KCOL's James, KOA's Rosen echoed false claim that Clinton said "we need to slow the economy" to curb global warming

Summary: On their radio programs, Fox News Radio 600 KCOL's Scott James and Newsradio 850 KOA's Mike Rosen both echoed the false claim that former President Bill Clinton stated, "We have to slow down our economy to fight global warming." But Clinton did not say that is what has to be done to combat global warming.

In their January 31 and February 1 broadcasts, radio hosts Scott James and Mike Rosen echoed the false claim that, during a January 30 speech in Denver, former President Bill Clinton stated: "We have to slow down our economy to fight global warming." In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted (here and here), after stating that "rich" countries could take that approach, Clinton next said why he thought it wouldn't work, asserting that the "only way" to fight global warming is to prove that doing so "is good economics that we will create more jobs to build a sustainable economy."

James offered the distortion of Clinton's statement purportedly as a direct quote, stating that "Bill Clinton, when he was in town yesterday," said: "We have to slow down our economy to fight global warming." James added: "You and I are having problems making two nickels rub together and Bubba's out there saying we have to slow down our economy to fight global warming."

From the January 31 broadcast of Fox News Radio 600 KCOL's Ride Home with The James Gang:

JAMES: A quote from Clinton, by the way -- here's a quote from Bill Clinton. Yeah, he was in town yesterday. They've all been here: Bubba in town yesterday; [Sen. Barack] Obama [D-IL] in town yesterday; the prez in town right now. And by the way, you heard Terry do that traffic, you know, because when the president's in town, you're inconvenienced. That's the -- so the president's in town right now with their -- all there with great big vacuum hoses extracting money from the Colorado economy. At any rate, quote from Bill Clinton, when he was in town yesterday: "We have to slow down our economy to fight global warming." You and I are having problems making two nickels rub together and Bubba's out there saying we have to slow down our economy to fight global warming. That's making some folks who are at a global warming teach-in at Colorado State University scream with delight right now.

Rosen told his listeners that he was going to share "a quote from Bill Clinton ... where he talked about what we can do to mitigate global warming is to slow down our economy." Although Rosen stated Clinton "actually said that," he never provided the actual quote during his broadcast.

From the February 1 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Mike Rosen Show:

ROSEN: We've got fears of global warming -- and I think those fears are grossly exaggerated, but, in politics, perception is reality, even though it may not be objective reality. And those global warming fears are resonating with enough voters who are interested in politicians who are saying something about doing something about global warming, even if I and other people believe that that will be a fool's errand, very costly, and very unproductive. I've got a quote from Bill Clinton just yesterday or the day before that I'm gonna share with you -- I think yesterday -- where he talked about what we can do to mitigate global warming is to slow down our economy. He actually said that.

As Media Matters for America noted, ABC News senior national correspondent Jake Tapper distorted Clinton's statement in a January 31 post on his ABCNews.com blog, Political Punch, titled, "Bill: 'We Just Have to Slow Down Our Economy' to Fight Global Warming." (Tapper has since changed the title of his post to read: "What Did Bill Clinton Mean By 'We Just Have to Slow Down Our Economy' to Fight Global Warming?") Neither James nor Rosen provided Clinton's full quote, as it appears in Tapper's post following his misleading commentary. The full quote makes clear that Clinton did not say "we need to slow" the economy. Rather, after saying that "rich" countries could take that approach, he then said why he thought it wouldn't work, asserting that the "only way" to fight global warming is to prove that doing so "is good economics that we will create more jobs to build a sustainable economy":

CLINTON: And maybe America, and Europe, and Japan, and Canada -- the rich counties [sic] -- would say, "OK, we just have to slow down our economy and cut back our greenhouse gas emissions 'cause we have to save the planet for our grandchildren." We could do that. But if we did that, you know as well as I do, China and India and Indonesia and Vietnam and Mexico and Brazil and the Ukraine, and all the other countries will never agree to stay poor to save the planet for our grandchildren. The only way we can do this is if we get back in the world's fight against global warming and prove it is good economics that we will create more jobs to build a sustainable economy that saves the planet for our children and grandchildren. It is the only way it will work.

And guess what? The only places in the world today in rich countries where you have rising wages and declining inequality are places that have generated more jobs than rich countries because they made a commitment we didn't. They got serious about a clean, efficient, green, independent energy future... If you want that in America, if you want the millions of jobs that will come from it, if you would like to see a new energy trust fund to finance solar energy and wind energy and biomass and responsible bio-fuels and electric hybrid plug-in vehicles that will soon get 100 miles a gallon, if you want every facility in this country to be made maximally energy efficient that will create millions and millions and millions of jobs, vote for her. She'll give it to you. She's got the right energy plan.

As Media Matters for America noted, the Drudge Report linked to Tapper's post under the similar headline, "Bill Clinton: 'We Just Have to Slow Down Our Economy' to Fight Global Warming ..."

The conservative website WorldNet Daily also linked to Tapper's post under the headline "Bill Clinton urges slowing economy to fight 'warming'":

The Republican National Committee further mischaracterized Clinton's comments. In an "Update" to his post, Tapper quoted the following statement from spokesman Alex Conant: "Senator [Hillary Rodham] Clinton's campaign now says we must 'slow down the economy' to stop global warming. ... Clinton needs to come back to Earth. Her 'tax-it, spend-it, regulate-it' attitude would really bring the economy crashing down. No amount of special effects will hide Clinton's liberal record."

Sen. Clinton's (D-NY) presidential campaign responded to Tapper's post by writing that Tapper "parsed President Clinton's speech," adding, "Actually the full quote shows that President Clinton was making the opposite point. He rejected slowing down the economy, and advocated for sustainable economic growth."

—E.B. & J.F.B.