I checked first, thinking this was some April Fools joke, it appears legit. (h/t to Tom Nelson and Skiphil)
Climate Alarmist Jim Hansen leaving NASA on Wed. to devote himself to legal and political activism:
Hansen retiring from NASA to press legal and activist efforts
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 can’t testify against the government,” he said in an interview.
…
In the interview and in subsequent e-mails, Dr. Hansen made it clear that his new independence would allow him to take steps he could not have taken as a government employee. He plans to lobby European leaders — who are among the most concerned about climate change — to impose a tax on oil derived from tar sands. Its extraction results in greater greenhouse emissions than conventional oil.
…
Dr. Hansen says he senses the beginnings of a mass movement on climate change, led by young people. Once he finishes his final papers as a NASA employee, he intends to give it his full support.
“At my age,” he said, “I am not worried about having an arrest record.”
Full story at The NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/science/james-e-hansen-retiring-from-nasa-to-fight-global-warming.html?pagewanted=all
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@ur momisugly fobdangerclose says: April 2, 2013 at 9:00 am
That invokes things Hansen would understand. Cutting to the bone.
I doubt Hansen would allow his ego to trump his fixated insularity to the extent he would creep in here to view comments about himself, but if he does, he’ll regret it.
Also, for Hansen:
He supports nuclear power.
He opposed the failed cap&trade proposal that failed in Congress.
@ur momisugly Jacob says:
April 2, 2013 at 10:15 am
Hansen’s support for nuclear may be pragmatic but not in the way it appears.
It is obvious to anyone (other than an environmentalist), and has always been, that if emissions are to be cut very significantly, then nuclear is the only realistic option.
Cutting emissions significantly is the only way Hansen’s ravings can never be shown to be true or false, at least until he has a permanent place in the pantheon.
A man who is at best indifferent to the deaths of thousands through his direct actions is not going to be concerned about the best energy policy for humanities benefit.
If Hansen wnats to really make a mark, he should forget about the Earth becoming like Venus, he should concentrate on making Venus just like the Earth.
A bit of lobbying to ban the Venusian Kanook tarsands, banning all use of Venusian coal, break the link between Venus and Shell and hey presto, another Gaia by 2100
That doesn’t mean he’s right. There was once a German chap with a short moustache who stood up for what he believed in back in the 1930s and early 1940s. There was someone also similar in Russia. How may died again? Those numbers will fall into significance if Hansen get his way and governments around the world encourage more food to fuel and fuel poverty.
Only last week I commented here about not getting excited regarding anything involving Hansen until announcement of his being fired.
I did NOT pray for that. But seriously I praise God for this.
Be careful what you wish for, be thankful of Good News.
“You can’t testify against the government.” And you also can’t under-report outside earnings as a paid activist while being on the taxpayer’s payroll. Note how he side steps ethical issues even now and the press (WAPO) does not even mention it.
If he goes to court, the validity of his science and the unreality of global warming will have its DEBATE and he will lose. This is exactly what he has been avoiding all of this time. So, that leaves him activism in which he can NEVER enter into a real discussion in public with a skeptic—he will lose.
Makes sense: His job was really interfering with his jail time.
Peter Gleick has been announced by the Obama Administration, as Hansen’s replacement.
April fools — couldn’t resist.
You know what really bothers me… he is going to be getting a very nice pension payment from the very agency that he is going to be taking to court some of the time and he started when they still had medical as part of the retirement plans. So, the whole reason that he is not worried anymore is because the government will be paying him hansomly to be an activist.
He’d better get out of the way of the mass movement of the young people if he’s speaking of the 17-year old friends of my son who I frequently hear guffawing at the the libtard global warming crap their teachers try to foist on them. If it doesn’t die a death soon, there’s going to be a mass movement, but it ain’t what he thinks it is.
Best news for GISS in 40 years.
@ur momisugly philincalifornia says:
April 2, 2013 at 12:04 pm
It could hardly be otherwise could it? No matter what the Respectable Media say, it only takes a few to become aware of the fact it hasn’t warmed for 15 or 16 years (take your pick) and who then pass it round via the internet. They don’t need to be “scientifically literate” or even be that interested.
At that age, a core feature is Bullshit Alert as they start to figure out the world around them.
When the vivid contrast between what they have been fed since the age of 10 or younger by pious authority figures, preaching disaster in the absence of compliance, and Reality, stands starkly before them, what 16 or 17 yo is going to go meekly along with this let alone Support Teacher. That would be, excluding the most craven, precisely none.
Nothings happened since they were born for Gods sake.
tallbloke says:
April 1, 2013 at 3:48 pm
Or was he pushed…
My thoughts exactly.
