For over a decade, questioning the dominant narrative of catastrophic, civilisation-threatening climate change meant professional exile, public vilification, and accusations of being in the pocket of Big Oil. Sceptics — branded "deniers" — were purged from panels, defunded, investigated by politicians, and treated as moral pariahs. Now, as Peter Savodnik chronicles in his December 2025 piece for The Free Press, "Revenge of the Climate Realists," (link below), the pendulum swings back. Those who insisted on nuance, data over doom, and adaptation over apocalypse are experiencing vindication. The "climate fury" is ebbing, and realists are fighting back — not with denial, but with evidence-based pushback against exaggerated catastrophism.
Savodnik centres the story on Roger Pielke Jr., a University of Colorado public-policy expert, who long argued that rising costs of natural disasters stem from population growth, development in vulnerable areas, and better reporting — not a direct, dramatic link to greenhouse gases. Pielke didn't deny warming or CO₂'s role; he challenged the "catastrophising" that turned every storm into proof of impending biblical collapse. For this, he paid dearly.
In 2015, Congressman Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) launched an investigation into Pielke's work, sending letters to universities implying faculty like him were secretly funded by energy interests. Invitations to workshops dried up; speaking gigs vanished as organisers feared backlash. Pielke's career was sidelined for refusing to align with the alarmist consensus. Al Gore's 2006 An Inconvenient Truth had set the tone: "Our ability to live is what's at stake." Dissent became heresy.
The Realist Counteroffensive: Data, Defiance, and Shifting Momentum
Realists aren't "fighting back" through conspiracy or denial — they're reclaiming space for honest debate. Key fronts include:
Challenging disaster-cost claims: Pielke's research showed normalised disaster losses (adjusted for inflation, population, wealth) haven't spiked dramatically due to climate change. Recent analyses (including some IPCC acknowledgments) support this: extreme weather events aren't becoming more frequent or intense at rates once predicted.
Exposing institutional capture: Universities, journals, funding bodies, and media often enforce conformity. Sceptics face career threats; alarmist papers sail through. Realists highlight this as anti-scientific, echoing broader institutional distrust.
Policy realism over panic: Figures like Bjørn Lomborg, argue for cost-benefit approaches — prioritising adaptation, innovation, and poverty reduction over net-zero mandates that devastate economies with marginal climate gains.
Public and political shifts: In the US, the Trump-Vance administration signals scepticism of extreme policies. Globally, energy realities (Europe's gas crises, developing nations' growth needs) force re-evaluation. Even some mainstream outlets quietly dial back apocalyptic framing.
The article frames this as "revenge" — not vengeance, but vindication after years of suppression. The fury ebbs because predictions haven't fully materialised (no mass climate refugees drowning cities, no runaway tipping points by deadline), costs of alarmist policies mount, and public fatigue grows. Realists offer balance: Yes, the climate is changing; yes, humans contribute; but no, we're not on the brink of extinction without drastic, immediate sacrifice.
Why This Matters in Our Fragmented Age
This resurgence fits broader patterns I've explored: institutional overreach breeds backlash, whether in medicine, politics, education, or climate. When elites enforce orthodoxy, labelling dissent dangerous, they erode trust. Realists' "revenge" is simply the return of evidence-based discourse, pushing back against narratives that blend science with ideology.
The fight isn't over. Alarmism retains institutional power, but cracks appear. As Savodnik concludes, the day of vindication has come — not for denial, but for realism. In a truth-seeking world, that's progress.
https://www.thefp.com/p/revenge-of-the-climate-realists