Even after demonetizing the YouTube channel of climate-denial think tank The Heartland Institute in June, other large channels still contain climate-denial content that seemingly violates the platform's policies. We found four examples.

• On June 14, Heartland wrote that YouTube demonetized its channel because it posted videos that were harmful to viewers, violating community guidelines. As climate journalist Dave Vetter explained in another thread on X (formerly Twitter), this means that Heartland can no longer earn revenue from its YouTube videos. [Twitter/X, 6/14/24, 6/14/24]
   
• The decision comes after years of researchers and journalists pointing out that Heartland’s content amplifies climate deniers.The think tank is known for lobbying against climate legislation while receiving funding from the oil and gas industry. Heartland started its YouTube channel in 2007. [The Washington Post, 2/23/20; Grist, 2/6/23; DeSmog, 8/6/18; YouTube, accessed 7/25/24]
   
• After the announcement, Heartland still had an ad running on at least one of its videos. As of July 3, at least one video from the Heartland Institute was still being monetized by YouTube. The ad from Pacific Rim Athletics, a company that provides strength training programs, appeared on a January 19 video from Heartland attacking climate scientist Michael Mann. [YouTube 1/19/24, accessed 7/3/24]
   
• Google announced in 2021 that YouTube would prohibit “ads for, and monetization of, content that contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change,” but researchers have found large channels that violate this policy. A 2023 study from the Climate Action Against Disinformation Coalition identified 100 different videos amplifying climate disinformation that have ads, including videos from Heartland. [The Verge, 3/2/23; Google, 10/7/21]

Tony Heller

• Like the Heartland Institute,Tony Heller regularly posts YouTube videos that attempt to delegitimize scientific consensus on climate change. In January 2024, the Center for Countering Digital Hate published a report that highlighted Tony Heller as one figure still promoting the false narrative that Arctic sea ice isn’t melting. Since CCDH published its report, which analyzed videos from January 1, 2018, to September 30, 2023, Heller has posted well over 100 videos, many of which promote the idea that the warming we are currently experiencing is not being driven primarily by burning greenhouse gases. For example, Heller posted the documentary Climate: The Movie, which promoted “more than 2 dozen long-debunked myths” according to Skeptical Science, a blog that was launched by academic and disinformation expert John Cook. One such myth is that climate change is caused by the sun; in fact, the sun’s energy has decreased while the Earth warms. Heller also relies on an outdated theory suggesting that a warming period that occurred around 6,000 years ago debunks the idea of man-made climate change. [Skeptical Science, 3/23/24; YouTube, 3/21/25, 6/5/24, accessed 7/25/24; Center for Countering Digital Hate, 1/16/24; NOAA, 10/21]
   
• Media Matters found a pro-Trump election ad featuring Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance running on a May 11 video from Heller. The video included a clip of comedian Bill Maher mocking adult film actress Stormy Daniels and was posted during Trump’s New York hush money trial, where he was ultimately found guilty on 34 felony charges. [YouTube, 3/11/24, accessed 7/30/24]
   
• According to Social Blade, Heller’s estimated monthly earnings from YouTube are $33 to $528. [Social Blade, accessed 7/25/24]

PragerU

• PragerU videos receive millions of views, and the channel has a history of posting videos that feature climate change denial. Media Matters recently identified six videos on PragerU’s website that dismiss the scientific consensus that the changes we are currently experiencing are primarily being driven by burning fossil fuels. These videos can also be found on PragerU’s YouTube channel, and they have over 14.7 million views combined. [Media Matters, 4/16/24; YouTube, 4/15/24, 10/25/21, 2/5/18, 4/18/16, 7/27/15, 7/27/15]
   
• Recently, PragerU uploaded a video in which the narrator claims that it’s unclear whether climate warming is “larger than natural climate variability.” In an April video, a scientist who reportedly does climate forecasting for fossil fuel companies Judith Curry suggests that humans may not not be causing the rapid warming we have been experiencing in the 21st century, saying we don’t know “how much warming is associated with our emissions.” According to a Carbon Brief summary of the International Panel on Climate Change’s 2023 report, humans have likely caused “100% of the long-term global warming to date.” Curry concludes that “we can’t predict the future climate. It’s simply not possible. … We can’t control the climate.” [PragerU, 4/15/24; Carbon Brief, 3/23/23; DeSmog, 5/15/23]
   
