In a desperate attempt to deny the impacts of climate change, Fox’s newest prime-time darling Jesse Watters hosted Judith Curry, a disgraced climate contrarian and the co-founder of a private consulting company funded in part by oil industry groups. According to reporting from DeSmog, Curry’s clients include petroleum companies, electric utilities, and natural gas energy traders that she charges $400 an hour for consultation on weather-related risks and forecast applications.
Based on Media Matters’ internal database, it’s been four years since Curry last appeared on Fox News. She was also recently featured in another Murdoch-owned media property: The New York Post. In an August 9 article, Curry made the false claim that the consensus on climate change is manufactured and suggested that scientists are financially incentivized to push the idea that climate change is caused by human activity.
During the prime-time segment, Watters failed to mention Curry’s ties to the fossil fuel industry, as well as her history of testifying on behalf of Republican congress members to deny the importance of climate action. Curry also frequently makes appearances with other climate deniers.
Curry echoed Watters’ egregious brand of climate denial, arguing that scientists have “seriously mischaracterized” the threat of climate change and warning against “hasty decisions” to invest in wind and solar energy. She added that the “dominant factor” in climate change is “far and away” the “natural climate variability” of the earth.
Curry’s opinions are refuted by climate experts. In fact, climate impacts have been quantified in extreme weather (such as the record-shattering global heatwave in July that impacted millions across North America, Europe, and Asia), and scientists have repeatedly warned about the dire consequences of inaction.
Watters ended his interview with praise for Curry, an unsurprising gesture given his penchant for climate conspiracy theories.