“All of these E.S.G. funds are wrong. They weren’t going to generate better returns. They are not going to make the world a better place. E.S.G. as an investment thesis should be entirely shut down.”

– Terrence Keeley. Quoted in “How Wall Street Turned Its Back on Climate Change,” New York Times, January 18, 2026.

“Six years after the financial industry pledged to use trillions to fight climate change and reshape finance,” the New York Times front-page article began, “its efforts have largely collapsed.” The reality documented in “How Wall Street Turned Its Back on Climate Change“? Net Zero and decarbonization are unnatural, uneconomic modes of business and economic organization, and businesses are getting back to the basics of fiduciary duty and consumer service. [1]

“2025 may go down as the easiest year in history to retreat on climate pledges,” stated UK climate activist Chris Bowden on social media.…

Ed. Note: The previous successes of the Heartland Institute in the EU/UK have been chronicled here and here. This post provides the latest DeSmog “expose” of Heartland’s successes, which is a fundraising/donation coup for James Taylor, as he explains below.

DeSmog’s investigative hit pieces are backfiring, which should concern financial supporters of this Left Progressive group. The latest example was amplified by James Taylor, head of the Heartland Institute and architect of its climate-related programs in the U.S. and abroad.

“Last week,” his recent fundraising letter went, “one of our loudest critics accidentally told the truth.” Taylor continued:

An activist website called Desmog published an article attempting to attack The Heartland Institute. Instead, it exposed just how far our influence now reaches.  The article maps Heartland’s growing network across the UK and Europe.

“Venezuelan oil has been powering Cuba’s electricity grid, and the Trump administration may use the fuel issue to effect changes in the island-nation’s leadership.”

“More heavy oil from Venezuela will put pressure on Canada’s role as a supplier of heavy crude to the U.S. It may also pressure Saudi Arabia, which ships heavy oil to feed its refineries in the U.S.”

“Access to Venezuela’s substantial oil reserves is likely to put a cap on how high global oil prices might rise in the future….”

Little did we realize how interesting 2026’s energy market would become when we finished writing our January 3 Energy Musings, “Energy Finishes 2025 In 8th Place Out Of 11 Sectors.” Just a few hours after finishing and scheduling its publication, United States Special Forces and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, supported by military forces, mounted a military-style campaign to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.…

“The anti-Big Oil political campaign, which harks back to 19th century’s ‘a right to do an independent business’ (Tarbell) against Standard Oil, is anti-consumer and pro-elitism…. Human betterment via economic and energy freedom is the moral imperative. Political capitalism (of which ‘Big Oil’ is also guilty) is the foe.”

The headline exclaims: “Big Oil’s Climate Ads Have Propped Up Fake Promises and False Solutions for Past 25 Years, Report Finds.” The subtitle of the article by Dana Drugmand: “First-of-its-kind analysis of hundreds of climate-related advertisements from BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell suggests that oil companies are continuing to mislead the public on climate.”

Well, it is fundraising time for Inside Climate News. And no, this report, coming on top of many similar ones, presents nothing new. It is more of more of the same.…