Edgar Gaertner
One of Austria’s largest daily’s commemorated Earth Day with an extensive review of Edgar Gaertner’s new Öko-Nihilismus: Eine Kritik der Politischen Ökologie (Eco-nihilism: A Critique of Political Ecology). The review appeared in The Linz-based “Oberösterreichische Nachrichten” (OÖN) , which also interviewed the author. The book was published with support from CFACT Europe.
The reviewer emphasized Mr. Gaertner’s belief that the debate over climate change and eco-taxes is best characterized as “class struggle from above”. In doing so, the author who is director of the environment forum of the Brussels think tank “Centre for the New Europe”, is clearly swimming “against the green mainstream.” OON also mentions Gaertner’s argument that humans are powerless to address the largely naturally induced climate change they are confronted with, and that it is not at all decided that that carbon emissions are responsible for it, much less that mankind has to deal with any of its alleged fatal consequences.
In the interview Mr. Gaertner also pointed out that the increasing use of “ecologistic and apocalyptic doom-and-gloom-scenarios” resemble a religious fervor that is prohibiting dissent. Their prescriptions, he claims, seek to impose a one-size-fits-all regulatory framework to address global environmental concerns. Further, Mr. Gaertner notes that those championing alarmist scenarios are often “self-appointed climate researchers” who are placing too much weight on so-called “consensus.” “But consensus is no criteria for science because it is an obstacle for pluralism in the debate, he maintains, and “the ultimate impact of the CO2 debate may well mean that we in Germany will soon import more nuclear energy”.
With its printed edition of 128,500 copies, the prominent Austrian daily (English title “Upper-Austrian News”, which was established in 1945 under US-license) will allow Gaertner’s book to reach out to 371,000 of its readers. The newspaper also belongs to the trustees of “Austria Presse Agentur” (APA), the national Austrian press agency.
Also of note, a few days before OÖN’s coverage, www.liberty.li also posted an entire chapter of “Eco-Nihilism” on its website. www.liberty.li is a project of the Austrian think tank “Instut für Wertewirtschaft” (Institute for a Value-based Economy), and is in its own words the “largest German language platform for freedom and responsibility.”
links (in German):
review: http://www.nachrichten.at/wirtschaft/568731?PHPSESSID=cc13f7df5677c778601c6aaf93f120a0
interview: http://www.oon.at/wirtschaft/568754?PHPSESSID=ec143b3cda25684e8e80d3f8658ff30f