• On June 28, PragerU posted a video claiming that the June heat wave impacting the mid-Atlantic and central U.S. was “nothing out of the ordinary'' and that heat waves are not becoming more frequent. The video shows a clip of meteorology student Chris Martz saying temperature data collected by NOAA contradicts the claims that “these events are becoming more frequent and more common here in the United States.” Meanwhile, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory website, “Heat waves like the June event have become more frequent in the United States in recent decades, according to researchers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.” [YouTube, 6/28/24; X/Twitter, accessed 7/26/24; NASA, 6/19/24]
   
• According to Social Blade, PragerU’s estimated monthly earnings from YouTube are $7,000 to $112,700. [Social Blade, accessed 7/25/24]

Jordan Peterson

• While Peterson does not post videos about climate change denial as often as other influencers or organizations devoted entirely to the topic, his videos have a much larger reach than Heartland’s, amplifying their impact. After the Center for Countering Digital Hate released a report about YouTube climate deniers, Peterson uploaded an interview with climate denier Dr. Patrick Moore, who falsely claims to be a co-founder of Greenpeace. The April 11 video is titled Climate Lies, referring to Moore’s views on the scientific consensus on climate change. The video has over 253,000 views, far more than the 10 most recent videos from the Heartland Institute combined. [Greenpeace, 7/6/10; YouTube, 4/11/24, accessed 7/25/24]
   
• According to Social Blade, as of July 16, Peterson’s estimated monthly YouTube earnings are $5,700 to $91,500. [Social Blade, accessed 7/25/24]

John Stossel

• Former Fox Business host John Stossel sued Meta after it said that two of his videos about climate change were missing context. In 2021, Stossel sued Meta (then Facebook), claiming the company defamed him by adding a fact-checking label to these videos. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed and the court found that Facebook’s labels were protected under California’s anti-Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP) statute. One of the videos included excerpts from an event Stossel moderated at the Heartland Institute. This video can also be found on YouTube. In it, one climate denier on the panel claimed that climate change is not causing sea level rise because “water has been rising for approximately 20,000 years and probably will continue.” He also claimed that hurricanes are not becoming more intense. [E&E News, 9/28/21; Courthouse News, 10/13/22; Climate Change Litigation Databases, 10/11/22; YouTube, 11/19/19]
   
• Stossel has been involved with the Heartland Institute for years. In addition to moderating the 2019 panel, Stossel has participated in Heartland Institute benefits, including one in September 2023. [Heartland Institute, 9/8/23, 2/3/04]
   
• On May 24, Stossel posted an interview with Judith Curry in which she said there is no “true scientific consensus” on climate change and called it a “manufactured consensus.” While Curry admitted that fossil fuels are warming the planet, she also falsely said that “we still don’t know” how “much of the recent warming is caused by fossil fuels” or if a warming planet is dangerous for humans. [YouTube, 5/24/24; NASA, February 2021]
   
• At least two of Stossel’s videos related to climate change, including his interview with Curry, had ads as of July 30. Media Matters found an election campaign ad featuring presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris running on Stossel’s video with Curry and an ad for SunValue, a solar project developer, running on his video titled “Juice: Why Wind and Solar Make Our Power Grid Less Reliable.” [YouTube, 7/30/24, 7/30/24]
   
• On May 24, Stossel also posted an interview with pro-fossil fuel activist Alex Epstein, who suggested it’s not “all bad” or “catastrophic” that fossil fuels are driving global warming. “You have to admit it leads to a lot of greening, because CO2 is plant food,” Epstein said. “And you also have to admit that warming is generally desirable in the world.” He also complained that “people do not acknowledge that today we are masters of climate and that any negatives of rising CO2 have been totally overwhelmed by the benefits of fossil fuels.” [YouTube, 5/24/24]
   
• According to Social Blade, as of July 25, Stossel’s estimated monthly YouTube earnings are $395 to $6,300. [Social Blade, accessed 7/25/24]