Sanity Check

How reliable are the measurements behind climate claims? In this episode of Sanity Check , David R. Legates examines the data systems used to estimate Earth’s energy imbalance—particularly ocean temperature measurements from Argo floats. While widely treated as authoritative, these measurements rely on sparse sampling, interpolation, and assumptions that introduce significant uncertainty. The resu...

In this episode of Sanity Check , David R. Legates explores the rise of “greenhushing”—a growing corporate trend where companies pursue environmental initiatives but deliberately stay silent about them. Contrasting it with the more familiar concept of greenwashing, this episode examines why major companies like Apple, HSBC, Nestlé, and Nike are pulling back from public climate messaging, even as m...

Are rising insurance costs really driven by climate change—or is that just the latest political narrative? In this episode, Dr. David Legates takes apart the claim that extreme weather is driving a home insurance crisis. From hurricanes and droughts to wildfires in Maui and Los Angeles, he examines the data—and the stories behind the headlines. The real drivers? Land-use changes, population growth...

In this episode, Cal Beisner takes on a common claim at the heart of modern environmental debates: that capitalism is inherently harmful to the natural world. Engaging directly with leading environmental critiques—especially those of Gus Speth—he examines whether capitalism is truly indifferent to nature or dependent on endless, unsustainable growth. Drawing on economic reasoning, historical evide...

In this special episode, producer Liza Claire introduces the Cornwall Alliance podcast’s new name: Sanity Check . After several years as Created to Reign , the show is relaunching with a clearer title and a renewed commitment to thoughtful, rational discussion about the environment, economics, and human flourishing. What does a “sanity check” mean in science, engineering, and finance—and why is it...

Is eating beef really bad for the planet? Environmental activists often claim cattle are a major driver of climate change, deforestation, water shortages, and biodiversity loss. From methane emissions to land use, the beef industry has become a central target in the modern environmental movement. But how much of this narrative holds up under scrutiny? In this episode, David R. Legates examines the...

For more than fifteen years, the EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding has been the legal foundation for sweeping federal greenhouse gas regulations—impacting everything from your car to the power grid. But what if the ruling that launched trillions of dollars in climate policy wasn’t the purely scientific document we were told it was? With repeal now back on the table in 2026, new scrutiny reveals trou...

With headlines declaring the end of climate extremism and federal withdrawals from global climate bodies making waves, many are celebrating what looks like a turning point. But is it really over? In this episode, David R. Legates argues that while the federal government may be stepping back, the climate agenda is far from defeated. From sweeping state-level “NetZero” mandates to massive electrific...

Is capitalism wrecking the planet—or is that the biggest environmental myth of our time? From Naomi Klein in This Changes Everything to Karl Marx in Das Kapital , and even Pope Francis in Laudato Si' , influential voices have argued that free markets are fundamentally incompatible with environmental protection. The claim is bold: if you care about the Earth, you must abandon capitalism. But d...

Most people think the electric grid is a giant battery—store power when there’s extra and pull it out when you need it. Simple. And completely wrong.  In this episode, David R. Legates explains how the electric grid actually works: a just-in-time system where electricity must be generated and consumed almost simultaneously. Using clear analogies, he walks through generation, transmission, distribu...

Migraines are a debilitating neurological condition affecting millions—and no one who has experienced one takes them lightly. In the United Kingdom alone, an estimated 10 million adults suffer from migraines, costing millions of lost workdays each year. So when headlines recently declared that scientists have pinpointed a reason migraines are on the rise , it sounded like an important public-healt...

$7.56 billion. 321 grants. One federal judge. And a big question: who should be spending your money?  In this episode of Created to Reign , Dr. E. Calvin Beisner breaks down the Department of Energy’s attempt to cancel billions in clean-energy and climate grants—and why a federal court just forced those projects back onto the taxpayer’s tab. Were the terminations a long-overdue effort to stop wast...

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has been called the “mothership” of climate science. So when reports claimed the Trump administration was planning to shut it down, the reaction was explosive—headlines screamed “destruction of knowledge” and “war on science.”  But is that what’s actually happening?  In this episode of Created to Reign , David R. Legates cuts through the hysteria...

