A Grift That Pays Trillions
About this episode
Is the global climate agenda collapsing under the weight of basic math and common sense? This week we take on the multi-trillion-dollar narrative with two interviews from CFACT, the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow.
Mark opens with the roots of the modern green movement at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and its organizer, Maurice Strong — and a pair of questions to put to anyone who is sure that carbon dioxide is the enemy.
Then Frank Lasee, a CFACT policy advisor, president of Truth in Energy and Climate and a former Wisconsin state senator, joins the show to talk about the economics behind the green push. Beyond the relentless drumbeat of fear, why are consumers paying thousands extra for food, housing and utilities over a gas that plants need? Lasee argues that climate belief now functions like a religion, that a generation of kids has been taught to despair (the subject of his article Brainwashed by Fear), and that wind and solar are not actually cheaper once the cost of the whole system is counted. He also walks through how he says wholesale electricity markets pay every seller the same price, why that undercuts the “cheap renewables” pitch, and who is working to sell green energy to young conservatives.
Later, Marc Morano, a CFACT policy advisor and executive editor of Climate Depot, shares his frontline survival story from UN Climate Week in New York. News outlets reported 100,000 attendees — so what did Morano actually see on the ground? He says the AI boom’s enormous appetite for power has broken the green narrative, that true believers are furious at tech leaders like Bill Gates, and that Democrats have gone quiet on climate in favor of “affordability.” He also describes what he calls the Trump administration’s push to make its climate rollbacks permanent, and how he switched tactics for a Climate Week panel of climate academics and students: instead of confronting them, he gave them a critique of their own messaging.
And why it matters here in Oregon: the Climate Protection Program, which the Alliance of Western Energy Consumers estimates will cost natural gas customers more than $4.9 billion over 11 years, the governor’s race on November 3, and who will be in charge of what Oregon’s schools teach about it.
Listen in to find out what’s really driving the energy shift — and who’s paying the price.
In this episode
Is Climate Change a Religion?
Mark opens with the Rio Earth Summit and Maurice Strong. Then Lasee on why belief in climate catastrophe functions like a faith that doesn’t want to hear contradictory facts, why plants and people need CO2, and the trends he says are not headed where the alarm says they are.
Brainwashed by Fear
Lasee on a generation of kids who, he says, have been told it’s hopeless — and how you reach them when facts alone don’t. Nate Hagens, Bjørn Lomborg, the trade-offs of “net zero,” and his “four cars” explanation of why wind and solar cost more than they appear to.
Who’s Selling Green to Conservatives?
Oregon’s $4.9 billion Climate Protection Program, the groups pitching green energy to young conservatives, and Lasee’s account of how wholesale power prices and corporate renewable credits work. Plus what parents can do about the curriculum, and his book.
Climate Week: A Survivor’s Report
Morano on where Climate Week came from, what he saw when organizers claimed 100,000 attendees, why the movement has pivoted to “affordability,” and his case that wind, solar and EVs depend on the fossil fuels they’re meant to replace.
The Great Betrayal
How the AI boom upended the green narrative, why activists are angry at Bill Gates, Al Gore and the Democratic Party, what Morano calls “climate hushing,” and why he says the Trump team’s open challenge to the narrative matters.
Making It Permanent — and the NYU Pivot
Morano on the U.S. exit from the UN climate framework and the fight over the endangerment finding, his concern about energy prices heading into the midterms, and how he won over a room of climate academics. Then Mark on why all of it matters in Oregon.
Links & resources mentioned
Frank Lasee & Truth in Energy and Climate
- Truth in Energy and Climate (Frank Lasee’s organization)
- Frank Lasee’s book, Climate and Energy Lies (available on Amazon)
- Brainwashed by Fear: How to Save Two Generations Lost to Climate Panic (CFACT, September 22, 2026)
- The Conservatives Being Paid to Sell You Wind and Solar (CFACT, August 6, 2026)
- No, MIT, ‘clean energy’ isn’t the future — nor is it actually clean (CFACT, August 21, 2026)
- Clean Energy Isn’t Telling the Whole Story (The Blaze, September 15, 2026)
Marc Morano & Climate Week
- Climate Depot (Marc Morano, executive editor — a project of CFACT)
- Morano on the ground in NYC at UN’s Climate Week (Climate Depot, September 23, 2026)
- Watch: Morano on Fox & Friends on his talk at UN’s Climate Week in NYC — told greens face to face they need to stop scaring kids (Climate Depot, September 28, 2026)
- Listen: Morano on Joe Piscopo Show talking about his NYC Climate Week speech (Climate Depot, September 28, 2026 — how he pivoted from confrontation to a critique of their messaging)
- UN Sec. Gen warns against ‘catastrophic effects of the climate crisis’ as more than 100,000 activists attend Climate Week events amid ‘climate hushing’ (Climate Depot, September 23, 2026 — the “100,000” attendance claim, as reported)
- Outgoing UN chief says polluters have treated atmosphere like an ‘open sewer’ (The Guardian, September 22, 2026 — the original report)
- UN Climate Week Reveals Elites’ Scorn for the World’s Poor (New York Post, September 22, 2025)
Oregon’s Climate Protection Program
- Oregon’s Climate Protection Program Costs Far More Than Other States—and Is Far Less Accountable (Willamette Week, April 3, 2026 — the Alliance of Western Energy Consumers’ $4.9 billion estimate for natural gas customers over 11 years, and the $136-per-ton compliance price vs. Washington’s $65)
- Industry groups raise concerns about Oregon’s Climate Protection Program (OPB, April 10, 2026)
Background & Viewpoints Discussed
- A State of the World Address: The Climate Speech We’ll Probably Never Hear (Nate Hagens, The Great Simplification, September 25, 2026 — the Hagens piece discussed with Lasee)
- The Stunning Collapse of the Climate Scam, Documented (James Corbett, The Corbett Report, July 19, 2026)
About the guests
Frank Lasee is a policy advisor for CFACT and an expert on energy and environmental issues. He is the president of Truth in Energy and Climate and a former Wisconsin state senator, and he also served in the administration of Governor Scott Walker. He is the author of Climate and Energy Lies and of the CFACT articles discussed in this episode.
Marc Morano is a policy advisor for CFACT and the executive editor of Climate Depot, a project of CFACT. He is a former senior staff member of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, where he worked as communications director, and the author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Climate Change.
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