Video: Vaclav Klaus calls AGW “cheap argumentation”
posted at 2:20 pm on December 1, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Vaclav Klaus tells Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institution that anthropogenic global warming is nothing more than a politician’s myth, based on the need of government leaders to either pander or panic, depending on the agenda. The president of the Czech Republic has had a ringside view of political systems that use panic and pandering as excuses for state interventions in production, of course, but Klaus mainly ridicules those who participate in it. For one thing, Klaus points out, they’re promising deliverables on due dates that will likely come long after their own deaths, which hardly equates to any sense of political courage anyway (via Story Balloon, Gateway Pundit and Blue Collar Philosophy):
As Klaus points out, AGW is a politician’s dream. It gives them an altruistic excuse to demand and exercise power over other people’s property. They don’t have to worry about producing any results themselves from that exercise of power. And the metrics of the issue are so amorphous that they can declare success at any time. It reminds one of Porkulus, doesn’t it?
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Argumentation might be cheap, but implementation is pretty pricey.
Mr. D on December 1, 2009 at 2:26 PM
Well, they predicted warming. I said it’s getting kinda warm wouldn’t you?
Rocks on December 1, 2009 at 2:26 PM
I wonder what fraction of the “green” movement either believes/suspects this but doesn’t care/mind, and what fraction really is just doing what they think is right and necessary.
kc8ukw on December 1, 2009 at 2:26 PM
…and The One is going to Copenhagen for what exactly???
PatriotRider on December 1, 2009 at 2:29 PM
leave it to someone who has lived the darkness and misery engendered by socialism to cut through all the bull.
elduende on December 1, 2009 at 2:29 PM
IF we had signed on to that Kyoto agreement, the Global warming cabal would be pointing at the temperature data and declaring they were right!
Freddy on December 1, 2009 at 2:31 PM
He’s going to try to get the IOC to change its mind.
Cicero43 on December 1, 2009 at 2:33 PM
Lucky Czech’s…they have their Dick Cheney as their President.
WashJeff on December 1, 2009 at 2:33 PM
AGW is nothing else than Bernie Madoff’s scam – only dressed as a Gaia cult.
newton on December 1, 2009 at 2:34 PM
Admittedly, the AGW scam has some of the same dynamics, but it is much, much worse than the Porkulus both in its scale and its refusal of any accountability.
I wish we could trade Presidents with the Czech Republic.
jwolf on December 1, 2009 at 2:34 PM
Awesome. This is the kind of skepticism and realism that is needed on this AGW theory. As the Czech president correctly points out, we bear the upfront costs of AGW, they provide the promises way out in the future (beyond the terms of their offices). It is a politicians dream–they get to make promises they can’t deliver on, using immeasurable metrics, and on a timeframe that is completely unrealistic. Moreover, the altruism of “Who can be against the environment?” is a fallacious and cheap argument.
This AGW thing from front to back is a testament to the utter failure of truth, reason and logic.
We homeschool our 3 kids. I recently sat through a convention where “Logic” was discussed as part of the curriculum we use. The course introduced fallacies, developing arguments, using evidence and so on and, despite my advanced education, much of it was stuff I had NEVER heard anything about! (Thanks public school)
Good post here. Keep it up.
ted c on December 1, 2009 at 2:34 PM
“Bleeds Blue” will be here shortly to inform we losers that President Klaus has been paid off by the oil companies.
Doorgunner on December 1, 2009 at 2:35 PM
Phil Jones is stepping down so that there can be a investigation into Climategate.
Cindy Munford on December 1, 2009 at 2:35 PM
But, what about the cute polar bears???
Cicero43 on December 1, 2009 at 2:35 PM
Ogabe and his posse hate Klaus. Ayers, Jones, etc. will never forgive him and Havel leading the Velvet Revolution and extracting Czechoslovakia from the Soviet empire.
PimFortuynsGhost on December 1, 2009 at 2:36 PM
Aside from my major courses, I think the Logic course I had during my undergraduate studies was the most useful I took. Of course, you’ll be cursed by seeing fallacies for the rest of your life.
kc8ukw on December 1, 2009 at 2:36 PM
Who better to know the dealings of the Devil than one who has lived under him?
Badger40 on December 1, 2009 at 2:36 PM
Bleeds Blue isn’t fit to wipe Klaus’s a$$.
