Lots to get to this week, so let's jump right in.

(DON'T MISS OUR LAST COLUMN: Take the Money and Run Edition)

The Endangerment Finding—On the Endangered List

According to Reuters, "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to repeal all greenhouse gas emission standards for light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty vehicles and engines in the coming days after it removes the scientific finding that justified those rules, according to a summary of the proposal."

That proposal came about due to the new climate assessment report from the Climate Working Group formed by Energy Secretary Chris Wright. This working group included renowned climate scientists and physicists, most of whom have faced ostracization from mainstream science for taking a contrarian view on the climate. As Judith Curry, one of the authors, wrote on her blog:

Climate science is baaaack 

Energy Secretary Chris Wright has commissioned a new climate assessment report:

A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate 

From the Secretary’s Foreword:

What I’ve found is that media coverage often distorts the science. Many people—even well-meaning ones—walk away with a view of climate change that is exaggerated or incomplete. To provide clarity, I asked a diverse team of independent experts to summarize the current state of climate science, with a focus on how it relates to the United States.

To correct course, we need open, respectful, and informed debate. That’s why I’m inviting public comment on this report. Honest scrutiny and scientific transparency should be at the heart of our policymaking.

Climate Working Group (CWG)

These reports were authored by the DOE Climate Working Group (CWG).  Members of the Climate Working Group are: [link to biosketches] John Christy, Judith Curry, Steve Koonin, Ross McKitrick, and Roy Spencer.

Seems perfectly reasonable and collegial, but you wouldn't know that from the reactions by the climate loons. Lawsuits are, of course, inevitable, and the repeal has not been fully finalized yet. But one suspects the Trump administration is spoiling for a fight that ends up in the Supreme Court.

Wind Turbine Blade Gets Stuck

A few weeks back, we reported on the giant wind turbine blade that detached and flew onto a freeway in Maryland during the morning rush hour. We have a similar story from last week, in which one of these monstrosities got stuck between two houses while someone attempted to transport it down a city street.

The driver said they get their permit through PennDOT and they have to follow the route that was given to them😂

Massive wind turbine blade gets stuck between homes during transithttps://t.co/bRtrwvFabp

— rcar (@car_done) July 19, 2025

This Week in (other) Green Energy Implosions

Green energy is causing power bills to spike? Who could have seen that coming?

Maryland Democrats Scramble As Green Energy Agenda Sparks Power Bill Hyperinflation https://t.co/XQhuuSbOHE

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) July 31, 2025

Speaking of things we saw coming, the "green hydrogen" initiatives funded by billions in Biden's Inflation Reduction Act look about dead. The money quote: "Hard-to-electrify industries that were seen as ideal candidates for green hydrogen, such as steelmaking and long-distance transportation, have found that transition to the low-carbon fuel looks prohibitively expensive."

No kidding.

This Week in Geoengineering Madness

So, the crazy people who have come together to try to change the Earth's atmosphere to curtail the dire risk of global warming seem cognizant that most people probably wouldn't appreciate their unintended consequences. So they planned their schemes in secret, like a consortium of Bond villains:

A University of Washington research team covertly planned a solar geoengineering experiment to dim sunlight by creating clouds over a 3,900-square-mile ocean area off North America, Chile, or south-central Africa. The Marine Cloud Brightening Program, backed by billionaire donors like Chris Larsen, deliberately withheld plans from the public and local officials to “avoid scaring them,” as revealed in internal texts. A smaller test on a retired aircraft carrier in Alameda, California, was halted in June 2024 after city officials, unaware until media reports surfaced, banned it for violating lease terms.

This Week in Imploding EVs

In order to stop electric vehicle batteries from exploding their ships, one international shipping giant announced an immediate halt to the transport of EVs:

U.S. shipping and navigation services company Matson surprised customers in recent days by announcing new policies that halt all electric vehicle shipments due to the fire risk posed by lithium-ion batteries. This comes after the Morning Midas—a RoRo carrier transporting EVs and hybrids—erupted in flames early last month in the Pacific and subsequently sank. 

Shipping news website The Maritime Executive reports that Matson abruptly suspended the transport of EVs and plug-in hybrids, citing growing safety concerns over lithium-ion battery fires in a letter to clients. The new shipping policy took effect immediately and impacts trade routes across the U.S. mainland, Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam.

Our Periodic Check on What's Happening in the Pacific NW

Within the past few weeks, the state of Oregon announced that it would require permits for all boats, including paddle boards, floats, and inner tubes tied together; passed a new law requiring climate change education in "core subjects" like science, history, health, and civics; and proposed new regulations limiting "promotional events"—i.e. farmstands—on small family farms.

