President of the International Ski Federation Denies Climate Change

In an interview with Tages Anzeiger ahead of the alpine world championships, Gian Franco-Kasper, the president of the International Ski Federation, forwarded some opinions about climate change, immigrants, and working with dictators, summarizes Deadspin.

He talks about immigrants the same way that boomers talk about millennials, discoursing on how they “ruin” all the things by not having the money to do and buy the things that boomers are able to afford, like cars and homes. When asked about the decline of winter sports in Switzerland, he said “The second generation of immigrants has nothing to do with skiing. There are no ski camps anymore.”

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And he also revealed he does not believe in the science around climate change:

All the discussions about artificial snow and wasting of water, they never stop. Not a single drop of water is lost. Ok. The energy needed to create artificial snow, that’s a different thing, but considering waste of water: if you sprinkle your garden the water does not disappear out of a sudden. And that is supposedly the argument against winter sports? And then there still is the so-called climate change.

When the reporter questioned him about him characterizing climate change as “so-called,” Kasper replied:

“There is no proof for it. We have snow, in part even a lot of it,” he said. “I was in Pyeongchang for the Olympiad. We had minus 35 degrees C. Everybody who came to me shivering I welcomed with: welcome to global warming.”

Kasper also likes working with dictators, adding:

It’s just the way that it is easier for us in dictatorships. From a business view I say: I just want to go to dictatorships, I don’t want to fight with environmentalists anymore.

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He also made the dubious claim that hosting an Olympics can potentially start to democratize a country and lead to improvements in civil rights. He said:

Not everything that is being reported is correct. Sport can also be a door opener. Perhaps we contributed to the opening of North Korea with the unified team in Pyeongchang. I don’t want to go with the games to a country where people are starving. That’s my red line. If Qatar wants to host games tomorrow, I will be against it.

When the interviewer noted organizations like FIFA don’t seem to take the same issue as he does, Kasper replied, “I am not bothered by the politics. In Qatar, there is just too much sand on the snow.”

Check out the full post on Deadspin.com.