Your World smackdown: Guest flatly refuted Asman claim that he is "all for" global warming
On the December 21 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, an on-screen graphic read: " 'Global Warming': Great for Business & Economy?" during guest host David Asman's interview with Michael Farr, president of the investment firm Farr, Miller & Washington, about the positive effects of mild winters on the economy. When Asman said that "my next guest says if what's happening in New York is global warming, he's all for it," Farr responded, "Well, now, hang on, David. First of all, global warming is a very serious issue, and it could have devastating effects. That we are having a milder winter is a really good thing for the economy, and milder winters are always pretty good." Farr later added, "Global warming is not a good thing. Global warming is a tremendously bad thing."
Farr's denial that he was claiming that global warming is "great for the economy" was first noted by the weblog News Hounds.
From the December 21 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto:
ASMAN: A blizzard in Colorado, more than a thousand flights canceled, Denver at a virtual standstill, about two feet of snow, and then there is the Northeast. Unseasonably warm temperatures. A lot of us are glad about. Streets crowded with shoppers. Cafes still offering outdoor seating, if you can believe it. Well, my next guest says if what's happening in New York is global warming, he's all for it. It's great for the economy. Michael Farr, president of the investment firm Farr, Miller & Washington. Well, Mr. Farr, so if global warming is real, how is it a good thing for our economy?
FARR: Well, now, hang on, David. First of all, global warming is a very serious issue, and it could have devastating effects. That we are having a milder winter is a really good thing for the economy, and milder winters are always pretty good. Fuel-oil and heating costs don't go up as much. Shoppers are out on the streets; they're spending more money. Merchants have more money, manufacturers have lower manufacturing and transport cost -- that's good.
ASMAN: OK, so you're kind of putting a brake on the notion that global warming is a good thing.
FARR: Yeah. No, no, no. Global warming is not a good thing. Global warming is a tremendously bad thing. You read both sides of it, and I'm not exactly sure exactly where we are in the global-warming process, I know it's --
ASMAN: Well, you have these -- the thing is, you have these extremes. You have some folks saying that there's absolutely zero problem, other folks like [former Vice President] Al Gore saying that, you know, Florida is gonna be engulfed in water next year. So, somewhere in there, if you look at the mild winter we're having, that might not be a bad thing.
FARR: The mild winter that we're having is certainly not a bad thing for business. No question about it. People are shopping more, they're spending more money at retailers, and we're going to see profits rise, particularly I think, for those retailers, I hope, coming into the first -- as their fourth quarter ends. We'll see those numbers in January. There have been a lot of discounting, though. But volumes are up, and that's really a good thing. So a mild winter is really good. When that mild weather comes during the holiday shopping season, that's even more better. So that's good. But no, global warming is a very serious issue. We got problems here.
ASMAN: And that just leads me to wonder, what happens if these mild winters are here to stay, and maybe the water begins to rise, et cetera?
FARR: You know, I'm not a scientist, but the facts are --
ASMAN: Well, you're willing to admit it. A lot of people who talk about global warming aren't willing to admit that.
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"... other folks like [former Vice President] Al Gore saying that, you know, Florida is gonna be engulfed in water next year." Assman needs to provide a citation when he makes idiotic comments like that.
FARR: You know, I'm not a scientist, but the facts are --
ASMAN: Well, you're willing to admit it. A lot of people who talk about global warming aren't willing to admit that.
So he cuts him off before he can talk about facts because he's not a scientist? Since when do these guys listen to scientists not paid for by Exxon? Sheesh.
I am sure you could point out to us where and when extremist Al Gore said Florida will be engulfed in water in 2007. I am certain you're not pulling than straight out of your ass, man.
A lot of people who talk about global warming aren't scientists? Ok, well a lot of scientists say global warming is real, unlike non-scientist, James Inhofe.
then smeared it all over a memo and sent out his daily deposit of 'talking points'
The guy made a brief synopsis of what the guest appearing his show was going to talk about and the guest corrected him. I am sure this happens many time we just do not get to see it happen on air.
This is kind of about nothing. It doesn't read like a smackdown to me, though it is nice to see someone on Fox say "global warming is very serious."
I think it was just posted for the schadenfreude value, which is nice but ultimately unsatisfying. Fox has still injected enough fake doubt into this debate to prevent any real action for years. So Asman had a guest talk back to him. Whoop de-do.
to lure people to watch longer, they are mostly dishonest and misleading. In this case it seems they used this tease to get the deniers of GCC to keep watching. I wonder how they felt when he was corrected like that?
...that Asman's false summation of his guest's position was used to put forth an argument in favor of global warming, a position with an obvious conservative agenda.
Also, when the guest didn't answer as expected, Asman essentially treated him as a hostile witness. Asman silenced the guest, then refocused on the "mild winter" comments as implied support of his own preconceived conclusion on global warming.
Fox's continued fight against science on behalf of polluters and their Republican supporters.
And what a brave fight it is.
lucrative.
Is he saying global warming is happening, but it's a good thing or global warming is not happening at all.
These guys constantly get stuck in the mud thinking that climate change is a year-by-year thing. I guaran-goddam-tee ya, if it's cold this time next year, we're going to see Bennett and Inhofe on every show in Fox's schedule.
That went right past me. I guess we could have said "Fox Admits there is Global Warming" before Asman began to cover his tracks.
by couching it in terms of the ECONOMY!!! If it can 'help' the economy, it must be true and BRING MORE OF IT ON!!
Looks like maybe Fox's new take on global warming is not to deny it completely, as that will marginalize the network more and more as the obvious facts and data come in, but to downplay it's seriousness- and even sell it as a good thing. Quite a difficult sell, apparently. But ASSman sure will try though, huh? Boy is he aptly named.
Everybody wants to play the fiddle like Nero!!
FARR: You know, I'm not a scientist, but the facts are --
ASMAN: Well, you're willing to admit it. A lot of people who talk about global warming aren't willing to admit that.
Rrrrrrrrright. And were Mr. Farr a scientist, Fox either wouldn't have invited him or they would have attempted to smear him, or distorted everything he said.
Those Fox hens really don't miss a chance to pollute the airwaves, or to distract and confuse Americans. Why does anyone watch that trash?
and the media have a bunch of "scientists" telling the faithful that climate change is a buncha nonsense.
And that's what they want to hear.
I'm going to Fresno for the weekend. Everybody have a Merrry Xmas or whatever holiday you prefer.
So, global warming is good for the economy because of the heat? For how long? This really shows how many people think short term. I'm all for global warming being good for business in ways to CURB it, REVERSE it, but to say that we're enjoying the ride and profiting off of it while Europe heads for a new ice age and millions of Indians, Asians and Americans get killed or relocated in the next 50 years is absolutely alarming. As Al Gore points out, we are in an age of consequences and as I spent last July in England with a HEAT WAVE I see those consequences clearly and we all see that those consequences are exponentially exploding as our temperatures climb off the charts. Heat causes hurricanes, tsunamies (sp), and the rapid change of climate patterns due to ice melting. It's getting much worse, very quickly, but thank G-d we're in the money? I hope we're all saving it, ugh.