Address by Vaclav Klaus

Many thanks for the invitation and for the opportunity to be here with all of you. I have visited the U.S. many times since the fall of communism in November 1989 when - after almost half a century - traveling to the free world became for people like me possible again, but I’ve never been to this beautiful city and to the state of Oregon before. Once again, thank you very much.

I am expected to talk here about global warming today (even though I don’t really feel it, especially not in this room) and my address will be devoted mostly to this issue. As you may expect Oregon is - for me - in this respect connected with the well-known Oregon petition which warned and keeps warning against the irrationality and one-sidedness of the global warming campaign. Rational people know that the warming we experience is well within the range of what seems to have been a natural fluctuation over the last ten thousand years. We should keep saying this very loudly.

Before I start talking about this issue, I would like to put the topic of my today’s speech into the broader perspective. During my visits in the U.S. in the last 19 years, I made speeches on a wide range of topics. There has, however, always been a connection between them. They were all about freedom and about threats endangering it. My today’s speech will not be different. I will try to argue and to convince you that even the global warming issue is about freedom. It is not about temperature or CO2. It is, therefore, not necessary to discuss either climatology, or any other related natural science but the implications of the global warming panic upon us, upon our freedom, our prosperity, our institutions and our legislation. It is part of a bigger story.

Read that story here.

Vaclav Klaus is the current President of the Czech Republic. He gave this speech at the Hilton Hotel in Portland, Oregon on September 2008

Edited David Alexander and Chris Wilson, Reuters

Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Thursday listed investor Warren Buffett and former eBay chief Meg Whitman as potential Treasury secretaries in his administration but declined to say if he would consider asking current Secretary Henry Paulson to stay.

McCain noted in an interview with Reuters that Federal Re serve Chairman Ben Bernanke had a “set term” and as president he would decide whether to reappoint Bernanke based on economic conditions at the time. The U.S. financial crisis and $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill in Congress has heightened interest in who would steer Treasury in the next administration.

“I think it would be someone that Americans would recognize that would inspire trust and confidence,” the Arizona senator said. “There’s people like (Cisco chief executive) John Chambers, there’s people like Meg Whitman, there’s people like Warren Buffett,” he continued, adding that these people could serve in one of many jobs that would need to be filled.

McCain said he would choose a Republican or Democrat who is highly respected to lead the department. Buffett, 78, who McCain admitted may not be interested in the job because of his age or other factors, has endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

When asked about Bernanke’s performance during the U.S. financial crisis, McCain said: “He has a set term, so I certainly would have to look again at the overall situation as it exists at the time when I would be making those selections, but the fact is that he is in a term of office.” McCain said he had great respect for the Fed chair.

Asked if he would be a visible presence in international talks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and replace the Kyoto Protocol, McCain, who has clashed with fellow Republicans over climate change, said he would do “whatever is necessary to try to move forward.”

He said he would involve former Vice President Al Gore in efforts to address the issue. “I would tap him, I would tap people who have been involved in these issues for many years.” McCain noted that he disagreed with the Nobel Peace Prize winner about nuclear energy but added, “I have great respect for Al Gore.” Read more here.

By Michelle Nichols, Reuters

Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental crusader Al Gore urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants without the ability to store carbon.

The former U.S. vice president, whose climate change documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” won an Academy Award, told a philanthropic meeting in New York City that “the world has lost ground to the climate crisis.” “If you’re a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration,” Gore told the Clinton Global Initiative gathering to loud applause.

“I believe for a carbon company to spend money convincing the stock-buying public that the risk from the global climate crisis is not that great represents a form of stock fraud because they are misrepresenting a material fact,” he said. “I hope these state attorney generals around the country will take some action on that.” The government says about 28 coal plants are under construction in the United States. Another 20 projects have permits or are near the start of construction.

Scientists say carbon gases from burning fossil fuel for power and transport are a key factor in global warming. Carbon capture and storage could give coal power an extended lease on life by keeping power plants’ greenhouse gas emissions out of the atmosphere and easing climate change. But no commercial-scale project exists anywhere to demonstrate the technology, partly because it is expected to increase up-front capital costs by an additional 50 percent. Read more here.

ICECAP Reality Check:

Temperature changes US last 115 years show cooling in 5 of the last 7 decades starting the post WWII boom.

Data sets in last 7 years shows cooling which again bucks increasing CO2

Sea levels have levelled off/fallen last two years as the oceans have cooled and contracted.

The sun is the quietest it has been in at least 100 years (possibly since the late 1700s and early 1800s). NASA this weeek reported te solar wind was the weakest in the satellite era. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation reached its coldest level recorded this summer and another La Nina is likely on the way. While the earth cools, Gore and his environmental friends are blocking access to the energy we need.