PimFortuynsGhost on December 1, 2009 at 2:37 PM
Which is why the public probably rejoices in remaining perpetually ignorant.
Badger40 on December 1, 2009 at 2:37 PM
What are you talking about, Ed?
Al Gore and his cult of Gorebots are “saving or creating” a new Earth for all of us. You should be on one knee.
All hail the political leaders of the “progressive movement!”
Who but a PSYCHOTIC RIGHTWING TERRORIST KILLER could possibly even raise a question the
resultsmotives of these in-your-facesnake oil salesmando-gooders?Good Lt on December 1, 2009 at 2:37 PM
LOL! You’re right. Obama’s strawman arguments are so utterly obvious nowadays.
ted c on December 1, 2009 at 2:38 PM
But…but…wait – President Obama said he was going to “return science to its rightful place” in our society. Now you are telling me that AWG is not based on science but rather a craven attempt to steal vast amounts of power and wealth from people all over the world? What happened to hope and change?
johnnybgood on December 1, 2009 at 2:38 PM
You know if both Cap and Tax and Obamacare are passed, America will be effectively bankrupt at the time Obama signs them into law. Just think about that. We can probably squeek out a few more years if only one gets passed.
Johnnyreb on December 1, 2009 at 2:38 PM
this guy speaks so clearly about this hoax. nice accent too.
moonbatkiller on December 1, 2009 at 2:39 PM
The Czech Republic is starting to look really good to me. And, I have relatives there (my grandfather immigrated from Czechoslovakia).
UltimateBob on December 1, 2009 at 2:39 PM
dude–every other post I read of yours either leads me to think you’re a troll, or extraordinarily sarcastic but leaving off the //sarc// tag.
Clear it up for me?
ted c on December 1, 2009 at 2:39 PM
Republicans, are you listening to this man?
If not, why the (fill in the expletive) not?
either orr on December 1, 2009 at 2:42 PM
What is it in Czech water that produces such sensible leaders, and how do we spike the Potomac with some of it?
JohnGalt23 on December 1, 2009 at 2:42 PM
a few decades of oppression and communism will produce a few of those.
ted c on December 1, 2009 at 2:44 PM
Breaking: Jones steps down [temporarily] from his post.
For an ‘independent’ investigation.
We shall see how that goes.
CPT. Charles on December 1, 2009 at 2:44 PM
I got the sh*t kicked out of me in Czechoslovakia…or was it Wisconsin?
WashJeff on December 1, 2009 at 2:45 PM
It all just makes you wonder: What is the carbon footprint of .338 Lapua Mag?
Doorgunner on December 1, 2009 at 2:46 PM
No rational person could ever have “believed” in something so preposterous as “catastrophic man-made global warming.”
How will the exposition of data manipulation and forgery make any significant difference to people who already believe the AGW canard?
July 10 on December 1, 2009 at 2:48 PM
To be sure there are a number of politicans and movements or causes that see AGW as their instrument for power. As Mencken pointed out, the desire to save the world is often a cover for those that wish to rule it.
But I think many in the movement or cause, like Gore, sincerely believe the argument.
To characterize all of most of the crowd as charlatans means we don’t have to respond to their arguments.
That just won’t work, it seems to me.
Before we question their motives, we need to answer their claims.
Repeatedly.
SteveMG on December 1, 2009 at 2:48 PM
This is just an excerpt from the full interview available on NRO 3 weeks ago under Uncommon Knowledge. Last week’s interview was even better but Ed deleted the links I posted on hot-air … I guess we can look for him posting that one himself someday. Hi Ed ;-)
gh on December 1, 2009 at 2:51 PM
This is rich .. apparently the rapid decline of the Himalayan glaciers, so widely reported to be coming in 2035, was originally reported not to happen until 2350. The IPCC seems to suffering from dyslexia when it reported it as 2035.
J_Crater on December 1, 2009 at 2:51 PM
Lemme guess. His fellow climatologists shall fill in for him each Sunday for the services at the Church of the Branch Carbonians.
ted c on December 1, 2009 at 2:53 PM
Vaclav Klaus, who knows a thing, or two, about oppression and lies, is the only leader in Europe with steely ones.
See Obama’s ping pong balls for reference.
Schadenfreude on December 1, 2009 at 2:54 PM
LOL…
Yeah, I can understand how easy it is to get Prague confused with Milwaukee. ;-)
UltimateBob on December 1, 2009 at 2:54 PM
The investigation is growing.
