Sanity Check

When CNN declared that the July heat wave would have been "virtually impossible" without fossil fuel emissions, it pointed to a rapid-attribution study as proof. But does the evidence support such a sweeping claim? In this episode of Sanity Check , Dr. David Legates examines the meteorology behind the heat wave, explains how attribution studies are conducted, and explores the assumptions...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent visit to India highlighted a growing area of agreement between two of the world’s largest democracies: the need for abundant, reliable energy. As India’s economy expands and hundreds of millions continue moving into the middle class, demand for electricity, transportation fuels, and industrial energy is set to rise dramatically in the decades ahead. In this...

After a string of high-profile climate lawsuits, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has delivered a ruling that supporters of sound energy policy may have reason to celebrate. In this episode of Sanity Check , David Legates examines a lawsuit brought by twenty-three young activists challenging President Trump's executive orders aimed at expanding domestic energy production. The plaintiffs arg...

El Niño may begin as a patch of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean, but its effects can be felt across the globe. In this episode of Sanity Check , David R. Legates explores one of the most powerful climate phenomena on Earth and explains why forecasters are closely watching the possibility of a particularly strong El Niño developing in the months ahead. What exactly is El Niño? Why are sci...

This episode of Sanity Check examines a question that sits at the heart of modern scientific culture: Can science remain ethical when divorced from a moral framework? Drawing from a standout presentation delivered at the recent Cornwall Alliance Spring Conference in Memphis, Daniel O’Malley argues that science can tell us what can be done, but not what should be done—and that without Christianity,...

For years, the most extreme climate scenarios shaped headlines, policy debates, and public fear—despite growing evidence that many of those projections were increasingly detached from real-world energy and emissions trends. Now, in a major shift ahead of the IPCC’s Seventh Assessment Report, climate modelers are quietly abandoning some of their most dramatic assumptions.  In this episode of Sanity...

This episode is a bit different from our usual content. We are bringing you a lecture from our inaugural conference, "Heaven and Earth, the Struggle for Faith and Science in the Public Square." If you missed our conference, you're in luck, because we're bringing you a key lecture from our very own Vijay Jayaraj. He dismantles the "green" movement and demonstrates, wit...

In this episode, E. Calvin Beisner takes on three enduring claims about capitalism and the environment: that it depletes resources, imposes unjust costs, and prioritizes the short term at the expense of the future. Drawing on economic theory, historical evidence, and real-world data, he challenges the assumption that growth inevitably leads to scarcity and argues instead that human ingenuity, pric...

The concept of “planetary boundaries” has become one of the most influential frameworks in modern environmental science—shaping global policy, corporate behavior, and public perception. But how solid is it, really?  In this episode of Sanity Check , Dr. David R. Legates examines the origins of the planetary boundaries model and walks through each of its ten proposed limits—from climate change and...

What happens when lawsuits quietly shape public policy—without a full trial, public scrutiny, or legislative debate? In this episode of Sanity Check , David R. Legates unpacks the controversial practice known as “sue-and-settle.” What begins as a seemingly straightforward legal mechanism—citizens holding agencies accountable—can, in practice, become something far more complex. Through negotiated s...

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...