You know, for the environment.

According to local reports, "Farm owners argue that the definition now excludes popular agritourism activities, such as petting zoos and live music, unless they directly feature a farm product or have an educational component . . . . concerts would only be allowed with an agritourism permit."

The UN International Court of "Justice"

The United Nations hasn't exactly done a stellar job of carrying on the tradition of the Nuremburg Trials to prosecute crimes against humanity. This week, the UN International Court of Justice ruled nations have a duty to prevent global warming:

NOW - UN International Court of Justice rules that climate change is an existential "universal risk" to all nations, unequivocally caused by human activities, and member states have a "duty" to prevent it. pic.twitter.com/hfQpGTBxYZ

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 23, 2025

Of course, the ruling is "non-binding," but it still sets a legal precedent.

German Politician Agitating for Armed Resistance

Things seem to be going well in Germany. The state of Bavaria announced its first-ever tax on water, because of climate change.

MORE - Söder added: "Climate protection is very important to us. The consequences of climate change affect Bavaria particularly in terms of water and weather. We have decided on the water cent today and are pursuing a long-term water strategy."

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 30, 2025

Not satisfied with that, the Chair of the Green Youth Party in Germany said she would consider "armed resistance" against the conservative AfD if it became part of the government.

Armed resistance against political parties doesn't have the best track record in Germany—not that this generation understands its history.

Green Activists Protest Against Fun

Demonstrating yet again they have their finger on the pulse of America, climate activists this week decided to protest an upcoming show by the Blue Angels:

Seattle climate activists are protesting an upcoming U.S. Navy Blue Angels airshow, claiming the jets pollute the environment, while a local woman filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming the military jets traumatized her ailing cat. 

The Blue Angels, the elite military flight demonstration team consisting of 140 active-duty Sailors and Marines, aims to "showcase the excitement, precision, and power of naval aviation" with their performances, now in their 79th year, the Blue Angels website says. The squadron has been performing at Seattle’s Seafair festival since 1972.

The Airshow Climate Action Coalition put up a billboard in Seattle this week declaring, "Say No to Blue Angels." The coalition, made up of members from local climate groups as well as the radical global climate group, Extinction Rebellion, is planning to march and hold a rally on August 2 in protest of the Blue Angels airshow that weekend.

Now for our Good News segment.

The Armageddon Refuses to Show Up

The first half of 2025 has seen the fewest extreme weather deaths on record, and we've seen below tropical cyclone activity so far in this year's hurricane season:

The first half of 2025 has seen the smallest number of deaths related to extreme weather since records began. And more weird weather news – despite boiling seas, all four northern hemisphere ocean basins in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific are running below average on accumulated cyclone energy. The North Atlantic has seen very little activity with the ACE energy measurement from January 1st to July 21st running at only 41% of the 1991-2020 average.

The cyclone news is natural variation of course, but don’t let on to climate fanatics. The news on deaths from extreme weather is not. It is a long-term trend that has seen weather fatalities plunge by over 99% during the last 100 years.

Glaciers Melted Even in Low CO2 Levels

Dr. Matthew Wielicki wrote at his Substack this week of a new study in the scientific journal Nature showing something rather inconvenient for The Narrative:

Antarctica just exposed the IPCC’s biggest lie.

A new Nature study confirms the Medieval Warm Period melted East Antarctic glaciers... while CO₂ was at just 280 ppm.

Today? No melt. Modern warming isn’t unique… it’s inconvenient history.

Oops.

Good News from Oregon, For a Change

Finally this week, some rare good news in Oregon, with nationwide implications. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that the effort to build offshore wind production in Southern Oregon appears dead. That's great news for some of the most breathtaking scenery in all of the U.S.:

The Trump administration is rescinding more than 3.5 million acres of designated wind energy areas nationwide, effectively ending a yearslong effort to generate wind energy off the Southern Oregon Coast — for now.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, announced it is rescinding all designated Wind Energy Areas on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. BOEM is the federal agency tasked with identifying, proposing and leasing the ocean areas.

Wind Energy Areas, or WEAs, are areas identified as suitable for offshore wind energy development.

“By rescinding WEAs, BOEM is ending the federal practice of designating large areas of the Outer Continental Shelf for speculative wind development, and is de-designating over 3.5 million acres of unleased federal waters previously targeted for offshore wind development,” the agency announced in a statement.

That includes nearly 195,000 acres off the Southern Oregon coast.

(READ MORE: The End of the Green Panic)