The baying of the hounds is getting louder.
CPT. Charles on December 1, 2009 at 2:54 PM
the white chalk outline around algore’s fat a$$ ought to be a valid and reliable estimate of the carbon footprint of a single round…. The carbon footprint increases directly with the magazine capacity.
Footprints.
ted c on December 1, 2009 at 2:55 PM
I had envisioned them as pith balls. Small, light, dry, with a strange bi-polar attachment complex.
BobMbx on December 1, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Go figure; most of the rational politicians in Europe come from the former eastern block countries.
Erich66 on December 1, 2009 at 2:57 PM
yah der, ay?
BobMbx on December 1, 2009 at 2:57 PM
At the risk of being (more) unpopular here, both the left and right use panic and pandering as excuses for state interventions. The right tends to exploit fears of physical security (REAL ID), while the left tends to exploits human desires for economic security (although AGW is different). I swear, if the politicians thought they could realistically milk a fear of alien invasion or something, they’d do it.
“Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant.” – James Madison
Firefly_76 on December 1, 2009 at 2:59 PM
If you like hi-tech, how about a solar powered rail gun? O carbon.
Or, if you prefer the sure thing, how about the cross-bow? Again, CFP of 0 (CFP=Carbon Foot Print).
BobMbx on December 1, 2009 at 3:00 PM
I think the two may actually be very similar…just heard the other night on “The Amazing Race” that Czechoslovakians drink more beer per capita than any other place on the planet…cheers!
b4itsover on December 1, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Here’s the confirmation on Jones.
Complete with a defense of their actions.
Feh.
CPT. Charles on December 1, 2009 at 3:01 PM
SteveMG, they answered their own claims in the leaked/hacked emails from the CRU. What I don’t understand is no one is talking about the scientific method. In short: you propose a hypothesis, then you do everything in your power to disprove said hypothesis. You are not trying to prove your hypothesis because once you rule out every variable that can disprove it, then your hypothesis can stand on its own. However, when someone cherry picks their facts to show that their hypothesis is correct, then the scientific method breaks down and essentially there is no “science” there. Many reputable scientists have offered to debate global warmists, but very few have taken the challenge; indeed the challengers are ostracized and ridiculed and essentially shut down. Bottom Line: There is no science in “consensus”. This is the point that needs to be repeated over and over.
alohapundit on December 1, 2009 at 3:01 PM
Sorta like “Hey, it’s getting warmer….look, these 12 trees prove it!”
BobMbx on December 1, 2009 at 3:05 PM
There’s a major flaw in this declaration: AGW is BS, but 3,000 dead on 9/11 is not.
WitchDoctor on December 1, 2009 at 3:05 PM
Actually, shouldn’t we thank Margaret Thatcher for making AGW an international policy issue?
July 10 on December 1, 2009 at 3:06 PM
More like:
Scientist: “Hey it’s getting warmer, I need grant money”
Me: “Dude, It’s April!”
LOL
alohapundit on December 1, 2009 at 3:08 PM
Maybe.
An ardent Greenie would calculate your respiration during cocking it, and then charge it onto your personal CFCC [carbon footprint credit card].
Although they’d do it safely out of sight of your crossbow. ;)
CPT. Charles on December 1, 2009 at 3:09 PM
I don’t disagree that AGW is on a different plane – I said it was different. And I was not intimating that 9/11 didn’t call for an acute, determined response. Doesn’t take away from our political class’ tendency to exploit crises . . . real, or perceived.
My point being we need to be vigilant, even if “our guys” are doing the exploiting.
Firefly_76 on December 1, 2009 at 3:13 PM
You saw the GGWS film!
aengus on December 1, 2009 at 3:13 PM
Sorry, I never learned the language.
Or, is that Fargo you’re speaking? ;-)
UltimateBob on December 1, 2009 at 3:16 PM
http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=107346
July 10 on December 1, 2009 at 3:16 PM
Oh right. There was a film aired on Channel 4 (in the UK) called The Great Global Warming Swindle which went into Thatcher’s role in promoting AGW – explaining why she did and so forth. Recommended.
aengus on December 1, 2009 at 3:20 PM
I so much hope that Gov. Palin travels to Europe and Israel and along the way meet this guy.
He is a voice of sanity on that continent.
