Environment minister “wins” Ropák for 2012

Ecological activists from Friends of the Earth have awarded the country’s environment minister, Tomáš Chalupa, this year’s Ropák (Oil Guzzler) anti-award for most damaging environmental policies. The organisation said the minister had been chosen for the distinction for a controversial bill on the protection of Šumava National Park, for supporting the expansion of the Temelín nuclear power plant, and allegedly failing to act in the protection of the environment. The minister responded by saying that receiving the award meant he was doing something right and not succumbing to what he called “green hysteria”. The Ropák anti-award takes its name from a fictional creature (invented by Czech filmmaker Jan Svěrák) which survives on industrial waste. This year was the 21st time it was awarded.

Author: Jan Velinger