Psalm 104 offers a bracing corrective to the modern habit of treating the world as fragile, chaotic, or fundamentally out of control. In this episode of Created to Reign , Cal Beisner walks through one of Scripture’s most vivid portraits of creation—not as a system teetering on the brink, but as a world actively governed, sustained, and ordered by God’s wise and joyful providence.  Adapted from Ca...

Some efforts are so disproportionate to their impact that they border on the absurd—like bailing out the ocean with a teaspoon. In this episode of Created to Reign , David R. Legates takes aim at one such effort: a Silicon Valley–style geoengineering startup selling “cooling credits” by launching weather balloons filled with sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere.  On paper, the idea borrows from re...

In this episode of Created to Reign , Dr. David Legates revisits the most controversial sentence he’s ever spoken: “Carbon dioxide contributes very little to the greenhouse effect.” That single line has earned him everything from eye-rolling to outright insults—but it also reveals how deeply misunderstood the science has become. Dr. Legates breaks down, in plain language, why CO₂ is only a minor p...

Sometimes new research genuinely advances our understanding. Other times, long-standing claims quietly fall apart. In this episode of Created to Reign , David R. Legates walks through two major developments in the climate literature from late 2025—one newly published paper that challenges prevailing assumptions about sea-level rise, and one highly influential paper that was abruptly retracted afte...

What wiped out the great American Chestnut Tree—human industry or nature itself? The answer might surprise you. In this episode, Dr. E. Calvin Beisner revisits one of North America’s greatest ecological losses to reveal how the near-extinction of the American Chestnut wasn’t caused by human greed or deforestation, but by a natural fungal blight. He explores how this “Redwood of the East” once shap...

What are Natural Asset Companies , and why did 24 states fight to stop them? In this episode of Created to Reign , David R. Legates explains how NACs would turn the ecological “value” of forests, watersheds, and other natural areas into tradable corporate assets—placing control of land use in the hands of investors rather than owners. Proponents claim NACs unlock new money for conservation. Critic...

In this special Christmas episode of Created to Reign , Cal Beisner steps away from the usual discussions of environmental stewardship and economic wisdom to explore a different kind of wonder. Drawing on Virgil’s Eclogue IV —a poem early Christians saw as foreshadowing the birth and kingdom of Christ—Cal traces how its imagery of peace, abundance, and restored creation resonates through history a...

Roman Catholic leaders are sounding the climate alarm again—but are their claims grounded in reality? In this episode of Created to Reign , Dr. E. Calvin Beisner takes a hard look at the latest warnings, from Laudato Sí to the Claretian Missionaries’ “Glad You Asked” podcast, and tests them against the actual data on natural disasters, global temperatures, and the world’s energy use. The episode b...

Germany has long been considered an industrial powerhouse—but in recent years, its energy policies have charted a path that looks less like progress and more like self-inflicted decline. From shuttering reliable energy sources to binding one of its most prosperous cities to an aggressive net-zero mandate, Germany’s “energy transition” raises a serious question: is this bold environmental leadershi...

Did Bill Gates really change his mind about climate change—or did he simply repackage the same old alarmism with softer language? In this episode of Created to Reign , Cal Beisner revisits Gates’s much-discussed COP30 “memo” and explains why the tech billionaire’s supposed turnaround may be less of a 180 and more of a full 360. From Gates’s past rhetoric to the fine print in his latest statements,...

In this episode, Dr. David Legates turns the microphone back over to Richard and Jane—the AI duo created with Google Notebook LM—for their second appearance on Created to Reign . This time, they tackle the Genesis creation account, exploring its literal interpretation and relationship to scientific inquiry. Based on a dialogue generated from Dr. Gregory Rummo’s essay, “Graciously Making the Case f...

Should the EPA repeal its 2009 ruling that declared carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases a danger to public health? The answer could reshape America’s entire climate policy. In this episode, Dr. E. Calvin Beisner sits down with renowned physicist Dr. Will Happer—emeritus professor at Princeton University and former JASON advisor to the U.S. government—to discuss the EPA’s proposal to rescind...