Sapwolf on December 1, 2009 at 3:25 PM
This point I agree with. But I didn’t read your earlier post as meaning that specifically, it seemed to me to equate the two approaches. Ah well, enough spilled ink.
WitchDoctor on December 1, 2009 at 3:25 PM
Man-made global warming is a hoax just like heterosexual AIDS was (in this country). Everything the left believes in has always been based on phoney data.
BTW, it obvious that Klaus has not been reading LGF. But then again, nobody else has either.
Andy in Agoura Hills on December 1, 2009 at 3:25 PM
BTW, I believe, if one were to dig deep enough into Climategate, there would be a massive conspiracy to be uncovered. I think that Jones and Mann are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. But which journalist has the balls to do a job like that? Maybe the crew over at Russia Today.
Andy in Agoura Hills on December 1, 2009 at 3:34 PM
Anybody remember Cheney’s joke about global warming? I tell it to warmists all the time.
“It looks like we’re going through a period of global warming. Or, as I like to call it, spring.”
misterpeasea on December 1, 2009 at 3:36 PM
yah…doncha know?
(Comes from 10 years in WI and MN….and I’m mostly a Virginian.)
Anyone know what a bubbler is? Or, define “next”, as in “take the next exit”.
Trust me…it’s different in WI.
BobMbx on December 1, 2009 at 3:40 PM
I think we could a couple of snoops on it if we could convince the National Enqueirer that Al Gore is Phil Jones’ love child or something.
BobMbx on December 1, 2009 at 3:43 PM
You can bet that a President Palin wouldn’t backpedal on a missile defense system for our Eastern European friends like Maobama did.
UltimateBob on December 1, 2009 at 3:49 PM
Very nice. I’m so stealing that.
Mr. D on December 1, 2009 at 3:49 PM
Cripes hey, dat’s one a dem drinkin’ fountains, en zo?
Mr. D on December 1, 2009 at 3:52 PM
Hmmmm… Coming originally from New Jersey and never having lived in the upper midwest, the only definition of “next” with which I am familiar is that it refers to the one immediately following the current or most recent one. Example: I just passed Exit 9, so the “next” exit is Exit 10. No good?
No idea what a bubbler is. I’m guessing a water fountain?
UltimateBob on December 1, 2009 at 3:53 PM
Exactly. One has a sizable group of America-hating, left-leaning communist sympathizing academics. The other is a city in the Czech Republic.
oldleprechaun on December 1, 2009 at 4:08 PM
I give up!
How can so many people be okay with totally ignoring the facts in front of them?
All these recent emails that proves global warming is a bunch of junk –
Numerous polls that prove the majority of Americans do not want a government takeover of health care
How can they rationalize in their minds it is okay to ignore facts that no one is denying?
AusTex girl on December 1, 2009 at 4:14 PM
Is there a transcript of Vaclav Klaus’ statement which can be found on the Internet?
Ira on December 1, 2009 at 4:22 PM
If only Klaus had a birth announcement in a Hawaiian newspaper.
Lily on December 1, 2009 at 4:45 PM
Hopenhagen, our dear reader is Hopenhagen bound … For what to win the Olympics for Chicago, again?
tarpon on December 1, 2009 at 4:52 PM
I have admired Vaclav Klaus since the first time I heard him speak truth regarding AGW. This past summer, I worked with a young college student from Bratislava in the Czech Republic. I asked if he could adopt my wife and I. I have no roots in central Europe, but with leadership like President Klaus has demonstrated, the Czech Republic is starting to look good.
oldleprechaun on December 1, 2009 at 5:16 PM
For a show of solidarity with the Church of AGW, nothing more. The conference won’t amount to anything anyway, other than giving the statists a taxpayer funded junket to meet and convince each other that they’re doing something useful.
RadClown on December 1, 2009 at 5:40 PM
This is one smart man, nice name too.
Johan Klaus on December 1, 2009 at 7:05 PM
It reminds me of two things; the religious-like zealots who truly believe to the point of near insanity and the snake oil salesmen out to make mega-bucks off of the hyteria but know that it’s really BS.
Big John on December 2, 2009 at 12:32 AM
I wish this guy was our President. He has real brain instead of one of those Ivy League-manufactured ones.
P. S. Can Al Gore be brought up on charges of investment fraud?
PoodleSkirt on December 2, 2009 at 12:43 AM