The chairman of the Nobel Foundation board of directors,
Carl-Henrik Heldin, expressed his dismay Wednesday over the victory of
President-elect Donald Trump, reports Alastair Gee in Berlin.
“I’m very depressed about it,” Heldin said on the sidelines of the Falling Walls science conference in Berlin.
He was filled with foreboding on several counts. “I see a movement towards right-wing populism and isolationism and anti-intellectualism. We move away from logical thinking and rationalism towards a very uncertain direction.”
President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. Heldin emphasized that although he was not involved in the selection, the electoral repudiation of Obama’s course did not change his estimation of the man.
Obama is clearly a statesman,” he said. “I think that Obama has done a lot of excellent things, and in the longer perspective I think we will look back on him as one of the great presidents the U.S. has had.”
Even so, Heldin is profoundly concerned about the future of the Paris Agreement and other efforts to combat global warming, which Trump has called a Chinese hoax. “This is really a scary future because he denies it, which is absolutely shocking,” he said. “We have to take responsibility for our environment. Everyone will realize that at some point, but that point in time will now be pushed forward, to a point when it might be very late and very difficult to do anything against the problems we have caused.”
Heldin was standing in a reception hall with a huge screen showing the election results on CNN. When Trump came on stage to make his acceptance speech, chants of “USA, USA” echoed from the speakers and among the gathered scientists.
As Trump made conciliatory remarks about Hillary Clinton, Heldin murmured, “at least he had the decency to say something nice.” After Trump said that it was “time for us to come together as one united people,” Heldin raised his eyebrows.
At the end of the address, Heldin’s attention was drawn to Barron Trump. “His poor son looks very young and very tired,” he said.
“I’m very depressed about it,” Heldin said on the sidelines of the Falling Walls science conference in Berlin.
He was filled with foreboding on several counts. “I see a movement towards right-wing populism and isolationism and anti-intellectualism. We move away from logical thinking and rationalism towards a very uncertain direction.”
President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. Heldin emphasized that although he was not involved in the selection, the electoral repudiation of Obama’s course did not change his estimation of the man.
Obama is clearly a statesman,” he said. “I think that Obama has done a lot of excellent things, and in the longer perspective I think we will look back on him as one of the great presidents the U.S. has had.”
Even so, Heldin is profoundly concerned about the future of the Paris Agreement and other efforts to combat global warming, which Trump has called a Chinese hoax. “This is really a scary future because he denies it, which is absolutely shocking,” he said. “We have to take responsibility for our environment. Everyone will realize that at some point, but that point in time will now be pushed forward, to a point when it might be very late and very difficult to do anything against the problems we have caused.”
Heldin was standing in a reception hall with a huge screen showing the election results on CNN. When Trump came on stage to make his acceptance speech, chants of “USA, USA” echoed from the speakers and among the gathered scientists.
As Trump made conciliatory remarks about Hillary Clinton, Heldin murmured, “at least he had the decency to say something nice.” After Trump said that it was “time for us to come together as one united people,” Heldin raised his eyebrows.
At the end of the address, Heldin’s attention was drawn to Barron Trump. “His poor son looks very young and very tired,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment