"surprised" at Nobel prize for Gore

dpa German Press Agency Published: Friday October 12, 2007

Prague- Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a rare vocal global-
warming sceptic among heads of state, is "somewhat surprised" that
former US vice president Al Gore received the Nobel Peace Prize, the
president's spokesman Petr Hajek said in a statement.
"The relationship between his activities and world peace is
unclear and indistinct," the statement said. "It rather seems that
Gore's doubting of basic cornerstones of the current civilization
does not contribute to peace."

Klaus said in a recent speech that environmentalists' efforts to
halt global warming "fatally endanger our freedom and prosperity."

The Czech president publicly expresses doubt on what scientists,
including those participating in the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, also this year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate, deem
very likely - that global warming is caused by humans.

He also said that rising temperatures may not matter enough for
governments to throw funds at halting the process.

In a newspaper interview earlier this year, Klaus said that only
Al Gore, and not a sane person, would say that mankind is ruining the
planet.

The Czech president has also recently participated in Gore-bashing
newspaper advertisements ran by The Heartland Institute, a
conservative US think tank.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

Comment Here