Climate Expert Says NASA Tried to Silence Him

Forwarded from sci.environment

ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: January 29, 2006

The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has
tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month
calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked
to global warming.

The scientist, James E. Hansen, longtime director of the agency's
Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in an interview that
officials at NASA headquarters had ordered the public affairs staff to
review his coming lectures, papers, postings on the Goddard Web site
and requests for interviews from journalists.

Dr. Hansen said he would ignore the restrictions. "They feel their job
is to be this censor of information going out to the public," he said.
Dean Acosta, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs at the
space agency, said there was no effort to silence Dr. Hansen. "That's
not the way we operate here at NASA," he said. "We promote openness and
we speak with the facts."

Mr. Acosta said the restrictions on Dr. Hansen applied to all National
Aeronautics and Space Administration personnel whom the public could
perceive as speaking for the agency. He added that government
scientists were free to discuss scientific findings, but that policy
statements should be left to policy makers and appointed spokesmen.
Dr. Hansen, 63, a physicist who joined the space agency in 1967, is a
leading authority on the earth's climate system. He directs efforts to
simulate the global climate on computers at the Goddard Institute on
Morningside Heights in Manhattan.

Since 1988, he has been issuing public warnings about the long-term
threat from heat-trapping emissions, dominated by carbon dioxide, that
are an unavoidable byproduct of burning coal, oil and other fossil
fuels. He has had run-ins with politicians or their appointees in
various administrations, including budget watchers in the first Bush
administration and Vice President Al Gore.

In 2001, Dr. Hansen was invited twice to brief Vice President Dick
Cheney and other cabinet members on climate change. White House
officials were interested in his findings showing that cleaning up
soot, which also warms the atmosphere, was an effective and far easier
first step than curbing carbon dioxide.

He fell out of favor with the White House in 2004 after giving a speech
at the University of Iowa before the presidential election, in which he
complained that government climate scientists were being muzzled, and
said he planned to vote for Senator John Kerry.

But Dr. Hansen said that nothing in 30 years equaled the push made
since early December to keep him from publicly discussing what he says
are clear-cut dangers from further delay in curbing carbon dioxide.
In several interviews with The New York Times in recent days, Dr.
Hansen said it would be irresponsible not to speak out, particularly
because NASA's mission statement includes the phrase "to understand and
protect our home planet."

He said he was particularly incensed that the directives affecting his
statements had come through informal telephone conversations and not
through formal channels, leaving no significant trails of documents.
Dr. Hansen's supervisor, Franco Einaudi, said there had been no
official "order or pressure to say shut Jim up." But Dr. Einaudi added,
"That doesn't mean I like this kind of pressure being applied."

The fresh efforts to quiet him, Dr. Hansen said, began in a series of
calls after a lecture he gave on Dec. 6 at the annual meeting of the
American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. In the talk, he said that
significant emission cuts could be achieved with existing technologies,
particularly in the case of motor vehicles, and that without leadership
by the United States, climate change would eventually leave the earth
"a different planet." The administration's policy is to use voluntary
measures to slow, but not reverse, the growth of emissions.

After that speech and the release of data by Dr. Hansen on Dec. 15
showing that 2005 was probably the warmest year in at least a century,
officials at the headquarters of the space agency repeatedly phoned
public affairs officers, who relayed the warning to Dr. Hansen that
there would be "dire consequences" if such statements continued, those
officers and Dr. Hansen said in interviews.

Among the restrictions, according to Dr. Hansen and an internal draft
memorandum he provided to The Times, was that his supervisors could
stand in for him in any news media interviews.

In one call, George Deutsch, a recently appointed public affairs
officer at NASA headquarters, rejected a request from a producer at
National Public Radio to interview Dr. Hansen, said Leslie McCarthy, a
public affairs officer responsible for the Goddard Institute.

For the rest of the story:

http://nytimes.com/2006/01/29/scienc...rtner=homepage

http://cosmic.lifeform.org

Well, there we are then, looks like whoever is twitchy about his views has
shot themselves in the foot here.

In any case, if they think not saying something is going to make it not
happen, then they must be fools.

Of course, in the text below, it is indeed true that its one person's
interpretation, and we seriously do not know all we need to about this
planets' climate and how it behaves.


Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


"Thomas Lee Elifritz" wrote in message
...
Forwarded from sci.environment

ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: January 29, 2006

The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has
tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month
calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked
to global warming.

The scientist, James E. Hansen, longtime director of the agency's
Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in an interview that
officials at NASA headquarters had ordered the public affairs staff to
review his coming lectures, papers, postings on the Goddard Web site
and requests for interviews from journalists.

Dr. Hansen said he would ignore the restrictions. "They feel their job
is to be this censor of information going out to the public," he said.
Dean Acosta, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs at the
space agency, said there was no effort to silence Dr. Hansen. "That's
not the way we operate here at NASA," he said. "We promote openness and
we speak with the facts."

