Hi r/climate, this is Jake from The Guardian. We wanted to share this story that we published today about a conference hosted last week by the prominent science-denying thinktank the Heartland Institute, where EPA administrator Lee Zeldin was the keynote speaker.
*From our story:*
As scientists confirmed that March was the United States’s [most abnormally hot month](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/09/hottest-march-on-record) in recorded history, dozens of climate deniers gathered to promote misinformation and tout their newfound influence on federal policy.
At a conference hosted by the prominent science-denying thinktank the Heartland Institute last week, a crowd of mostly middle-aged men in suits claimed the world is finally waking up to the idea that the climate crisis does not exist.
“I feel wonderful,” James Taylor, the president of the Heartland Institute, said in an interview. “The truth is winning out.”
The clearest sign of the crowd’s rising power was the gathering’s keynote speaker: Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who Donald Trump is also reportedly considering for attorney general. “It is a day to celebrate vindication,” he said Wednesday morning.
In previous administrations, Zeldin said, a “cabal” of elites promoted climate science to further their agenda. Now, “we aren’t just following blind obedience to whatever the dire, doom-and-gloom prediction of the day is,” he said.
As attendees entered the event, held in the basement of a hotel near the White House, they were greeted by wares promoting climate denial.
“Good news,” read a banner outside the main ballroom, erected by the CO2 Coalition, a climate-denying nonprofit that co-sponsored the conference. “There is no climate crisis.”
A table overflowed with displays reading “CO2 is a lifesaver,” pamphlets titled “Fossil fuels are the greenest energy source,” and “Challenging ‘net zero’ with science,” and children’s books falsely claiming the acceleration of sea level rise is insignificant. Baskets held buttons proclaiming: “Unashamed about my carbon footprint”, as well as stress balls resembling tiny Earths that read: “Don’t stress. There is no climate crisis.”
The event convened climate skeptics and outright deniers alike. While some incorrectly claimed global warming did not exist, others conceded that it was happening but falsely said it was not known to be human-caused – or an emergency.
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Hi r/climate, this is Jake from The Guardian. We wanted to share this story that we published today about a conference hosted last week by the prominent science-denying thinktank the Heartland Institute, where EPA administrator Lee Zeldin was the keynote speaker.
*From our story:*
As scientists confirmed that March was the United States’s [most abnormally hot month](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/09/hottest-march-on-record) in recorded history, dozens of climate deniers gathered to promote misinformation and tout their newfound influence on federal policy.
At a conference hosted by the prominent science-denying thinktank the Heartland Institute last week, a crowd of mostly middle-aged men in suits claimed the world is finally waking up to the idea that the climate crisis does not exist.
“I feel wonderful,” James Taylor, the president of the Heartland Institute, said in an interview. “The truth is winning out.”
The clearest sign of the crowd’s rising power was the gathering’s keynote speaker: Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who Donald Trump is also reportedly considering for attorney general. “It is a day to celebrate vindication,” he said Wednesday morning.
In previous administrations, Zeldin said, a “cabal” of elites promoted climate science to further their agenda. Now, “we aren’t just following blind obedience to whatever the dire, doom-and-gloom prediction of the day is,” he said.
There is [scientific consensus](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac2966) that [global warming](https://www.ipcc.ch/2022/02/28/pr-wgii-ar6/#:~:text=Learn%20More,and%20low%2Dlying%20coastal%20settlements.) is real, urgent, and caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels.
As attendees entered the event, held in the basement of a hotel near the White House, they were greeted by wares promoting climate denial.
“Good news,” read a banner outside the main ballroom, erected by the CO2 Coalition, a climate-denying nonprofit that co-sponsored the conference. “There is no climate crisis.”
A table overflowed with displays reading “CO2 is a lifesaver,” pamphlets titled “Fossil fuels are the greenest energy source,” and “Challenging ‘net zero’ with science,” and children’s books falsely claiming the acceleration of sea level rise is insignificant. Baskets held buttons proclaiming: “Unashamed about my carbon footprint”, as well as stress balls resembling tiny Earths that read: “Don’t stress. There is no climate crisis.”
The event convened climate skeptics and outright deniers alike. While some incorrectly claimed global warming did not exist, others conceded that it was happening but falsely said it was not known to be human-caused – or an emergency.
[*You can read the full story for free at this link*](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/14/dc-conference-climate-deniers-trump-epa-chief?referring_host=Reddit&utm_campaign=guardianacct)*.*
For the next 4+ years there will be active work to damage the climate as much as possible.
The writing is on the wall.