Activists are still speaking in apocalyptic tones — but this time around, their wealthy backers and the public don’t seem to be listening.

As President Donald Trump cuts back on the federal government’s commitment to renewable energy in favor of unleashing the fossil fuel industry, environmental activists are sounding the alarm in increasingly dramatic terms — but this time around, their apocalyptic warnings aren’t generating the public fanfare they did four years ago.

Since taking office, Trump has withdrawn from the Paris climate accord again, reopened 625 million acres of federal waters and Alaskan land for oil and gas leasing, paused the approval of new offshore wind projects pending an environmental and economic review, and taken many more actions reversing the Biden administration’s climate initiatives.

Environmental organizations are, of course, rushing to accuse the administration of jeopardizing humanity’s future, but their most prominent — and well-heeled — backers don’t seem to be on board in the same way they were during Trump’s first term.

Last time around, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos contributed $10 billion of his own money to launch the Bezos Earth Fund in 2020. Now, Bezos and other tech billionaires have largely stayed silent — instead seeking Trump’s favor after his reelection regardless of their personal feelings toward the new administration’s pledge to increase domestic oil and gas production.

And it’s not just the billionaires — the American public doesn’t seem to be responding in the same way either.

While there is broad support for certain climate policies on both sides of the aisle, Americans tend to diverge when asked about their emotional reactions to news involving climate change. Fifty-one percent of respondents say they feel suspicious of the groups and people pushing for climate action, according to a Pew Research Center survey released in December. Additionally, 48 percent say they feel confused by all the information about the politically divisive issue.

The same survey shows 34 percent of respondents equally say climate policies either help or hurt the U.S. economy, while 30 percent say they make no difference.

There is also less urgency around the issue, particularly among young adults. Half of Americans between ages 18 and 34 view climate change as a very serious problem, down 17 points from 2021, according to a Monmouth University poll from May. The same demographic also showed a precipitous drop when asked about support for government action to reduce climate change: 62 percent are in support, compared with 80 percent three years earlier.

Still, grassroots environmental groups are carrying on the fight.

Our Revolution, a progressive political action organization, recently held a conference call with reporters from various news outlets, including National Review, to outline the climate change movement’s next steps on combating Trump’s “unholy alliance” with Big Oil executives.

In his farewell address, former President Joe Biden warned of the supposed threat posed by an “oligarchy” that aligns itself with Trump’s interests. Our Revolution invoked this ominous message against Big Oil oligarchs, or as one guest dubbed them, “oil-garchs.”

Joseph Geevarghese, the organization’s executive director, accused this rising oligarchy of taking part in a “fake energy emergency” imposed by an “imperial president.”

While they haven’t had much luck generating public outrage, climate activists still seem to believe they can bend Democratic lawmakers to their will. Geevarghese urged listeners to “make it unacceptable for Democrats to collaborate with Trump,” calling out the Democratic senators who voted to confirm Secretary Chris Wright, formerly a Denver-based fracking chief executive, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, a close ally of the oil and gas industry.

Eight Democrats, such as Senators Ruben Gallego (Ariz.) and Michael Bennet (Colo.), approved of Wright. Burgum passed with 26 Democrats, including Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), in favor of his nomination.

While Biden’s administration showered subsidies and grants on the green energy industry, the environmentalists and their allies in Congress hope to convince Americans that it’s the fossil fuel companies that are actually getting a free ride from taxpayers.

Senators Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Ed Markey (D., Mass.), along with Representative Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), held a recent press briefing on Capitol Hill organized by Our Revolution detailing the extent of federal subsidies given to fossil fuel corporations.

“If we do not cut carbon emissions and stop giving polluters huge tax breaks and corporate welfare, the planet we will be leaving future generations will be less and less habitable,” Sanders said. “People are already experiencing the devastation now. The future of the planet depends upon your success.”

Sanders, who founded Our Revolution following his failed 2016 presidential campaign, launched a “National Tour to Fight Oligarchy,” starting in Omaha and Iowa City. The progressive senator is speaking with working-class Americans about the pervasive influence that billionaires like Elon Musk hold over the Trump administration and how that will allegedly push the country toward authoritarianism. Climate change is one of the topics he’s addressing.

“The problems this country faces right now are extremely serious. The economy is rigged. Our campaign finance system is corrupt, and we are struggling to control climate change,” Sanders said in a video announcing the tour.

Returning to a favorite chapter in their well-worn playbook, environmentalists also use natural disasters as evidence of the wisdom of their policy prescriptions.

One of the panelists on the call, climate attorney Maya Golden-Krasner, blamed January’s raging Los Angeles wildfires on global warming, which she attributed to fossil fuel emissions.

While climate change may have been a factor in precipitating the wildfires, a 2023 study from the University of Montana shows 76 percent of Western wildfires that destroyed structures between 2010 and 2020 were caused by humans.

California had environmental policies on the books that impeded its response to the most recent natural disaster. For example, water supply issues, including a nearby reservoir that had been drained for maintenance, prevented firefighters from quenching the wildfires. Trump blamed the lack of water on a regulation that rerouted excess water from the habitat of delta smelt, an endangered species of fish, into the Pacific Ocean instead of storing the water. The president authorized federal agencies to override that rule.

The state’s failure to clear flammable brush also exacerbated the wildfire crisis in Los Angeles in addition to other factors, such as drought and dry, warm winds. Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to institute new brush regulations after meeting with Trump.

The wildfires may have been prevented if Newsom had prepared for such a disaster. Instead, California has sought to punish Big Oil through litigation for the industry’s alleged role in climate-driven wildfires.

Furthermore, air pollution may not be as detrimental as environmentalists claim. In fact, certain emissions might be helpful with regulating the Earth’s temperature.

Sulfur emissions from cargo ships form marine clouds that reflect sunlight back into space, thereby cooling down the planet, according to a scientific paper by climate scientist James Hansen reported by the U.K.’s Telegraph. In 2020, the International Maritime Organization imposed a 0.5 percent limit on sulfur emissions coming from cargo vessels’ fuel. The previous limit was 3.5 percent.

In the five years since the shipping regulation was put in place, Hansen found the rate of global warming has accelerated significantly, partially as a result of decreasing sulfate aerosols. Less air pollution means more sunlight, contributing to rapid global warming.

“Humanity made a bad deal, a Faustian bargain,” Hansen said. “The Faustian payment to the devil has come due.”

The paper still acknowledges that greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, are the primary driver for climate change, however.

Contrary to what environmentalists preach, climate change is in part due to ill-conceived climate policies that scientists don’t fully scrutinize. The blame doesn’t lie solely on Big Oil.

Hysterical climate activists often use exaggerated language while making their points about global warming. Members participating in Our Revolution’s video call were no different.

Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, told viewers it is “obscene” that we are “funding our own destruction” through fossil fuel subsidies.

“I look at the news every week, and I feel like I see a new statistic that scares me,” Shiney-Ajay said, adding she felt a “pit in my stomach” when she heard the Earth passed its global warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius for the first time last year.

It remains to be seen if climate change can change public opinion about Trump. Given the lack of urgency around the issue and environmentalists’ off-putting rhetoric, that outcome remains unlikely.