Final Word from Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Václav Klaus must have suffered as he read Al Gore's book on global warming. It's a coming-of-age work from a man who had everything all his life and is trying to make good environmentally and politically by attacking the "planetary emergency" facing us. Klaus disputes the very existence of global warming and is no doubt put off by Gore's dismissal of nuclear power. It won't play a much larger role than now, Gore says, because of the proliferation issue and the finite supply of uranium. Gore's book emits all kinds of carbons to present 328 pages of color pictures in explaining how we can save the planet by keeping a compost pile and eating less meat. Like with "The Godfather," the movie is better, but Klaus told LN that he feels no need to see it after having read the book. Ultimately, Klaus and Gore are populists on the opposite sides of an issue that deserves serious debate. [Czech Republic United States of America USA energy Lidové noviny president]