Tom Nelson

Latest Episodes:

Ronald Stein: “California Refinery Crisis” | Tom Nelson Pod #401 Jun 09, 2026

Show notes

Ronald Stein discusses California’s “refinery crisis,” arguing that heavy regulation is driving remaining refineries to consider leaving, after recent closures and a reported 17% decline from peak refining. He says California is an “energy island” with no pipelines over the Sierra Nevada, so most fuel must be made in-state; otherwise it would come from foreign refineries, potentially in Asia, raising costs, emissions, and national security concerns for military and international airports, ports, and trucking. Stein contends wind and solar only generate electricity and cannot replace refined-oil products used for transportation fuels and countless derivatives. He criticizes politicians and the press for not addressing practical replacement plans and advocates “energy literacy.”

00:00 Refinery Crisis Begins

00:42 California Energy Island

01:22 Fuel Demand Reality Check

02:03 Refineries Leaving Warning

02:58 Climate Policy Pushback

04:12 Voters Politicians Press

05:04 Wind Solar Limits

06:00 No Backup Plan

06:14 Regulators And Newsom

08:49 Oil Derivatives Explained

09:47 Crude Types And Fracking

11:46 How Regulations Drive Out

13:15 Outsourcing Emissions Abroad

14:39 Import Dependence Grows

16:29 Shipping And Port Bottlenecks

18:34 Clean Air But High Demand

20:20 National Security Takeover Talk

22:37 Campaign Silence And Media

23:29 Planes Need Real Power

24:51 Battery Plane Reality Check

25:36 Electricity Imports Warning

25:56 Importing Power and Fuel

26:17 AI Power Crunch

29:08 Refinery Rules and Costs

30:54 Foreign Dependence Risks

32:25 Scaling Alternatives

34:35 Energy Literacy and Policy

36:25 Nuclear Future

39:26 Wind Reality Check

41:32 California Oil Underfoot

44:33 Oil Seeps and Tar Pits

46:36 Zero Emissions Reality

49:45 Global Poverty and Demand

50:45 Where to Follow Ronald

=========

Slides, summaries, references, and transcripts of my podcasts: https://tomn.substack.com/p/podcast-summaries

My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tomanelson1

John Parmentola: “How could Sea Levels Fall by 400 Feet During an Ice Age?” | Tom Nelson Pod #400 Jun 05, 2026

Show notes

John Parmentola discusses a puzzle of how sea levels fell ~400 feet during ice ages and argues global annual solar input is nearly constant, implying compensating regional heating when the Arctic cools. Using Antarctic ice-core temperature proxies and orbital mechanics, he introduces a new “countervailing obliquity precession effect” (COPE): a biannual insolation asymmetry that increases tropical-zone energy deposition while Arctic summer insolation and melt potential decline, affecting the hydrological cycle, moisture transport, albedo, and glacial descent. He estimates the evaporation energy need (~10^26 J) and says COPE energy over millennia exceeds this. He cites satellite/top-of-atmosphere energy-balance analysis (~1 W/m² net gain) and notes tests: second-half-year precipitation bias, possible Arctic moisture-transport bias, and CO2 outgassing seasonality. Links to his preprint and related work are mentioned.

00:00 Sea Level Ice Age Mystery

09:33 Warming Before Glaciation

12:01 Evaporation Energy Math

13:28 Solar Input Basics

17:10 Why Insolation Stays Constant

20:54 Milankovitch Parameters Explained

26:45 Obliquity Heat Redistribution

29:08 Seasonal Zone Matrix

33:33 Arctic Insolation Then vs Now

40:05 Milankovitch Hypothesis Summary

40:56 Snow Ice Evidence

42:15 Orbit Month Swap

43:54 Hidden Insolation Split

46:12 Seasonal Energy Gap

48:48 Tropical Energy Build

50:15 COPE Defined

53:01 Satellite Signal Test

56:24 Past Interglacial Match

59:22 Summary And Wrap

01:01:08 Q And A Tests

01:05:51 Website And Preprint

01:06:30 Economic Growth Detour

01:11:21 Final Links Farewell

https://johnparmentola.com/

2019: The Great Mystery of Economic Growth”: https://youtu.be/sx-55BhuFks

John Parmentola: Estimating the Holocene Warm Period Termination | Tom Nelson Pod #96: https://youtu.be/6c3yW6s0shQ

=========

Slides, summaries, references, and transcripts of my podcasts: https://tomn.substack.com/p/podcast-summaries

My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tomanelson1

Mel Counts: “Olympic Gold; Played With Bill Russell, Wilt, Havlicek & West” | Tom Nelson Pod #399 Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

Mel Counts recounts growing up in a small Oregon town, being mentored by an early coach, his rapid growth to 6'11", and recruitment to Oregon State, where he made a Final Four and later realized he could turn pro. He describes making the 1964 U.S. Olympic team under Hank Iba and winning gold over the Russians, his most cherished team honor. Drafted by the Boston Celtics, he won two championships and shares stories about Red Auerbach, Bill Russell, travel and pay in the era, and later stops including the Bullets, Lakers, and Suns, facing legends like Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Kareem, and Walton. He discusses pensions, family, faith, giving back, and staying active at 84.

