Comments on: Jim Hansen supports civil disobedience

By: Yet Another Pundit

Yet Another Pundit — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:11:11 +0000

He’s back…

Leading climate scientist: ‘democratic process isn’t working’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/mar/18/nasa-climate-change-james-hansen

Protest and direct action could be the only way to tackle soaring carbon emissions, a leading climate scientist has said.

James Hansen, a climate modeller with Nasa, told the Guardian today that corporate lobbying has undermined democratic attempts to curb carbon pollution. “The democratic process doesn’t quite seem to be working,” he said.

Speaking on the eve of joining a protest against the headquarters of power firm E.ON in Coventry, Hansen said: “The first action that people should take is to use the democratic process. What is frustrating people, me included, is that democratic action affects elections but what we get then from political leaders is greenwash.

“The democratic process is supposed to be one person one vote, but it turns out that money is talking louder than the votes. So, I’m not surprised that people are getting frustrated. I think that peaceful demonstration is not out of order, because we’re running out of time.”

Hansen said he was taking part in the Coventry demonstration tomorrow because he wants a worldwide moratorium on new coal power stations. E.ON wants to build such a station at Kingsnorth in Kent, an application that energy and the climate change minister Ed Miliband recently delayed. “I think that peaceful actions that attempt to draw society’s attention to the issue are not inappropriate,” Hansen said.

By: TokyoTom

TokyoTom — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:48:17 +0000

Thanks for the clarification, Anthony – for a moment I thought you were trying to suggest that scientists employed by government who attempt to exercise their rights as citizens were somehow criminals or, if not, are somehow to be condemed for having the nerve to comment on matters of public interest.

Glad to hear it ain’t so.

But it seems like you confused a few there, though; maybe it was suggestion that people might want to write to Hansen’s superviser and others at NASA, and offering a couple of email addresses, that through people off.

By: wattsupwiththat

wattsupwiththat — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:56:24 +0000

Nope, he got to do and say anything he wanted today:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/03/02/jim-hansens-newfound-peers-at-the-capitol-climate-action/

By: TokyoTom

TokyoTom — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:46:14 +0000

Anthony, thanks for posting the information about the Hatch Act. It should be clear that none of Hansen’s behavior – in expressing his own views as a citizen on matters that he has every right to be interested in – runs afoul of that law.

Shame on those who want to use the power of government to stifle his Constitutional rights of free expression and assembly. Are you one of them?

By: Cliff Huston

Cliff Huston — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:28:27 +0000

Al Gore must be going the March 2nd demonstration in DC. Check out the weather outlook:
http://www.weather.com/newscenter/stormwatch/?from=hp_news
- Cliff

By: E.M.Smith

E.M.Smith — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:55:50 +0000

Malcolm Hill (21:44:55) : Why cant you Americans get your house in order. [...] But he is allowed to engage in activities that contravene your own laws. I give up. America is going down the gurgler faster than a co2 molecule on heat.

We were a Republic. We are now a Democracy.

IMHO, it stems from the change of our constitution such that the Senate was elected rather than a representative of the state (i.e. each state appointed their senators). At that point (and with the addition of an elected president) we came to be very much more a direct democracy and much less a republic and eliminated the protections of states rights. And as even the ancient Greeks found out:

“No democracy long survives once the populace finds that they can vote for themselves the largess of the public purse”.

That’s a paraphrase because I’m too tired to look up the correct quote right now… but it is truth.

We are now a socialist democratic system and political favor is what matters. We will learn the hard way that democracy fails and socialism fails spectacularly (that is how it is always learned). It will take about 50 years. 25 if we’re really lucky. Until then expect lots of ‘largess’ to be spread around… at least until the banks fail… Oh, wait, they already did that…

The bottom line is that AlGore style machinations and getting the government to mandate that folks must buy your product will be the way to make money. Honest work will be less valuable. The economy will slowly strangle. (There’s a reason Economics is called “The Dismal Science”.)

The CO2 tax will be a big part of it.

A couple of historic quotes:

James Madison warned: ‘Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.’

Alexander F. Tyler stated: ‘A Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess out of the treasury with the result that democracies always collapse over a loose fiscal policy, always to be followed by a dictatorship.’

By: HasItBeen4YearsYet?

HasItBeen4YearsYet? — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:52:22 +0000

Pam Gray’s mockery, (17:43:27), of concern over the likes of Dr. Hansen is misplaced…
Revealing the Bolshevik red that can always be found beneath the green facade of environmental fanaticism, Hansen is now calling for the arrest of oil company CEOs.

Their crime: providing the energy required for modern civilization to function. The charges are to be something along the lines of “high crimes against humanity and nature.” Specifically, they are accused of spreading doubt about the global warming hoax.
http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2008/06/hoax_whore_jame.html
Gee, maybe Pam is right, I mean why should I be concerned? After all, they are only targeting the “climate criminals” after all. If I just shut up and play ball, maybe they’ll let me have some rice to go with my beans.

By: Ed Long

Ed Long — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:48:21 +0000

Dr. Hansen’s supervisor, Robert S. Strain has the following E-mail address:
Robert.D.Strain@nasa.gov

An alternate E-mail address for Hansen is:
James.E.Hansen@nasa.gov

(Some years ago, NASA decided that all of their government employees would have only an E-mail address ending in @nasa.gov. Contractors may still use an E-mail address that includes the initials of the particular center at which they work.)

By: Just want truth...

Just want truth... — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:36:26 +0000

I also contacted NASA at this address public-inquiries@gsfc.nasa.gov and asked if they are aware of what James Hansen being on the featured on the front page of Greenpeace’s web site helping to organize a protest could be doing to their reputation.

By: HasItBeen4YearsYet?

HasItBeen4YearsYet? — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:01:08 +0000

@Mark Hugoson (07:41:09) :

It’s in here…
http://icecap.us/images/uploads/Falsification_of_CO2.pdf

By: Barry

Barry — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:25:17 +0000

I am outraged that a publicly funded administrative authority uses his position to promote his own agenda. Would it help if we all write our legislators demanding his resignation or firing?

By: Tim L

Tim L — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 03:19:53 +0000

Robert Bateman (22:27:46) :
I thought the same thing the traffic lights should be on a different system.
but when one goes it all goes.

By: HasItBeen4YearsYet?

HasItBeen4YearsYet? — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 02:47:52 +0000

I was afraid that might have been a bit over the line.

Ok, how about just posting this,…
http://unjobs.org/authors/the-supreme-master-ching-hai
….and asking, “Why is this Ching Hai so seemingly intimate with the UN?” …or am I misreading the fact that she has so much material on a UN website dedicated to UN-related employment?

By: HasItBeen4YearsYet?

HasItBeen4YearsYet? — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 02:13:28 +0000

[snip]

By: HasItBeen4YearsYet?

HasItBeen4YearsYet? — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 02:08:16 +0000

http://motls.blogspot.com/2009/02/supreme-master-presents-james-hansen.html