Mr. Acosta said the restrictions on Dr. Hansen applied to all National
Aeronautics and Space Administration personnel whom the public could
perceive as speaking for the agency. He added that government
scientists were free to discuss scientific findings, but that policy
statements should be left to policy makers and appointed spokesmen.
Dr. Hansen, 63, a physicist who joined the space agency in 1967, is a
leading authority on the earth's climate system. He directs efforts to
simulate the global climate on computers at the Goddard Institute on
Morningside Heights in Manhattan.

Since 1988, he has been issuing public warnings about the long-term
threat from heat-trapping emissions, dominated by carbon dioxide, that
are an unavoidable byproduct of burning coal, oil and other fossil
fuels. He has had run-ins with politicians or their appointees in
various administrations, including budget watchers in the first Bush
administration and Vice President Al Gore.

In 2001, Dr. Hansen was invited twice to brief Vice President Dick
Cheney and other cabinet members on climate change. White House
officials were interested in his findings showing that cleaning up
soot, which also warms the atmosphere, was an effective and far easier
first step than curbing carbon dioxide.

He fell out of favor with the White House in 2004 after giving a speech
at the University of Iowa before the presidential election, in which he
complained that government climate scientists were being muzzled, and
said he planned to vote for Senator John Kerry.

But Dr. Hansen said that nothing in 30 years equaled the push made
since early December to keep him from publicly discussing what he says
are clear-cut dangers from further delay in curbing carbon dioxide.
In several interviews with The New York Times in recent days, Dr.
Hansen said it would be irresponsible not to speak out, particularly
because NASA's mission statement includes the phrase "to understand and
protect our home planet."

He said he was particularly incensed that the directives affecting his
statements had come through informal telephone conversations and not
through formal channels, leaving no significant trails of documents.
Dr. Hansen's supervisor, Franco Einaudi, said there had been no
official "order or pressure to say shut Jim up." But Dr. Einaudi added,
"That doesn't mean I like this kind of pressure being applied."

The fresh efforts to quiet him, Dr. Hansen said, began in a series of
calls after a lecture he gave on Dec. 6 at the annual meeting of the
American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. In the talk, he said that
significant emission cuts could be achieved with existing technologies,
particularly in the case of motor vehicles, and that without leadership
by the United States, climate change would eventually leave the earth
"a different planet." The administration's policy is to use voluntary
measures to slow, but not reverse, the growth of emissions.

After that speech and the release of data by Dr. Hansen on Dec. 15
showing that 2005 was probably the warmest year in at least a century,
officials at the headquarters of the space agency repeatedly phoned
public affairs officers, who relayed the warning to Dr. Hansen that
there would be "dire consequences" if such statements continued, those
officers and Dr. Hansen said in interviews.

Among the restrictions, according to Dr. Hansen and an internal draft
memorandum he provided to The Times, was that his supervisors could
stand in for him in any news media interviews.

In one call, George Deutsch, a recently appointed public affairs
officer at NASA headquarters, rejected a request from a producer at
National Public Radio to interview Dr. Hansen, said Leslie McCarthy, a
public affairs officer responsible for the Goddard Institute.

For the rest of the story:

http://nytimes.com/2006/01/29/scienc...rtner=homepage

http://cosmic.lifeform.org

Brian Gaff wrote:
Well, there we are then, looks like whoever is twitchy about his views has
shot themselves in the foot here.

In any case, if they think not saying something is going to make it not
happen, then they must be fools.

Of course, in the text below, it is indeed true that its one person's
interpretation, and we seriously do not know all we need to about this
planets' climate and how it behaves.

Let's see, Dr. James Hansen, world renowned climatologist,
along with massive and irrefutable evidence, and a nearly
global scientific consensus, and Indur M. Goklany, writing
for the CATO Institute, Energy and Environment, some blogs
and a few economics newsletters.

You know, I think I'm going to have to go with Hansen on this one.

http://cosmic.lifeform.org

"Thomas Lee Elifritz" wrote in message
...
Forwarded from sci.environment

ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: January 29, 2006

The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has
tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month
calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked
to global warming.


Just ask NASA about the radiation levels in space, and how it will blind
everybody we send to Mars.

Mot Datrix wrote:
"Thomas Lee Elifritz" wrote in message
...
Forwarded from sci.environment

ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: January 29, 2006

The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has
tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month
calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked
to global warming.


Just ask NASA about the radiation levels in space, and how it will blind
everybody we send to Mars.

I think I'll go with the water shielding
and the sleeping in a lead box thing.

But thanks for asking.

http://cosmic.lifeform.org

"Thomas Lee Elifritz" wrote in message
...
Forwarded from sci.environment

ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: January 29, 2006

The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has
tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month
calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked
to global warming.

Mr. Acosta said the restrictions on Dr. Hansen applied to all National
Aeronautics and Space Administration personnel whom the public could
perceive as speaking for the agency. He added that government
scientists were free to discuss scientific findings, but that policy
statements should be left to policy makers and appointed spokesmen.


