Given the subject matter, Horner had a lot of fun slamming Al Gore, Ellen Goodman, and the global warmingists (video available here). Goodman was Horner’s first target:
Well, let's say this Ellen Goodman a columnist just joined the parade of those who call people who deny climate change – that’s what they call it -- Holocaust deniers. Okay, now think about this. You decide which is being trivialized: a few tenths of a degree increase over a hundred and something years, or 20 million people dead on the basis of their religion or sexual preferences.
Horner then made an interesting historical climate observation that has conveniently eluded all the global warming alarmists and their devotees:
Obviously, they’re the ones overreacting because it’s very simple. We admit climate change, and that’s what they deny. Climate changes – it always has, it always will. The Vikings used to farm Greenland, and if we get two degrees Celsius warmer they may again.
Next, Horner went after Al Gore:
[G]laciers are melting all over the world. Glaciers are growing all over the world. The problem is…and also glaciers are receding by growing which is in Al Gore’s movie. When they grow too far – grow is the key word -- they break off. That's not melting he shows, that's called calving. But what happens is they say melting glaciers is proof of global warming. By that logic, for lack of a better word, receding glaciers is proof of global cooling. They can't both be true and in fact neither are.
*****Update: Ken Shepherd has alerted me that Horner's book references the Business & Media Institute's 2006 special report on global warming entitled "Fire and Ice."
What follows is a full transcript of this segment.
Brian Kilmeade: Hey, Al Gore's “An Inconvenient Truth” which we just saw a clip of just a bunch of wasted of energy or is it a warning to the people of the world?
Steve Doocy: Our next guest Chris Horner, Christopher Horner, is the author of “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and Environmentalism.” He joins us live in the studio. Good morning, Chris
Christopher Horner: Good morning
Steve: So, you must be a scientist or something?
Horner: I don't rise to the level of Keanu Reeves or Alanis Morissette, who’ve done some pretty compelling work on the issue, and the (?) of ice core samples. Selma Hayak was pretty good. I think it’s not a serious objection thanks to Al Gore taking that off the table. We wouldn't be subjected to him, any politician, hundreds of celebrities can't be wrong, that argument. But the scientific literature is to be written by scientists. It’s intended to be read by interested lay people.
Steve: And, the basic overview of your book is?
Horner: The basic overview -- climate changes, weather happens, always has, always will. Societies choose how to adapt to it. Do they create wealth? Become richer more technologically adept to deal with something that’s always there unpredictable in severe weather? Or do what Europe used to do and seems to be on the cusp of doing again now which is look for witches to burn?
Brian: Okay, fine, so you think we’re overreacting to something that's out of our control, that we are not responsible, that if the earth is, in fact, heating up?
Horner: Well, let's say this Ellen Goodman a columnist just joined the parade of those who call people who deny climate change – that’s what they call it -- Holocaust deniers. Okay, now think about this. You decide which is being trivialized: a few tenths of a degree increase over a hundred and something years, or 20 million people dead on the basis of their religion or sexual preferences. Obviously, they’re the ones overreacting because it’s very simple. We admit climate change, and that’s what they deny. Climate changes – it always has, it always will. The Vikings used to farm Greenland, and if we get two degrees Celsius warmer they may again.
Steve: Alright, Chris, put on answer man hat. Here’s some questions, and you’re going to answer them. Folks at home. True or false: the climate was stable until man came along.
Horner: False. In fact, we know this is false because this claim and a chart purporting to show stable climate was called the hockey stick and then the spike upward was the smoking gun from the last U.N. report six years ago. The new one that just came out that you heard distorted about 10 days ago. It wasn’t in there anywhere. No mention of it. Air brushed out. It was dropped, because they air brushed out the little ice age which we just left and the Medieval climate optimum or warming. It's been debunked by the National Academy.
Brian: The glaciers are melting. You saw Al Gore just talk about that.
Horner: Yes, glaciers are melting all over the world. Glaciers are growing all over the world. The problem is…and also glaciers are receding by growing which is in Al Gore’s movie. When they grow too far – grow is the key word -- they break off. That's not melting he shows, that's called calving. But what happens is they say melting glaciers is proof of global warming. By that logic, for lack of a better word, receding glaciers is proof of global cooling. They can't both be true and in fact neither are.
