Glenn Beck’s ‘Climate of Fear’ Attacks Global Warming Alarmists and Kyoto Fallacies

If you missed it last night, Glenn Beck’s skeptical program about anthropogenic global warming, “Exposed: The Climate of Fear,” aired on CNN Headline News.

In it, Beck skewered many of the misnomers advanced by global warming alarmists, especially soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore (full transcript available here).

Video (3:05): Real (2.28 MB) or Windows (1.90 MB), plus MP3 (2.83 MB).

One particularly delicious segment occurred early in the program as Beck presented the facts about the Kyoto Protocol that few on the left care to recall, especially former Vice President Gore:

GLENN BECK, HOST: They crafted what`s called the Kyoto Protocol. This is, according to many environmentalists, the gold standard of worldwide efforts to limit emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide by industrialized nations that most blame for global warming. That`s us.

Why didn’t the United States agree to this?

BECK: Because, quite simply the Kyoto Protocol is a joke, a really unfunny and expensive joke.

MARLO LEWIS, COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Three-quarters of the total expense would fall upon the United States.

TIM BALL, NATURAL RESOURCES STEWARDSHIP PROJECT: I think there`s only two countries that are even coming close to meeting their targets.

PATRICK MICHAELS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA STATE CLIMATOLOGIST: The amount of warming that would be prevented, perhaps, is 7/100 Celsius.

PATRICK MOORE, FORMER DIRECTOR, GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL: It does not include China, India, Brazil, and these countries are all industrializing rapidly.

CHRIS HORNER, AUTHOR, "POLITICALLY INCORRECT GUIDE TO GLOBAL WARMING": Kyoto encourages people to run the hell away from it.

BUSH: We didn`t feel like the Kyoto treaty was well-balanced. It didn`t include developing nations.

Talk about your inconvenient truths, guess who also didn’t agree with it:

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will not submit this for ratification until there`s meaningful participation by key developing nations.

BECK: Yes, you heard right. Back in 1997, Al Gore set the standard that the U.S. Will not comply with Kyoto as long as big polluters like China don`t have to.

HORNER: That`s the Gore standard. That standard still has not been met. That was the standard George Bush articulated, too, but he`s mean.

Why isn’t that in Gore's schlockumentary?

But that’s just the beginning, for lots of folks didn’t buy into this nonsense. In fact, how about the entire Senate at the time:

BECK: Clinton signed the Kyoto Protocol, announced his commitment to it, but never sent it to Congress to be ratified.

HORNER: Just like George Bush has never undertaken the purely protocol step of asking the Senate to vote on Kyoto, neither did Bill Clinton, for 801 days of his presidency.

BECK: Why? Because they knew the Senate had already voted down a Kyoto type deal by the razor-thin margin of 95-0.

Why do folks like Al Gore and his sycophant devotees such as Laurie David and Sheryl Crow seem to forget this little detail?

Maybe more importantly, why don’t the media continually remind them?

What follows is a partial transcript of this segment.

GLENN BECK, HOST: They crafted what`s called the Kyoto Protocol. This is, according to many environmentalists, the gold standard of worldwide efforts to limit emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide by industrialized nations that most blame for global warming. That`s us.

So what is the legacy of Kyoto? Well, once you realize how many holes there are in the consensus solution, you may begin to open up your mind to the other side of the global warming debate as a whole.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK (voice-over): Who knew climate could be so volatile?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Bush is breaking the international agreement.

BECK: Anger, protests, scorn against America and President Bush for refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was not a popular position in parts of the world.

BECK: Yes. It really wasn`t. One hundred and seventy countries have ratified Kyoto, many promising to reduce their greenhouse gases to below 1990 levels.

KOFI ANNAN, FORMER U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: There`s no time to lose.

BECK: Amidst international pressure, the U.S. and Australia have refused to participate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re going to go on and implement the Kyoto treaty. Do not wait for Bush.

BECK: Why, when the U.S. is responsible for 20 percent of all manmade greenhouse gases? Why refuse to join the rest of the world? I mean, other than the purely annoyed, these people.

Because, quite simply the Kyoto Protocol is a joke, a really unfunny and expensive joke.

MARLO LEWIS, COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Three-quarters of the total expense would fall upon the United States.

TIM BALL, NATURAL RESOURCES STEWARDSHIP PROJECT: I think there`s only two countries that are even coming close to meeting their targets.

PATRICK MICHAELS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA STATE CLIMATOLOGIST: The amount of warming that would be prevented, perhaps, is 7/100 Celsius.

PATRICK MOORE, FORMER DIRECTOR, GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL: It does not include China, India, Brazil, and these countries are all industrializing rapidly.

CHRIS HORNER, AUTHOR, "POLITICALLY INCORRECT GUIDE TO GLOBAL WARMING": Kyoto encourages people to run the hell away from it.

BUSH: We didn`t feel like the Kyoto treaty was well-balanced. It didn`t include developing nations.

BECK: Developing nations, like China and India, aren`t mandated to reduce their emissions under Kyoto. That`s a big problem for the U.S., especially since many developing nations are big polluters.

MICHAELS: It used to be thought that by 2020 that China was going to pass the United States in carbon dioxide emissions. New data says it`s going to happen in 2009.

BECK: Even our vice president thought it was ridiculous.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is a ridiculous notion.

BECK: No, no, no, I don`t mean that vice president. I mean this one.

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will not submit this for ratification until there`s meaningful participation by key developing nations.

BECK: Yes, you heard right. Back in 1997, Al Gore set the standard that the U.S. Will not comply with Kyoto as long as big polluters like China don`t have to.

HORNER: That`s the Gore standard. That standard still has not been met. That was the standard George Bush articulated, too, but he`s mean.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today I reaffirm my personal and announce our nation`s commitment to reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases.

BECK: Clinton signed the Kyoto Protocol, announced his commitment to it, but never sent it to Congress to be ratified.

HORNER: Just like George Bush has never undertaken the purely protocol step of asking the Senate to vote on Kyoto, neither did Bill Clinton, for 801 days of his presidency.

BECK: Why? Because they knew the Senate had already voted down a Kyoto type deal by the razor-thin margin of 95-0.