By James Taylor, H. Sterling Burnett, Anthony Watts
‘Earth Day today feels increasingly detached from the kind of environmental problems that gave rise to it in 1970’
SCHAUMBURG, IL (April 22, 2026) — On Earth Day 2026, environmental activists and politicians will once again exploit a day founded with an ecological focus to peddle climate alarmism and government action that puts restrictions on affordable energy.
The Heartland Institute, known as the leading global think tank pushing back on climate alarmism, offers a more hopeful view. Heartland, founded in 1984, has organized 16 International Conferences on Climate Change, the latest on April 8-9, 2026 in Washington, DC.
It is also the publisher of the Climate Change Reconsidered series of scientific volumes, Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming, Climate at a Glance, ClimateRealism.com, Energy at a Glance, and streams The Climate Realism Show every Friday at 1 p.m. ET.
The following statements from climate and energy experts at The Heartland Institute may be used for attribution. For more information, or to interview a Heartland expert, please contact Executive Vice President and Director of Communications Jim Lakely at jlakely@heartland.org or call/text 312-731-9364.
“Today is a day to celebrate the improving environmental condition of our planet and the rapidly improving environmental condition of the United States. Recovering temperatures from our recent 10,000-year lows are benefiting ecosystems around the world. Restoring CO2 to the atmosphere is dramatically increasing the amount of global plant life which is currently starved of CO2. Rolling back wind and solar power mandates is preserving open spaces that had previously been slated for destruction to serve the so-called renewable power industry. We need more affordable, reliable energy and less pandering to totalitarian leftist restrictions on freedom.
James Taylor
President
The Heartland Institute
“This Earth Day we have many things to celebrate. Science is increasingly showing that there is no climate crisis, necessitating a wholesale government takeover of the economy.
“In addition, even though energy use is at an all-time high and growing, our air and water are cleaner now than at any time in the last 150 years. That’s due to efficiency and technology, proving once again that we can have both economic growth and environmental quality.”
H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D.
Director, Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy
The Heartland Institute
“Earth Day today feels increasingly detached from the kind of environmental problems that gave rise to it in 1970. Back then, the issues were obvious and immediate — urban smog, polluted rivers, toxic industrial discharge — and they were addressed with equally direct solutions. The legislative and technological push in that first decade produced measurable gains: cleaner air in major cities, the end of routine river fires, and a sharp reduction in the most visible forms of industrial pollution. Those were real achievements grounded in observation and engineering, not speculative modeling.
“What we have now is something quite different. The focus has shifted toward global climate projections and sweeping energy transformations built on models that continue to evolve and, at times, diverge from observed trends. Meanwhile, the realities of energy demand, reliability, and cost have reasserted themselves in ways that can’t be glossed over by annual messaging campaigns. Earth Day, in its current form, often leans more on narrative than on the kind of tangible, verifiable progress that defined its early years — and that raises the question of what purpose it actually serves today.”
Anthony Watts
Senior Fellow
The Heartland Institute