00:00 Meet Mel Counts

00:21 Small Town Beginnings

01:29 Oregon State Breakthrough

01:51 Slats Gill Lessons

03:12 Final Four Teammates

04:01 Olympic Tryouts Camp

04:40 Tokyo Gold Medal

06:45 Celtics Rookie Life

08:21 Traded To Bullets

09:25 Scary Team Flight

11:21 NBA Travel Pay Then

14:53 Red Auerbach Stories

16:35 Wilt Chamberlain Era

17:42 Rings Watches Stages

18:32 Physical Game Changes

19:24 Wilt Strength Tales

21:24 Guarding Legends Film

22:26 Lakers Suns Wilt Sweat

23:41 Wilt Helped My Role

24:46 Practice With Russell

25:39 Road Trip Win Streak

26:23 Playing With Jerry West

27:30 Game 7 Balloons Drama

29:27 Bill Russell The Ultimate Winner

30:36 Boston Life Lessons

33:02 Hall Of Famers Era

33:57 Pete Maravich Memories

34:46 Three Point Revolution

37:21 Durability And Old School Training

39:53 Nutrition And Wilt Hot Dogs

41:46 Pensions And Player Benefits

43:40 Money Mistakes Then And Now

45:17 Rings Faith And Family

45:57 Giving Back And Life Advice

48:51 Staying Active And Final Wrap

Basketball Reference: https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/countme01.html

Mel Counts highlights: https://youtu.be/7XcO7xAc_r4

Mel Counts NBA2K: https://youtu.be/JllZNFwnn9A

Mel Counts replaces Wilt Chamberlain late in 1969’s NBA championship game seven: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnu5vMfPtbw&t=8256s

=========

Slides, summaries, references, and transcripts of my podcasts: https://tomn.substack.com/p/podcast-summaries

My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tomanelson1

Marc Morano: “Great Reject: Triumphant Trump Dismantles the Climate Agenda” | Tom Nelson Pod #398 May 31, 2026

Show notes

Marc Morano talks about his decades covering climate politics and his view that the climate movement is in rapid collapse due to overreach, public skepticism, and post-COVID distrust of “appeal to authority.” Morano contrasts Trump 1.0’s limited actions with Trump 2.0’s aggressive agenda: hundreds of pro-energy moves, exits from numerous UN bodies, a push to end the EPA CO2 endangerment finding, and a consensus-busting climate report later vacated over procedural issues. He says Democrats, media, Wall Street, and major figures like Bezos and Gates have gone quiet or shifted, while UN COP summits have become smaller and scandal-prone. He warns climate controls may reappear via public-health framing and future administrations.

00:00 Marc Morano Returns

00:36 Climate Movement Hits Low

02:31 Trump 1.0 vs 2.0 Setup

04:02 UN Climate Origins and Data Wars

07:14 GOP Nominees and Climate Drift

09:23 Trump 1.0 Wins and Limits

11:27 Biden Reversal and Green Mandates

14:57 Trump 2.0 Energy Blitz

15:19 Consensus Report Court Setback

16:58 Zeldin Targets Endangerment Finding

18:55 Iran War and Energy Shock Risk

20:00 Media Silence and Narrative Flip

21:59 Great Reset and WEF Agenda

27:22 Elites Pivot From Climate to AI

28:13 COVID Blowback Fuels Skepticism

33:42 Mainstream Admits Net Zero Failure

40:25 UN Summits Implode at COP30

44:28 Amazon Highway Coverup

45:39 Burgers Not Bugs

46:57 Toilet Paper Contraband

49:06 Summit Results Reality Check

51:40 Billionaires Media Flip

56:11 Energy Boom Coal Security

57:56 Climate Agenda Collapse

01:00:19 Narrative Culture War

01:02:46 Rio Treaty Withdrawal

01:05:20 Endangerment Finding Repeal

01:08:27 Climate Meets Public Health

01:11:31 Next Scares New Summits

01:18:43 COP Future And Coalition

01:25:40 Closing Thanks And Wrap

https://x.com/ClimateDepot

Climate ranked #35 of 39 American voter issues: https://x.com/davidshor/status/2033906948525928569