Facts are for the scientists, and politics for the appointees.
So this statement is a clear admission that global warming
is a political issue now, not scientific. Not that this isn't
already generally known, but I'm surprised they'd be so
matter-of-fact about it.

It's impossible for Nasa or the administration to claim that
politics isn't involved in our policy on global warming.
They can now barely make the claim that science is
involved at all in environmental policy.

And just this weekend Pres Bush said he plans on making
the NSA eavesdropping policy a central theme for the upcoming
elections. Has anyone ever seen that old war movie
...."A Bridge Too Far"?



Jonathan


s





Dr. Hansen, 63, a physicist who joined the space agency in 1967, is a
leading authority on the earth's climate system. He directs efforts to
simulate the global climate on computers at the Goddard Institute on
Morningside Heights in Manhattan.

Since 1988, he has been issuing public warnings about the long-term
threat from heat-trapping emissions, dominated by carbon dioxide, that
are an unavoidable byproduct of burning coal, oil and other fossil
fuels. He has had run-ins with politicians or their appointees in
various administrations, including budget watchers in the first Bush
administration and Vice President Al Gore.

In 2001, Dr. Hansen was invited twice to brief Vice President Dick
Cheney and other cabinet members on climate change. White House
officials were interested in his findings showing that cleaning up
soot, which also warms the atmosphere, was an effective and far easier
first step than curbing carbon dioxide.

He fell out of favor with the White House in 2004 after giving a speech
at the University of Iowa before the presidential election, in which he
complained that government climate scientists were being muzzled, and
said he planned to vote for Senator John Kerry.

But Dr. Hansen said that nothing in 30 years equaled the push made
since early December to keep him from publicly discussing what he says
are clear-cut dangers from further delay in curbing carbon dioxide.
In several interviews with The New York Times in recent days, Dr.
Hansen said it would be irresponsible not to speak out, particularly
because NASA's mission statement includes the phrase "to understand and
protect our home planet."

He said he was particularly incensed that the directives affecting his
statements had come through informal telephone conversations and not
through formal channels, leaving no significant trails of documents.
Dr. Hansen's supervisor, Franco Einaudi, said there had been no
official "order or pressure to say shut Jim up." But Dr. Einaudi added,
"That doesn't mean I like this kind of pressure being applied."

The fresh efforts to quiet him, Dr. Hansen said, began in a series of
calls after a lecture he gave on Dec. 6 at the annual meeting of the
American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. In the talk, he said that
significant emission cuts could be achieved with existing technologies,
particularly in the case of motor vehicles, and that without leadership
by the United States, climate change would eventually leave the earth
"a different planet." The administration's policy is to use voluntary
measures to slow, but not reverse, the growth of emissions.

After that speech and the release of data by Dr. Hansen on Dec. 15
showing that 2005 was probably the warmest year in at least a century,
officials at the headquarters of the space agency repeatedly phoned
public affairs officers, who relayed the warning to Dr. Hansen that
there would be "dire consequences" if such statements continued, those
officers and Dr. Hansen said in interviews.

Among the restrictions, according to Dr. Hansen and an internal draft
memorandum he provided to The Times, was that his supervisors could
stand in for him in any news media interviews.

In one call, George Deutsch, a recently appointed public affairs
officer at NASA headquarters, rejected a request from a producer at
National Public Radio to interview Dr. Hansen, said Leslie McCarthy, a
public affairs officer responsible for the Goddard Institute.

For the rest of the story:


http://nytimes.com/2006/01/29/scienc...rtner=homepage

http://cosmic.lifeform.org

jonathan wrote:
"Thomas Lee Elifritz" wrote in message
...
Forwarded from sci.environment

ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: January 29, 2006

The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has
tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month
calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked
to global warming.

Mr. Acosta said the restrictions on Dr. Hansen applied to all National
Aeronautics and Space Administration personnel whom the public could
perceive as speaking for the agency. He added that government
scientists were free to discuss scientific findings, but that policy
statements should be left to policy makers and appointed spokesmen.


Facts are for the scientists, and politics for the appointees.

There are no facts outside of mathematics.

There is only evidence, lots of it.

http://cosmic.lifeform.org

Ironic that this comes at the Challenger anniversary, another example of
politicians trying to ignore physical reality. Of course with global
warming the stakes are staggeringly greater.

richard schumacher wrote:
Ironic that this comes at the Challenger anniversary, another example of
politicians trying to ignore physical reality. Of course with global
warming the stakes are staggeringly greater.

http://www.junkscience.com/

Michael Varney wrote:

richard schumacher wrote:

Ironic that this comes at the Challenger anniversary, another example
of politicians trying to ignore physical reality. Of course with
global warming the stakes are staggeringly greater.

http://www.junkscience.com/

Ding! plonk

http://cosmic.lifeform.org