Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R), who now hosts CNN's "Crossfire," said "life was fine" when the planet was "dramatically warmer" during the age of the dinosaurs.
Gingrich -- who called himself an "amateur paleontologist" -- argued it's arrogant for anyone to assume they know the right temperature for the planet.
“Assume for a minute that we have the capacity to actually decide the planet’s temperature,” Gingrich said. “What kind of hubris does it take to say, I know exactly what this planet’s temperature ought to be and I’m going to manage it to that effect?”
"Crossfire" co-panelist Van Jones questioned his statement, warning humans could end up "cooking the planet" by continuing "this experiment we’re doing" and not working to reverse climate change. Gingrich responded by arguing warmer temperatures while dinosaurs were on Earth "didn't cook the planet."
“The age of the dinosaurs was dramatically warmer than this is right now and it didn’t cook the planet,” Gingrich said. “In fact, life was fine.”
Gingrich even suggested people prefer a warmer climate because many visit the Caribbean in winter.
“The number of people leaving Minnesota this evening to get to the Caribbean versus the number of people leaving the Caribbean to try to get to Minnesota would argue that slightly warmer wouldn’t be a crisis,” Gingrich said.
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