Common sense from a man who has seen Marxism’s ugly hand:
Czech President Vaclav Klaus said on Wednesday that fighting global warming has turned into a a ‘religion’ that replaced the ideology of communism and threatens to clip basic freedoms.
The right-wing president, a free-market champion, wrote to the U.S. Congress that adopting tough environmental policies to fight climate change would have destructive impact on national economies.
‘Communism has been replaced by the threat of an ambitious environmentalism,’ Klaus wrote in response to questions from the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce.
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Klaus, who does not hold many executive powers but is by far the most popular politician in the ex-communist Czech Republic, has taken a decisively opposite stance on the issue.
Klaus said poor nations would also be hurt by efforts to impose limits and standards on emissions of gases believed to cause global warming.
‘They will not be able to absorb new technological standards required by the anti-greenhouse religion, their products will have difficulty accessing the developed markets, and as a result the gap between them and the developed world will widen,’ he wrote.
‘This ideology preaches earth and nature and under the slogans of their protection – similarly to the old Marxists – wants to replace the free and spontaneous evolution of mankind by a sort of central, now global, planning of the whole world,’ he added. (Emphasis mine.)
Read the rest here.
Contrast this level headed approach to Gore’s hysteria:
Al Gore, a Democratic favorite for the presidency despite pronouncements that he’s not running, spoke out on his signature issue Wednesday, warning of a “true planetary emergency” if Congress fails to act on global warming.
In a return he described as emotional, Gore testified before House panels that it is not too late to deal with climate change “and we have everything we need to get started.” By turns folksy and prescriptive, he urged the Democratic-controlled Congress to adopt an immediate freeze on greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
And let me say again, as I say every time I write about this issue. I believe global warming is occurring. I have my doubts about the contention that it’s all the fault of human beings. I side with Klaus’ belief that this is rewarmed Marxism, again ranged against Capitalism and against First world economies. However, having said all that, I’m strongly in favor of sensible approaches to using alternative fuels that will leave our world cleaner (which is definitely a nice thing), and that will stop our dependence on Middle Eastern and Latin American dictatorships, and pull the plug on the money flowing into the finance the terrors they visit on their own people and on the world. So, while I strongly disagree with the hysteria and I doubt the “science,” I’m not at all averse to a sensible approach to the same goal, which is clean, cheap energy.
Hat tip: Drudge
UPDATE: Steven Hayward summarizes some of the sanity that’s starting to trickle back into the climate change debate, as an antidote to Bore’s fevered rantings.
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This is off-topic but I’d like to toss it out for any commentary that ensues:
The thought occurred to me that Al Gore is a latter-day version of this guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:William_Jennings_Bryan.JPG
Both are Democrats. Like Gore, WJB was almost elected President. Bryan had a reputation as a populist, in opposition to moneyed interests, and a great orator; Gore’s fire breathing speeches to MoveOn.org seems a modern equivalent. Bryan was also a peace Democrat, and split with then President Wilson over war policies; Gore opposes Iraq. Bryan embraced Christian fundamentalism in opposition to Darwinism; Gore’s sanguine campaign against GW seems to me an equivalent religious crusade, though ostensibly secular and scientific.
OK. I served. Ball in play.
Visit Prague. The Czechs are amazingly pro-American. One of my favorite experiences of all time was visiting the Museum of Communism (Museum as in dead) near the square–on the third floor above the casino and Burger King. Lenin and Stalin should be rolling in their graves.
I think that you are onto something, Z. However, Bryan’s position on Darwinism was not a religious crusade that promised something so destructive to humanity at large, as is Gore’s Gaia veneration. William Jennings Bryan’s crusade was one to alleviate perceived suffering and oppression, whereas Gore’s crusade is one to impose it upon the unwashed masses (the rest of us, that is).
I suspect (here’s my Euro background speaking) that there is a deep fundamental desire among rich Democrats (like Gore, Kerry, Pelosi, Buffet, etc.) to reestablish themselves into a privileged aristocracy.
If it wasn’t for Gore’s extensive family wealth (gained from petroleum and mining interests), he would have been one of those cartoon characters walking up and down Time’s Square with a “Repent! The End is Near” sign. I stand by my prediction that his legacy in life will be to be mocked as a crank, albeit a very dangerous crank.
The former communist states, of course, get it.
Another difference: William Jennings Bryan was a powerful, silver-tongued orator. Al Gore, by contrast,is a Farce of One!
Czech President Vaclav Klaus said on Wednesday that fighting global warming has turned into a a ‘religion’ that replaced the ideology of communism and threatens to clip basic freedoms.
I think the Islamic Jihad has first prize as the religion that replaced communism. Global W is just an upstart, probably waiting for the old man to die off so they can do a war of extermination against humans on earth, in order to “preserve” and “maintain” natural resources and beauty.
‘They will not be able to absorb new technological standards required by the anti-greenhouse religion, their products will have difficulty accessing the developed markets, and as a result the gap between them and the developed world will widen,’ he wrote.
From Al Gore’s perspective, what would that be a bad thing to people like him? If you prevent upstart nations from developing a huge industrial and manufacturing economy/infrastructure, this then means less pollution right? And that’s a good thing according to the warming fanatics right?
And let me say again, as I say every time I write about this issue. I believe global warming is occurring.
Sure it is occuring in Gore’s head. There’s a lot of gears going on there trying to gear down environmental damage.
Global Warming is to Islamic Jihad as Islamic Jihad was to communism back in the 60s.
Upstarts. In some ways, it is also similar to communism’s relationship to Nazism back in 41. One of them was a primary threat, the second one was the longer ranged threat.
I’m not at all averse to a sensible approach to the same goal, which is clean, cheap energy.
Sometime I’ll have to give you the links to several different types of engines. Seems to me a lot of people talk about clean and cheap energy, but they don’t seem to have a specific tech in their mind.
See, most Americans would really love a tax on stupidity, that you use to extract money out of rich people like Gore. I don’t think Republicans would be against specific individuals being taxed, just so long as 99% of people aren’t. This is a way for Republicans to say that they want to tax the rich too.
[...] Czechoslovakia’s President pointed out, the hysteria attendant on climate change is only Marxism in another name. (By the way, take as [...]