Fossil Fuel’s game of intimidation is global.
Slovakia’s new President rejected a candidate for a Cabinet level Environmental post because that individual was a climate science denier, and was associated with threats of violence against Environmentalists and hateful statements against the LGBTQ community.
Also, Putin connections – do we get it yet?
Slovakia’s president announced Thursday that she is postponing the appointment of a new Cabinet following last month’s parliamentary election because she cannot accept the nomination of a person who doesn’t believe in the threat of climate change as environment minister.
Liberal President Zuzana Caputova said Rudolf Huliak, who was nominated by the ultranationalist and pro-Russian Slovak National Party, could not ensure the proper functioning of the ministry because he opposes the government’s long-term environmental policies and Slovakia’s international obligations.
“A candidate who has not recognized the scientific consensus on climate change and asserts no real climate crisis exists cannot be in charge and represent a ministry whose main role is the protection of nature, landscape and the Earth’s climate system,” Caputova said in a statement.
She also mentioned Huliak’s advocacy of violence against environmentalists as a reason not to swear him in. Huliak, the mayor of the town of Ocova in central Slovakia, has also attacked LGBT+ people, the European Union and expressed pro-Russian views.
When Očová mayor Rudolf Huliak’s name first appeared on the list of potential candidates for ministries in Robert Fico’s fourth government, eyebrows were immediately raised.
Known for previously spreading conspiracy theories, making hateful statements against conservationists and the LGBT+ community, and climate change denial, two petitions were immediately launched – one against the potential controversial appointment, and one supporting his nomination.