=========

Slides, summaries, references, and transcripts of my podcasts: https://tomn.substack.com/p/podcast-summaries

My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tomanelson1

Raymond Inauen: “Excellent website: The World of CO2” | Tom Nelson Pod #397 May 28, 2026

Show notes

Raymond Inauen, a graphic artist with 35 years’ experience, presents a free website of downloadable charts (PDF/PNG/ZIP) meant to teach CO2, climate, and energy basics or serve as a single reference. Charts cover CO2’s molecule, atmospheric composition (about 420 ppm), natural vs anthropogenic emissions (4.9% manmade), ocean/land fluxes, plant physiology (stomata), C3/C4/CAM plants, photosynthesis, and a logarithmic CO2–temperature relationship. He also includes long-term temperature/CO2 history, Holocene and recent warming, sea-level rise since the last ice age, and glacier/tree-line evidence from the Alps. Energy charts break down global fuel use and electricity sources. He adds references, a CO2 mascot “Conrad,” discusses reduced social-media reach, and shares a visual condensing atmospheric CO2 into a 16×16 km cube.

00:00 Meet Raymond Inauen

00:32 CO2 Molecule Basics

01:09 Atmosphere Composition Explained

02:17 Natural vs Human CO2 Sources

04:18 CO2 Cycle In and Out

05:21 Plants and CO2 Benefits

06:35 C3 C4 Plants and Greening

08:36 Plant Respiration Day Night

09:10 Logarithmic Warming Idea

10:16 Design Sources and Trace Gas

12:11 Exhaled CO2 Context

13:01 Deep Time CO2 and Temps

14:41 Human Body Carbon Link

15:11 Climate History Overview

16:13 Ice Ages and Holocene Temps

17:45 Modern Warming and Sea Levels

19:23 Glaciers Tree Lines Debate

23:02 Global Energy Charts Tour

28:19 Need a Scientist Narrator

30:07 Downloads and Conrad Mascot

31:49 Social Media and CO2 Cube

34:30 Wrap Up and Website Updates

https://x.com/theworldofco2

https://www.the-world-of-co2.com/co2

=========

Slides, summaries, references, and transcripts of my podcasts: https://tomn.substack.com/p/podcast-summaries

My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tomanelson1

Bernie Lewin: “Origins of the IPCC” | Tom Nelson Pod #396 May 22, 2026

Show notes

Tom interviews Bernie Lewin about his 2017 book Searching for the Catastrophe Signal and his path from local environmentalism to blogging and writing for the Global Warming Policy Foundation. Lewin argues postwar “big science,” shifting religion’s role in policy, and media narratives helped drive recurring environmental scares: DDT, ozone depletion tied to supersonic transport and CFCs, then 1970s global cooling amid energy crises. He claims funding incentives encouraged extreme atmospheric claims, and that policy often diverged from scientific uncertainty. The discussion covers the 1988 Hansen hearing as orchestrated, Thatcher and Bush support for expanded climate science, and IPCC early processes, focusing on the 1995 Second Assessment controversy where summaries and underlying text were allegedly altered around detection and “fingerprint” evidence.

00:00 Meet Bernie Lewin

00:28 From Environmentalism to Skepticism

02:25 Science Replaces Religion

04:30 Big Science After WWII

06:05 Silent Spring and DDT Panic

08:46 Supersonic Jets and Ozone Fears

12:29 CFCs and the Ozone Hole

18:29 Feedbacks and Funding Incentives

21:33 Global Cooling Takes Off

22:40 Energy Crisis and Climate Instability

28:36 Coal vs Nuclear and CO2 Program

36:12 Cooling to Warming Flip

39:53 Hansen 1988 Hearing Moment

41:32 Thatcher Bush and Politics

Searching for the Catastrophe Signal: The Origins of The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: https://a.co/d/0bmYZdUX

https://enthusiasmscepticismscience.wordpress.com/about/

=========

Slides, summaries, references, and transcripts of my podcasts: https://tomn.substack.com/p/podcast-summaries

My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tomanelson1

Erich Schaffer: “Water Vapor Feedback, Part One” | Tom Nelson Pod #395 May 18, 2026

Show notes

Erich Schaffer argues climate science contains major blunders, chiefly that water vapor cools the planet and provides negative feedback. He explains the greenhouse effect as determined by emission altitude and the adiabatic lapse rate, criticizing older “back radiation” explanations. He claims climate budgets and attribution studies overstate surface emission by assuming Earth’s surface is a blackbody, ignoring water’s non-Lambertian behavior and ~0.91 hemispheric emissivity, which he says inflates the greenhouse effect and misattributes missing radiation to water vapor. He highlights latent heat cooling and contends empirical “proxy” methods used to infer strong positive water-vapor feedback are invalid due to lapse-rate behavior. He concludes climate sensitivity would drop to ~1 K or less.

