Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has come in for high praise from the head of the Clinton Climate Initiative on Clean Energy.{{more}}

At a press conference last Friday, held to outline the next phase of a geothermal power project, Jan Hartkey, the Global Director of the Clinton initiative, said that his team is putting its full support behind the prime minister and his work for climate change.

“We’re not in this temporarily, we are in it until it’s done and we’re just so proud to be identified with a leader with your kind of knowledge, your kind of fortitude, and your kind of concern for the average person, that I’ve seen demonstrated again and again in this country,” the top executive told Gonsalves at Cabinet Room.

“Your welcome and your leadership have attracted us in a way that I think has redounded to the benefit of Vincentians everywhere and we are proud to be identified with you and to help on this project,” Hartkey also said.

Hartkey indicated that the political willpower to move a country forward, was one of the key elements sought in a leader. He said that element was found in Gonsalves, as the Clinton Foundation moved to develop its climate change initiative.

He said that Gonsalves’ ability to turn a dream into reality and attract two established companies to St Vincent and the Grenadines through his charisma and leadership were to be admired.

“There isn’t anybody better in the world than Reykjavik Geothermal, with the experience they’ve had in Iceland.

“You bring in a company like Emera (Energy Inc.), a powerful company, and… they’re trying to support this kind of cause, so we are rallying around this effort and really you know any country like this as the prime minister knows with his depth of experience and knowledge across the field.”

Hartkey declared that former United States President Bill Clinton, was also aware, and had affection for Gonsalves pursuit of climate change, and had admiration for the prime minister’s progress in the field of education.

Hartkey said that the completion of the project could see St Vincent and the Grenadines becoming a leader in both renewable energy and climate improvement.

“In order to have a prime minister go in front of the (United Nations) Assembly and to make a convincing case that we actually can turn the climate change crisis into a economic opportunity that can help people on the ground, you need to have a provable, real project that’s helping people, that he can say ‘let me tell you what I’m doing in St Vincent and the Grenadines,’ then he has all the kinds of evidence that when the other prime ministers and presidents around the world hear him, they trust him, and they know that they can be challenged to step up to this great global climate crisis.”