Dot Earth Blog: James Hansen is Leaving NASA to Intensify Campaign for Carbon Cuts

After nearly half a century of research in planetary and climate science for NASA, James E. Hansen is retiring on Wednesday to pursue his passion for climate activism without the hindrances that come with government employment.

Justin Gillis has filed a thorough look at Hansen?s journey from climate scientist to impassioned carbon campaigner. Here?s an excerpt and a link to the rest:

[R]etirement 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 can?t testify against the government,? he said in an interview.

Dr. Hansen had already become an activist in recent years, taking vacation time from NASA to appear at climate protests and allowing himself to be arrested or cited a half-dozen times.

But those activities, going well beyond the usual role of government scientists, had raised eyebrows at NASA headquarters in Washington. ?It was becoming clear that there were people in NASA who would be much happier if the ?sideshow? would exit,? Dr. Hansen said in an e-mail.

At 72, he said, he feels a moral obligation to step up his activism in his remaining years.

?If we burn even a substantial fraction of the fossil fuels, we guarantee there?s going to be unstoppable changes? in the climate of the earth, he said. ?We?re going to leave a situation for young people and future generations that they may have no way to deal with.?

I encourage you to read the whole piece.

There?s much more on Dot Earth on Hansen?s journey, including these posts:

- ?From Climate Science to Climate Activism ? The Sequel?

- ?NASA?s Hansen Presses Obama for a Carbon Cost and Nuclear Push?

- ?NASA?s Hansen: Humans Still Loading Climate Dice?

- ?Climate, Coal and Crematoria?

And for those who might have missed it, here?s my 2008 video chat with Hansen about his approach to communicating risks from greenhouse-driven warming:

Source: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/james-hansen-is-leaving-nasa-to-intensify-his-campaign-for-carbon-cuts/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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