00:00 Meet Erich Schaffer

01:06 Why Climate Basics Matter

04:52 Greenhouse Effect Explained

07:30 Lapse Rate Physics

10:52 IPCC Definition Shift

12:38 Debunking Back Radiation

16:04 Cloud Window Mistake

19:25 Latent Heat Cooling

20:40 Who Causes Warming

31:04 Reading the Spectrum

33:46 What CO2 Forcing Means

37:03 Deriving 3.7 Wm2

41:41 Water Vapor Feedback Setup

45:35 Models vs Observations

46:57 Empirical Feedback Proxies

51:10 Calculating Feedback From Slopes

54:16 Super Greenhouse Tropics Claim

56:52 Lapse Rate Versus Water Vapor

58:45 Moist Adiabats And Latent Cooling

01:00:58 Clouds Versus Water Vapor Paradox

01:05:21 Water Reflectivity And Polar Amplification

01:09:55 Infrared Emissivity Of Water

01:15:01 Surface Emissions Overstated

01:21:16 Reattributing The Greenhouse Effect

01:28:30 Thought Experiments Removing Water Vapor

01:34:26 Why Regional Proxy Fails

01:40:24 Seasonal Proxy Broken By Inversions

01:44:37 Sluggish Troposphere Explains Slopes

01:49:33 Wrap Up And Next Parts

https://x.com/erich_schaffer

https://greenhousedefect.com/

=========

Slides, summaries, references, and transcripts of my podcasts: https://tomn.substack.com/p/podcast-summaries

My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tomanelson1

Catherine McBride: “Premeditated Industrial Destruction?” | Tom Nelson Pod #394 May 14, 2026

Show notes

Catherine McBride talks about her paper “Premeditated Industrial Destruction,” arguing UK net-zero policies have driven deindustrialization without lowering global emissions by shifting production and emissions to countries like China. They discuss UK energy reliance on fossil fuels (about 75–80%), gas backup for wind, bans and legal obstacles to new North Sea and shale projects while importing gas, and high industrial electricity costs from wind-related grid and balancing costs plus multiple carbon taxes. McBride criticizes EV mandates and fines, insufficient charging and grid capacity, and policies pushing carmakers and firms like BP away. She says EU net-zero rules hurt farming and industry, notes coal’s role and storage advantages, questions activist funding (including alleged Russian support), and contrasts Norway’s hydro and state oil strategy with UK decisions.

00:00 Meet Catherine McBride

00:11 How Net Zero Killed Industry

02:37 Fossil Fuels Reality Check

04:19 Importing Gas While Banning Drilling

07:05 Norway Hydro And LNG

09:33 Hybrids Versus Pure EVs

11:54 EV Mandates And Car Industry Exit

15:38 China EVs And Charging Limits

19:05 Grid Can’t Handle Electrification

35:33 BP Profits Politics And US Option

37:37 Free Speech Shift And Chris Wright Wish

38:54 UK Cabinet Energy Illiteracy

41:29 Coal Mines Versus Activists

43:44 Europe’s Coal Reality Check

47:50 Batteries and Load Shedding

51:45 Why Solar Fails in Britain

53:48 Subsidies Warp Farming

57:16 Tariffs and Media Blind Spots

01:03:29 NGO Funding and Anti-Fracking

01:06:29 Russia Gas Markets and Nord Stream

01:08:52 Norway’s Oil Wealth Playbook

01:10:27 UK Bets on Carbon Capture

01:11:37 Trees Beat Tech Wrap-Up

https://x.com/CeeMacBee

https://catherinemcbride.substack.com/

Premeditated Industrial Destruction?: https://gbbc.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Premeditated-Industrial-Destruction-Final-6th-April-2026-with-added-security-issue-v2.pdf

=========

Slides, summaries, references, and transcripts of my podcasts: https://tomn.substack.com/p/podcast-summaries

My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tomanelson1

Sonia Elijah: “3/11 Viral Takeover” | Tom Nelson Pod #393 May 10, 2026

Show notes

Tom interviews investigative journalist Sonia Elijah about her book 3/11 Viral Takeover, a five-year, evidence-based chronicle of the COVID era with 941 citations drawn from FOIA releases, emails, and leaked documents. Elijah argues COVID policy reflected a coordinated, censorship-driven response, tracing a timeline of pre-2020 pandemic exercises, media/government coordination, and conflicts of interest. She discusses the WHO’s March 11, 2020 pandemic declaration, alleged suppression of lab-origin discussion, flawed modeling used to justify lockdowns, and problems with PCR testing. The conversation covers propaganda and censorship networks (including the Trusted News Initiative), suppression of early treatments, harms from ventilators and drugs, and allegations of misclassified vaccine trial and safety data, including pregnancy and myocarditis concerns, urging accountability and preparedness against repetition.

