The Prague Post
http://www.aaaradiotaxi.cz/index.php?xSET=lang&xLANG=2
July 4th, 2008
Reader's SurveyNEW     Endowment Fund     Book of Lists ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Real Estate Prague Prague Rentals Prague Apartments Prague Art & Antiques

Home » Archives » News

U.S. group spotlights Klaus

Anti-environmentalist speech to take aim at UN "Gore-ites"

By Kimberly Ashton
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
September 19th, 2007 issue

enlarge
President Václav Klaus is getting help from a right-wing U.S. think tank this month to spread a message many see as anti-environmentalist and some Czechs say reflects badly on their country.
The U.S. group, called the Heartland Institute, is featuring Klaus in its $1 million (19.8 million Kč) ad campaign that declares “Global Warming is Not a Crisis.” Klaus is pictured next to a photograph of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who is known for championing the message that global warming is a threat to the planet.
The ads, which are running in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Times, promise that Klaus “will debunk global warming myths at the UN Sept. 24.”
Klaus is one of approximately 40 leaders who will get five minutes each at a conference on climate change at the UN headquarters in New York City.
“It will be a gathering of Gore-ites, so they’re going to be shocked that they invited me ‘by mistake,’ too. And I’m going to give a very tough speech,” Klaus tells the Czech News Agency (ČTK). The Prague Post could not reach Klaus by press time.      
Gore is expected to be among the speakers and to be in the audience when Klaus gives his speech.
While Gore might be dismayed at Klaus’ presentation, the Heartland Institute will likely be delighted.
“The global warming debate is starting to reveal [that] the cautionary and fact-based approach of Heartland and President Klaus is correct,” says Thomas Swiss, the director of public relations for The Heartland Institute.
“We reached out to President Klaus because he is a great defender of freedom. After living under oppressive big government, he really gets the potential damage that big government regulations can cause.”
Klaus is not being paid to appear in the ad.
Energy sources
The Heartland Institute, based in Chicago, describes itself as a free-market think tank, and Swiss writes that the global warming issue boils down to “big government (socialism) versus individual freedom (capitalism).”
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), a politically unaffiliated Wisconsin-based nonprofit, “investigates and exposes public relations spin and propaganda,” according to its Web site. The center writes that Heartland’s other areas of activism include “the privatization of public services, smokers’ rights ([against] tobacco taxes, denial of problems from passive smoking), the introduction of school vouchers and the deregulation of healthcare insurance.”
Sheldon Rampton, research director at the CMD, says Heartland can be compared to the Heritage Foundation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and especially the Cato Institute.
“The general pattern is defensive of corporations and generally opposed to environmental and health regulations that corporations see as burdensome,” Rampton says. He characterizes the group as a “significant player” among right-wing think tanks and says its tone tends to be “a little more strident than some of the other think tanks, who try to sound more measured and scholarly.”
He notes that in targeting three major papers read by Washington policymakers, Heartland is signaling they may want to become more influential in Washington.
But who is financing their recent environmental campaign is a bit unclear.
The CMD reports ExxonMobil is among Heartland’s donors but Swiss denies that it is paying for the ads.
“Gore calls us ‘shills’ for ExxonMobil,” Swiss says. “In fact, less than 5 percent of Heartland’s budget comes from all energy producers combined. We represent energy consumers.”
Swiss says the funds for the ad campaign came from “business leaders not affiliated with energy producers” who feel the global warming issue is a battle between big government and free market.
Rampton says he’s skeptical of these claims and alleges that Heartland has repeatedly taken money from industries for which they later campaigned.
Speaking for Czechs?
Heartland’s view on the politics of climate change is one that Klaus shares.
In a letter to Environment Minister Martin Bursík, who has criticized Klaus’ planned speech, Klaus writes, “I do not think the ideas that global climate can be managed centrally are realistic and necessary. … I am afraid of the impact of the proposed steps [to lower greenhouse gases] on … economic development and, most importantly, on the freedom of individuals.”
Klaus makes no secret of his views — which stand in opposition to those taken by the government’s Environment Ministry — and earlier this year wrote Blue, not Green Planet, which takes aim at environmentalism.
That Klaus, as president, speaks about his doubts of the need to control global warming, has alarmed some in the government who are concerned about alienating coastal countries — especially at a time when the country is vying for a nonpermanent seat on the UN’s Security Council.
“There is no doubt that if he delivers such a controversial speech we will not receive the votes of the island countries,” Bursik told ČTK, referring to the notion that rising sea levels will most adversely affect such countries.
Furthermore, the environment minister is concerned that Klaus’ views are out of step with the rest of Europe and positions taken by the government.
“Let me inform you that the EU puts together the coordinated approach for the EU states. According to our constitution, we have to follow the obligations we have from the international treaties,” he wrote in a letter to Klaus.
And Social Democratic leader Jiří Paroubek has criticized Klaus’ views. “The illusionists or uncritical self-centered persons who do not like to hear unpleasant things tend to deny the reality [of global warming],” he wrote in a letter to the president.
— Naďa Černá and Hela Balínová contributed to this report.

Kimberly Ashton can be reached at kashton@praguepost.com


survey banner


Other articles in News (19/09/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Book of Lists

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.