Ed. Note: Joseph Bast, founder and head of the Heartland Institute from 1984 until 2017, wrote an open letter to NYT writer John Cushman (to no avail), titled “The best public policies will not be adopted if we allow the loudest and most alarmist voices in the debate to drown out the voices of reason.” It is reprinted below after Bast’s introduction at the time. A short conclusion describes Joe Bast’s multi-decade contributions to climate realism and sound energy policies.
In each of the past two years, John Cushman, an environment reporter for The New York Times, has written articles so atrociously one-sided and factually wrong that I felt compelled to write to him with friendly advice. Each time, I reprinted my letter in The Heartlander. And each time, John ignored me.…
“We are deeply concerned about the implications of this directive [for DOE to quantify the CO2-intensity of domestic versus foreign goods]. While framed as a study, the structure and scope closely mirror the foundational work required to implement a U.S. carbon tax. Given your well-known opposition to carbon taxes and related schemes, we wanted to ensure you were fully aware of this provision and its potential trajectory.” (AEA Coalition Letter to DOE Secretary Chris Wright, below)
Trump 2 has represented a new era of energy consumerism against the termite aspirations of the Progressive Left. A recent compilation by the Institute for Energy Research lists 263 executive actions in this regard.
But the CO2 tax crowd lurks and can occasionally sneak one through. This occurred recently with a backdoor inclusion of an opening gambit toward an U.S.-side…
“CO2/climate optimism is merited, not more recalibration by falsified merchants of doom.”
David Carlin must be a worried guy outside of his smiling photos. This “policy, sustainability, and finance expert” has a firm (D. A. Carlin Company) ready to assess your climate/ecology risks for a nice fee. He has the knowledge and answers to the ‘problem’… Or maybe not.
Here is his New Year’s post:
With 2026 beginning, what date would we overshoot the planet’s resources if everyone lived your lifestyle?
Great visualization showing when 100+ countries would exceed a sustainable balance based on the resource use and consumption habits of different nations.

The U.S. and Canada hit their sustainability threshold in March, so maybe North America should just hibernate for three-fourths of the year.
Carlin ends:
…It’s the mirror image of how many earths we would need.