Vaclav Klaus: No progress in the climate change debate

Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic and the European Union, speaks at the 2009 International Conference on Climate Change. Klaus argues that global warming "alarmists" are short on data and long on coercive measures that will reduce wealth and development in the Third World without having any impact on environmental concerns.

Reason's science correspondent Ronald Bailey will be filing dispatches from the conference. For more info, go to reason.com.

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News & Politics

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• vaclav klaus
• global warming
• skeptic
• EU
• Czech
• president
• reason.tv

[nickd4818]

environmentalist pose the greatest threat to individual liberty since communism. The whole green agenda is going to be the biggest scam of all time. I can't believe Mr. Gore will not debate this man or the Danish scientist who recently challenged him. I guess he would stand to lose a lot of money if he were proven wrong.

[Yarcofin]

FIVE STARS!

About time we get to hear the other side of the story.

[reunion503]

The alarmist don't say we should be saving the planet. They are very well aware of the fact, that planet will handle anything we throw at it. It's us and our current way of life we are supposed to be saving. That's what they say anyway.

I prefer when the participants of a debate use facts. What was the point of this poor speech anyway? Or that conference? Is this all the skeptics can offer?

[karexmaster]

"Over 31,000 scientists have signed a petition denying that man is responsible for Global Warming" - Daily Telegraph.

There isn't even a petition with 500 signitures that states it is human caused

[karexmaster]

It is not un-natural at all

CO2 has been over 17X higher in the past.

[samuils]

No rather the opposite, Its the warming in the past that drew the CO2 up, not the other way. Look at it closely. And I refuse to follow Gore, so he can proffit from his carbon credits, just for the sake of falling behind a party line, when this man made global warming has been proven false. I am against pollution ofcourse, but there re many and better alternatives in the free market, so no need for govt. to dictate my energy source.

[Ihateyoutoube]

Denying what a majority of scientists have agreed is caused by humanity isn't going to help our cause. There is an unnatural CO2 spike and CO2 has been tied with planetary warming in the past.

[samuils]

There is no Consensus, stop the BS, obviously the the planet is warming and cooling, but it has nothing to do with people.

[Ihateyoutoube]

Total skepticism towards global warming is bad for the libertarian movement, if you deny it completely you make a fool out of yourself and libertarianism. Obviously I believe in a free market approach to climate change solutions, but I don't deny scientific consensus.

[wolfhybred]

Well said!

[air0lann]

Just a detail - Václav Klaus IS NOT a president of the European Union - there´s no such position. He´s the president of Czech republic and this country is currently holding the EU presidency. :-)

Thank you very much for posting.

[nickd4818]

Actually, I could just walk to my next doors neighbors house. And I drive a Honda. So please, stop with the dramatic generalizations.

So what if somebody has a hummer? If they can afford it whats the problem? We wouldn't have to kiss ass to get more oil if the Spendacrats and their environmentalist handlers would let America develop its own energy resources.

But no, we can't do that. We got to develop technology that doesn't exist yet to free us, as Obama said, from the "tyranny of oil"