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Propaganda Buster · Issue 009

Costs, cold deaths, sampling and vineyards

Four September claims checked against original records: EPA’s cost estimate, temperature-associated deaths, Green Climate Fund sampling, and climate pressure on vineyards.

Propaganda Buster Issue 009, dated September 22, 2026. The cover explains that Affect Climate Change preserves original claims, checks them against primary evidence, and explains verdicts in plain language. This issue covers a 310-billion-dollar cost claim, cold and heat deaths, a supposedly random sample, and vineyard pressure. Dark navy scientific collage art appears along the right side.
Issues available
Issue 009
Claims checked
4
Scientific sources linked
14
Publication status
Published
How this visual issue works

Every claim is followed by the evidence that checks it.

The opening slide introduces the series and this issue. Slides 2, 4, 6, and 8 show the four claims with source provenance; slides 3, 5, 7, and 9 summarize what scientific evidence shows. Slide 10 directs readers to the complete record.

Issue 009 · September 22, 2026

Read the claim, then swipe once for the evidence.

The slides give the short version of each fact check. Select any preview to open the full-size slide, then choose the matching case page below for the complete explanation, scientific sources, limitations, and revision history.

Format
10 square slides (1080 × 1080)
Structure
4 claim-and-evidence pairs
Scientific record
14 linked sources
Status
Published
Propaganda Buster Issue 009, dated September 22, 2026. The cover explains that Affect Climate Change preserves original claims, checks them against primary evidence, and explains verdicts in plain language. This issue covers a 310-billion-dollar cost claim, cold and heat deaths, a supposedly random sample, and vineyard pressure. Dark navy scientific collage art appears along the right side.Slide 01 · Meet Propaganda Buster and the four claims examined in this issueClaim page showing a native CFACT article crop dated September 19, 2026. The article says EPA will immediately remove more than 300 billion dollars in energy-sector costs. ACC asks whether 310 billion dollars is money already saved or a modelled value spread across future years. A bright label points readers to the facts on slide 3.Slide 02 · Claim: immediately remove over $300 billion in costs to the energy sectorFacts page titled “A future model was framed as immediate savings.” One card shows the claim framing, “310 billion dollars removed now.” A second shows what EPA models: an economy-wide present value across 2026 to 2047. The page notes about 23 billion dollars annualized economy-wide and lower direct power-sector savings. Verdict: misleading. The limit states that EPA did repeal rules and projects real savings; the check addresses how the number was described.Slide 03 · What the evidence shows: Future, economy-wide modeled savings were described as immediate, sector-specific…Claim page showing a native Watts Up With That article crop dated September 17, 2026. The excerpt says cold deaths exceed heat deaths and concludes that warming caused non-optimal-temperature deaths to fall. ACC asks whether a falling cold-death ratio proves planetary warming caused an overall health benefit. The facts follow on slide 5.Slide 04 · Claim: Paraphrase: because cold-associated deaths were more prevalent than…Facts page titled “The count is real. The causal leap is not.” A 2000-to-2019 modelling study estimated that cold was associated with 8.52 percent of all deaths and heat with 0.91 percent. Comparing 2000–03 with 2016–19, the modeled cold-associated share fell 0.51 percentage points, the heat-associated share rose 0.21 points, and the net excess-death ratio changed by minus 0.30 points. Verdict: misleading because the association does not prove warming caused the net decline. The page notes that effects vary by place.Slide 05 · What the evidence shows: A historical association between temperature and mortality was presented as a…Claim page showing a native CFACT article crop dated September 21, 2026. The article calls the first projects in an alphabetically ordered country list a random sample and uses them to support a likely 100 percent conclusion. ACC asks whether those first entries can support a population-wide conclusion. The facts follow on slide 7.Slide 06 · Claim: Paraphrase: selecting the first projects in a country-alphabetized list…Facts page titled “Alphabetical is not random.” A diagram contrasts the first entries of an alphabetical database with the statistical requirement that every project have a known, nonzero chance of selection. A second card notes that climate adaptation addresses actual or expected climate effects. Verdict: unsupported. Later projects had no chance of selection, so the inspected examples cannot support a population-wide 100 percent claim. The limit says this does not prove every Green Climate Fund project is effective or cost-effective.Slide 07 · What the evidence shows: A non-random, alphabetically ordered sample cannot support the sweeping…Claim page showing a native Daily Sceptic article crop dated September 21, 2026. The article says the real pressure on vineyards is demand, not climate. ACC asks whether total grape output and weaker demand can rule out regional climate damage to wine production. The facts follow on slide 9.Slide 08 · Claim: The real pressure is demand, not climate.Facts page titled “Grapes are not all wine—and both pressures matter.” Three cards show selected uses within the 77.7-million-tonne grape total: 33.3 million tonnes of table grapes, 5.2 million tonnes for drying, and 30.5 million tonnes for wine. A label says musts and juices plus unavailable or lost grapes account for the remainder. The page states that 2024 global wine output was 225.6 million hectolitres, the lowest since 1961, and that the OIV cites climate impacts while demand also declined. Verdict: misleading. Impacts vary by region and adaptation can reduce losses.Slide 09 · What the evidence shows: Weaker demand and climate pressure can occur together; total grape tonnage cannot…Closing page inviting readers to see each original claim, full explanation, direct sources, limitations, and correction history at www.affectclimatechange.com/buster/009/. It also invites readers to follow Affect Climate Change on Facebook and Instagram for new Propaganda Buster issues between climate news updates.Slide 10 · Sources, methodology, and where to read the complete fact checks
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Selected cases

Read the complete fact checks.

Each permanent page preserves the original claim and explains the verdict at greater depth than a social slide can carry.

01 Misleading

Did EPA's power-plant rule repeal immediately remove $300 billion in energy-sector costs?

Future, economy-wide modeled savings were described as immediate, sector-specific costs removed.
Case
PB-009-01
Source specimen
Public article
Science sources
2 directly linked
 02 Misleading

Does the historical cold-versus-heat death gap prove warming has reduced total temperature-related deaths?

A historical association between temperature and mortality was presented as a proven causal result.
Case
PB-009-02
Source specimen
Public article
Science sources
3 directly linked
 03 Unsupported

Can an alphabetically selected list of projects support a claim that virtually all Green Climate Fund adaptation projects are not adaptation?

A non-random, alphabetically ordered sample cannot support the sweeping population-wide conclusion drawn.
Case
PB-009-03
Source specimen
Public article
Science sources
5 directly linked
 04 Misleading

Do falling wine sales mean climate is not putting pressure on vineyards?

Weaker demand and climate pressure can occur together; total grape tonnage cannot rule out climate effects on wine production.
Case
PB-009-04
Source specimen
Public article
Science sources
4 directly linked