Neil Cavuto opened yesterday’s Your World by focusing on President Obama’s plan to fight climate change. Fox viewers watching earlier in the day, when America Live pre-empted Obama’s speech in favor of a climate-change denier, already knew what to think. But for anyone who missed it, Cavuto hosted his go-to-guy for climate change denial, Joe Bastardi.

Think Progress has asked if Bastardi is the “worst long range forecaster ever?” But to Cavuto, he’s “one of the best:”

My friend Joe Bastardi, the Weather Bell Chief forecaster, one of the best and more accurate reads of things that are going on up there than anyone I know.

Acknowledging that Bastardi is one of only 3% of scientists who doubt climate change, Cavuto asked, “How do you feel?”

Bastardi replied, “Well, first of all, it’s much greater than 3%. Most practicing meteorologists, and let me explain what I do for a living: I make forecasts, a product of an idea, not get paid for the idea but the product. I have to be right to be paid. People fire me if I’m wrong.”

What neither man pointed out: 97% of peer-reviewed scientific literature acknowledges manmade climate change.

Bastardi continued, “Part of the essential research is understanding what drives the weather, and where the weather has been, to know where the weather’s going to go.”

Cavuto's "balance" was to say, “Your numbers quibble with what the President’s numbers are. Where do you differentiate?”

Bastardi replied,  “…As far as the President alluding to this global warming, there’s been no warming for 17 years, it’s actually turning down. I’ll tell you what I believe this is. I believe there’s an assault on the economic lifeline of this country which is so far has been fossil fuels, and it’s based on an illusion that isn’t there. It’s an agenda driven illusion.”

Cavuto let the allegation about an "assault" on fossil fuels go unchallenged. Instead, he said, “When the President talks about the last dozen years or so being among the warmest on record, is he right?”

Bastardi said, “No. Not against the historical data. If we look at all the weather stations we have now that were here back in the 1930s it’s not. …We’re in a cyclical pattern, we’re in the 1950s. I’ve made this point a bunch of times, and what is going on here is these people are using the fact that people do not know what’s going on or don’t know the past to try to get their agenda out about a future. Now I want to ask you this Neil. We’ll end with me asking you something.”

And in case you still didn't get where Bastardi was coming from, he threw in another gratuitous political slap at President Obama. “Do you think that this was brought up now for a different reason? Maybe to distract people? We start arguing about this stuff again because of some of the other things going on. Maybe you should opine about that.”

Cavuto did not want to go there with him and retorted, “Well, maybe you should just answer the questions and not ask them. But no, I just notice it’s hot outside, Joe. Good points taken, one and all.” Later, Cavuto joked, “Joseph, always a pleasure, my friend. Joe Bastardi making his final appearance with us. We always have enjoyed our prior chats.”

But what Cavuto should have noted is that the first decade of this millennium (2000-09) was the warmest on record, according to NASA. Last year was the hottest year in US history. However, there’s little reason to doubt those inconvenient truths will diminish Bastardi’s credibility on Fox News.