Pointman says:
April 2, 2013 at 7:21 am
If there’s one thing the alarmists like, is authoratative titles, such as he had at NASA. They’d never voluntarily relinquish any. Unless I miss my guess, he got dragged out of NASA kicking and screaming. All the so called reasons for leaving are just putting some topspin on getting the old heave ho.
I think you nailed it as usual Pointman.
@admad; who wrote:
“Classic case of jump before you’re pushed. There’s only so much embarrassment even an organisation like NASA can take.”
Yes, you are probably right. No one will say this today at NASA of course, but in a few years, will they be more interested in cleaning their cage floor? I suspect there will be little to look forward to of praise for Mr. Hansen in the future.
And if this is indeed an early example of a “silent revolution” in the climate science institutions, will this event mark the opening of the flood gates of a general clean-up in science? Too much to hope for, probably.
Not having accurate records from the old Soviet Union, do you think maybe it’s a little disingenuous to jump to confusions of this magnitude? We can start, I suppose, with Chernobyl and work down …
And never mind China, China may be in a category of her own this category going forward …
“THE NEW SOVIET THREAT: POLLUTION …” published 1992
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1992/07/27/76680/
“SOVIET POLLUTION: A LETHAL LEGACY”
http://www.gerdludwig.com/stories/soviet-pollution-a-lethal-legacy/
.
Jimbo says:
April 1, 2013 at 4:57 pm
H.R. says:
April 1, 2013 at 3:45 pm
>>No more being muzzled. Now he’s finally free to speak his mind and promote his political views. /bitter sarc
> I suspect we will hear LESS from him. His big horn was NASA.
Perhaps he can join Heidi Cullen. She pretty much disappeared from view after leaving The Weather Channel and joining http://www.climatecentral.org/about/people-bio/heidi_cullen/
Did he jump or did he get pushed? He did not seem to be doing much for NASA or for the rest of the World either for that matter.
Here’s Dr. Hansen on Fox News:
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/04/02/nasa-climate-scientist-james-hansen-to-retire/
I hope he does sue the government so we can get to the bottom of his nefarious actions while at the Goddard Institute.
Where Mr. Hansen states: “As a government employee, you can’t testify against the government”. News to me (federal employee for 30 years).
As usual Jim Hansen’s grasp of federal ethics law is a bit strained.
It is true that under 5 C.F.R. § 2635.805, an executive branch employee may not serve as an “expert witness”, for anyone except the United States, in a proceeding before a Federal court or agency in which the United States is a party or has a direct and substantial interest.
However, Section 2635.805 does not prohibit an employee from serving as a “fact witness”.
The distinction between a “fact witness” and an “expert witness” is important. A fact witness is a person with knowledge about what happened in a particular case, who testifies in the case about what happened or what the facts are. Fact witness testimony consists of the recitation of facts and/or events as opposed to an expert witness, whose testimony consists of the presentation of an opinion, a diagnosis, etc.
See: http://www.oge.gov/Topics/Outside-Employment-and-Activities/Testimony/
Moreover, a federal employee’s can be authorized to serve as an “expert witness” by the Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO).
In order to authorize a federal employee to serve as an “expert witness” the DAEO must determine that:
• The employee’s service as an expert witness is in the interest of the Government (after consulting with the agency representing the Government or with other agencies, as appropriate, if the United States is not a party); or
• The subject matter of the testimony does not related to the employee’s duties within the meaning of 5 C.F.R. § 2635.807(a)(2)(i).
So nothing prevents Mr. Hansen from being called as a “fact witness: he merely can’t be called as an “expert witness” unless it serves the “interest of the Government”.
In short, it appears Dr. Hansen’s real issue is that, in the absence of a DAEO wavier, his testimony would be limited to the recitation of facts… as opposed to opinion. Facts have never been Dr. Hansen’s strong suit… so I suspect that is Hansen’s real problem.
It also appears that Dr. Hansen’s is afraid that his opinions, if he remained a federal official, would be deemed, by the Government, not to be “in the interest of the Government’… a curious position to take given the EPA endangerment finding.
As a side note 5 C.F.R. § 2635.805 is intended to prevent a federal employee from using public office for the employee’s personal private gain or for the private gain of the party on whose behalf the employee would testify.
Regards, Kforestcat
The Weather Clown is climbing in his little car.
Seriously, looking at this administration, i expect the suit to be welcome by Obama and crowd. They will put up little defense and capitulate to a settlement that will demand the government shut down all industry and deconstruct the economy.
Thank you ZootCadillac, you said it better than I did. I just called him a liar, but maybe your way is better. Willam tried to pull a fast one, but as soon as I read his claim I knew he was pulling ‘facts’ right out of his arse.
Good riddance. No doubt he’ll soon be an expert commentator on MSNBC. 😉