00:00 Meet Sonia Elijah

00:18 Book Thesis and Censorship

01:17 Research Depth and Purpose

02:49 Will It Happen Again

04:40 Why 3 11 Matters

06:01 Pandemic Drills and mRNA Push

10:53 Bat Database Goes Dark

12:18 FOIA Emails and Lab Leak

15:04 Cracks and Conflicts

18:10 Lockdowns Driven by Models

19:19 PCR Testing Anomalies

25:31 Harms and Care Homes

26:37 Testing Kit Profiteering

29:40 Fear Messaging and Propaganda

32:10 Dancing Nurses and Empty Wards

33:39 Trusted News Initiative

37:17 Natural Immunity Censored

38:17 Lancet Study Fallout

40:13 Ivermectin Smear Campaign

41:57 Silencing Doctors Online

43:30 Hospital Protocol Controversies

45:09 Redefining Vaccinated Data

46:38 Retracted Myocarditis Research

48:46 Missing Safety Reports

53:31 Pfizer Papers Deep Dive

58:13 Vaccine Injured Silenced

59:52 Pregnancy Harms Revealed

01:04:40 Justice and Accountability

01:07:32 Closing Thoughts on the Book

https://x.com/sonia_elijah

https://linktr.ee/SoniaElijah

Book Review by Robert Malone— 3/11: Viral Takeover: https://www.malone.news/p/book-review-311-viral-takeover

Order it at Amazon here: https://www.malone.news/p/book-review-311-viral-takeover

=========

Slides, summaries, references, and transcripts of my podcasts: https://tomn.substack.com/p/podcast-summaries

My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tomanelson1

Thomas Kurz: “Why There Is No Climate Crisis” | Tom Nelson Pod #392 May 06, 2026

Show notes

Thomas Kurz discusses his upcoming book, Why There Is No Climate Crisis (Kindle in May, print in June), and argues modest warming is largely natural, claiming the IPCC obscures evidence of past climate variability. He explains paleoclimate proxies (oxygen isotopes, carbon-14, beryllium-10) and links climate shifts to Milankovitch cycles, solar cycles, galactic cosmic rays influencing clouds, and ocean oscillations (AMO/PDO). Using temperature reconstructions, glacier, treeline, sea-level, historical freeze, agriculture, insect, and civilization records, he says warm periods brought prosperity while cold periods drove drought, famine, disease, and upheaval. He concludes about half of post-1850 warming is natural, warming is generally beneficial, and future cooling is likely.

00:00 Guest And Book Intro

00:24 Why He Dug In

01:46 Focus On Climate Cycles

03:44 Paleoclimate Proxies

04:57 Isotopes And Temperature

06:48 Cosmic Rays And Solar

07:56 Milky Way Climate Cycle

12:17 Milankovitch Ice Ages

14:28 CO2 Follows Temperature

17:10 Holocene Cooling Trend

19:29 Schwabe Solar Cycles

21:42 Millennial Solar Cycles

23:14 Temperature Reconstructions

25:04 Glaciers Treelines Seas

28:44 Historical Freeze Evidence

32:27 Farming And Wildlife Clues

37:06 Warm Vs Cold Impacts

41:28 Storm Evidence In Proxies

44:44 Civilizations And Climate

45:48 Holocene Optimum Prosperity

47:42 2200 BC Collapse Event

48:18 Minoan Warm Period Boom

50:47 Greek Dark Ages Breakdown

52:53 Roman Warm Period Growth

54:23 Late Antique Cooling Plagues

56:50 Medieval Warm Period Golden Age

59:11 Little Ice Age Hardship

01:06:46 Witch Hunts Climate Blame

01:09:16 Modern Warming Attribution Debate

01:12:17 Ocean Oscillations AMO PDO

01:15:44 No Climate Crisis Wrap Up

=========

Slides, summaries, references, and transcripts of my podcasts: https://tomn.substack.com/p/podcast-summaries

My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tomanelson1

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected