James Hansen, climate activist, is retiring from NASA
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Source: Washington Post
James E. Hansen, the nations most outspoken scientist on global warming, is stepping down from his federal post to engage full time in activism on the issue.
Hansen, who heads NASAs Goddard Institute of Space Studies in New York City, spent 46 years working at the agency.
After warning Congress in 1988 that climate change posed a serious threat to the planet, he has spent much of the past quarter-century trying to persuade policymakers to take bold action to curb global carbon emissions.
In an e-mail Monday, Hansen wrote that he decided to step down so that I can spend full time on science, drawing attention to the implications for young people, and making clear what science says needs to be done.
The New York Times first reported the news of Hansens retirement Monday night.
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Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/james-hansen-climate-activist-is-retiring-from-nasa/2013/04/01/50cf30ee-9b32-11e2-9a79-eb5280c81c63_story.html
The New York Times article has more:
Climate Maverick to Quit NASA
By JUSTIN GILLIS
Published: April 1, 2013
James E. Hansen, the climate scientist who issued the clearest warning of the 20th century about the dangers of global warming, will retire from NASA this week, giving himself more freedom to pursue political and legal efforts to limit greenhouse gases.
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At the same time, retirement will allow Dr. Hansen to press his cause in court. He plans to take a more active role in lawsuits challenging the federal and state governments over their failure to limit emissions, for instance, as well as in fighting the development in Canada of a particularly dirty form of oil extracted from tar sands.
As a government employee, you cant testify against the government, he said in an interview.
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His departure, on Wednesday, will end a career of nearly half a century working not just for a single agency but also in a single building, on the edge of the Columbia University campus.
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(I used the Washington Post article because it uses his name in the title,
the New York Times article did not.)
bananas
(27,509 posts)Run time: 01:42
Posted on YouTube: February 18, 2009
Posted on DU: February 18, 2009
By DU Member: bananas
Views on DU: 1777
From It's Getting Hot In Here :
Published by Joshua Kahn Russell, February 18th, 2009 global warming
Today NASA Climatologist Dr. James Hansen released a public service announcement calling on all of us to join the Capitol Climate Action (CCA) on March 2nd. If you havent heard, it will be the largest protest on Global Warming in U.S. history.
Its time to take a stand on global warming, Dr. Hansen says in the video. We want to send a message to Congress and the President that we want them to take the actions that are needed to preserve climate for young people and future generations and all life on earth.
Dr. Hansen is a world renowned-scientist more accustomed to the lab and the library than the picket line. When he sees a problem so urgent that he is willing to take to the streets in protest, we can be sure it means that the government must act.
Some 2,000 people from across the country are expected to join Dr. Hansen at Congresss own coal-fired power plant in Southeast Washington, D.C. Over 70 public health, faith-based, labor, racial and environmental justice, and climate groups has endorsed the action along with such leaders and figures as Tom Goldtooth, Daryl Hannah, Michael Franti, Bill McKibben, Gus Speth, Reverend Lennox Yearwood, Noam Chomsky, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Paul Hawken, and Wendell Berry. Grammy Award-winning country singer Kathy Mattea will also join the protest and perform.
Coal-fired power plants are largest source of global warming pollution in the country, and the Capitol plant is widely regarded as a symbol of the countrys dangerous reliance on the fossil fuel. Burning coal also cuts short at least 24,000 lives in the U.S. annually, inflicts catastrophic damage to the landscape and water supplies and jeopardizes the lives of coal miners. Furthermore, coal leads to approximately $167 billion in healthcare costs annually and diverts scarce resources away from energy efficiency and clean energy, which create more than twice as many jobs per dollar as money for coal.
RSVP to be a part of CCA and make history now!
OKNancy
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