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
“……..to be full time activist”???????
I always thought he was a full time activist!
He’s an astronomer that stopped looking through his telescope decades ago. He became a millionaire as an activist
http://www.atinstitute.org/disclosure-obtained-by-ati-environmental-law-center-shows-the-wealth-keeps-flowing-for-dr-james-hansen/
in a field he is only starting to get a real education in from Mother Nature herself and there is an adoring but shrinking public out there that may need some assurance these days as they head for rallies in their parkas and winter footwear. Jim will be able to become a billionaire with the restraint of public “service”(?) removed, although his climate theory may be retiring soon, too.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/17/forward-on-climate-rally_n_2702575.html
Being a government employee never stopped him before. I think there is more to this than meets the eye. Maybe NASA finally kicked him out but allowed him to be seen to go by choice?
….as well as in fighting the development in Canada of a particularly dirty form of oil extracted from tar sands.
Great!
Our resident hacktivist wants to take his hockey schtick to Alberta Canada, to try to stop the clean up of the biggest oil spill in the history of the planet!
A true Environmental Genius!
MtK
Hansen’s been under the bus since NASA announced increased interest in the role of solar variability in climate change.
Klench Mychiques says:
April 1, 2013 at 3:41 pm
Say what you like about him, but it’s clear he’s willing to stand up for what he believes in.
*
Don’t be fooled. The loudest alarmists get paid plenty. Do you think Gore “believes”? You think Mann “believes”? Neither act the way a believer would. I don’t see Hansen – or any of them – any different.
Maybe the Goddard Institute could launch a few rockets in celebration, or is rocket science still verboten?
Ay, wot’s this space thing? I fort all GISS did was on the ground, behind hyper-super-duper computer screens. Well, OK on the 2nd floor over some famous restaurant or soumfink.
Good to see him go.
All I can say is it should have happened 20 years ago and if the door hits him as he walks out, good!
Nice article:
he overstated the risk,” said Daniel P. Schrag
“He consistently exaggerates all the dangers,” Freeman Dyson
I know where he is going. Where they turn off the air conditioner and open the windows.
==============
A.D. Everard @ur momisugly April 1, 2013 at 4:29 pm
I agree with you. He was given the crimatologist’s version of a loaded revolver and left alone in a room. There have been too many NASA notaries and illuminaries come out against AGW, there has to be some cultural memory of real science and accomplishment. There is an institution at NASA that everyone wants to be a part of.
And Hansen just fowled it up.
Will be interesting to discover his successor. Anyone know? Someone indoctrinated by Hansen and in his mold or someone with perhaps a more scientifically pure mindset? Let’s hope it’s out with the bad and in with the good.
As a government employee he couldn’t testify against the government.
—- But he couldn’t be cross-examined under oath either.
That is one quick exit.
Let’s all chip in and buy him an adjustable thermometer.
Hip hip.. hooray..!!!!!Hip hip.. hooray..!!!!Hip hip.. hooray..!!!! Maybe NASA can go back to being the cowboys in space instead of the chicken little brigade.
Does he realize it’s cold outside?
Live from Canada
This is clearly because of George Bush and should be front page news throughout the land.
Bush isn’t President anymore? Uh, this is clearly because of the sequester. That’s it.
The sequester was Obama’s idea? Um, shut up and quit correcting me!
I don’t see history comparing Hansen to Deming.
Mr. Astley YOU ARE A LIAR.
Other references:
http://tinyurl.com/cet32de
http://tinyurl.com/ceotfoy
http://www.stormsofmygrandchildren.com/
If he goes somewhere warm, I cry foul. Let him stay in the northern US or Europe and freeze to death with the rest.
I suspect we will here LESS from him. His big horn was NASA. Even Warmist media know he is an activist so how can they come to him for objective insight. Oh, wait……………..
Ok, now what we need to know is WHO is next in line for his position? Will this create a dual front? Hansen on the outside and someone with the same views in Hansen’s old seat? Hansen has credibility among his click. If NASA hands the reigns over to a person with the same philosophy, then the position could lend ‘credibility’ to the next ‘Hansen’..
Nature abhors a vacuum, I’m concerned that the heir-apparent will be just as bad, if not worse.
I should ease up on the beer.
“I suspect we will hear LESS from him….”
Lady Life Grows says:
April 1, 2013 at 3:52 pm
What’s to celebrate?
My tax dollars not paying his salary!