Ep. 42: Prof. Steven Koonin - Climate Realism: A Sane Approach (with Tom Nelson)

My guest today is Prof. Steven Koonin, co-hosted with Tom Nelson - host of The Tom Nelson Podcast. Prof. Koonin is an American theoretical physicist and former director of the Center for Urban Science and Progress at NYU, as well as a professor in the Department of Civil and Urban Engineering at NYU School of Engineering. In the past he was the Chief Scientist of BP’s oil and gas division, served as Under Secretary for Science in the Department of Energy, in the Obama administration, and was the vice-president of Caltech, one of the most prestigious scientific institutes in the world. Steven is the author of the book “Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters”, where he argues that while there are some basic facts about climate change that experts agree upon, the meaning of those facts is not so settled, and mainstream scientific studies do not support the notion that there is any kind of climate crisis at all. This conversation discusses Climate Realism - the sane approach to the “Climate Change” alarmism, and the role of media in shaping public perception. We touched on topics such as the use of the term 'climate denier,' bias in the energy industry, the challenges faced by young scientists who question the climate narrative, the role of journalists in spreading misinformation, and the influence of organizations like the UN and Covering Climate Now. We talked about the viral documentary 'Climate the Movie' and censorship attempts. Lastly we touched on the funding dynamic in climate research, and geoengineering / chemtrails. Steven emphasizes the need for open scientific discussion and the importance of prudence in considering these interventions. We end with the challenges & optimism in maintaining integrity and truth-telling in a corrupted world. ► If you got value, please like, comment, share, subscribe and support my work. Thank you! -- SPONSORS – ►► Get your TREZOR wallet & accessories, with a 5% discount, using my code at checkout (get my discount code from the episode - yep, you’ll have to watch it): https://affil.trezor.io/SHUn  -- LINKS – Prof. Koonin’s book - Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters: https://www.amazon.com.au/Unsettled-Climate-Science-Doesnt-Matters/dp/1950665798   Climate: The Movie: https://rumble.com/v4klh96-climate-the-movie-the-cold-truth.html  Tom’s Twitter: https://x.com/TomANelson  Tom’s Substack: https://tomn.substack.com/  Tom’s links: https://linktr.ee/tomanelson1  Efrat's Twitter: https://twitter.com/efenigson Efrat's Telegram: https://t.me/efenigson Watch/listen on all platforms: https://linktr.ee/yourethevoice Support Efrat's work: ⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/efenigson⁠ Support Efrat with Bitcoin: https://geyser.fund/project/efenigson -- CHAPTERS – 00:00 Coming Up 01:14 Introductions 03:54 Challenging the Term 'Climate Denier' 06:43 The Climate Discussion "Silence" 09:03 Impacts on Those Speaking Out 10:53 Steven's Evolution to Climate Realism 16:33 Misrepresentation of Facts 21:37 Organized Online Propaganda 27:34 Climate - The Movie 32:03 Geoengineering & Chemtrails 41:10 Red Team, Blue Team 44:33 Dating CO2 in Deep Ice 45:55 Playing Bongos with Richard Feynman 49:06 Message of Hope