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NASA’s James Hansen in handcuffs again

hansen.arrest.jpg NASA climate scientist James Hansen has gotten himself arrested while protesting mountaintop coal mining. Again.

The Huffington Post reports that he was among about 100 people arrested outside the White House yesterday while protesting this particularly troublesome form of coal mining. The same thing happened last June, a few months after Hansen proclaimed his willingness to be arrested during another protest.

Hansen has long held that the best way – and perhaps the only way – to address global warming is to leave coal in the ground. When it comes to mountaintop removal, as the language would suggest, companies must first remove the tops of mountains in order to get at the coal. The resulting debris is shoved off into the valleys below.

Many hoped the administration of Barack Obama would shut down the practice when it entered office, and last year the Environmental Protection Agency put Arch Coal’s Spruce No. 1 mine in West Virginia on hold. No word on when the EPA will reach a final decision.

Comments

  1. Curtis Warren said:

    Shouldn’t the point be to first completely validate the hypothesis of Global Warming as caused by the factors commonly believed to influence it’s development, first, then to act upon it with proper information supporting you?

    It seems to me that this is a stunt aimed at getting attention pointed at something the public is already paying attention to, even if they know nearly nothing about it.

    Hansen seems to me, to have left behind his duty as a scientist to become a political activist. And that, is a sad thing.

  2. Eyal Morag said:

    Alfred Nobel wrote in his Will “to those who conferred the greatest benefit on mankind” I think it is has very practical mean.

    The defining problem of of our times (the Anthropocene) is climate change. If we find our selfs on practically different planet as James Hansen put it will be big problem to all mankind and to future generations. So I think Climate Physics should be the direction for the next Nobel prize. This can also enhance the message of the scientific community on the the subject, (peace Nobel can’t reflect on the scientific credibility(

    I suggest physics Ph.D. James Hansen for his scientific work on climate change and foresight of the problem.

    PS the readers can pass the message to the direction of the Scandinavian physics community.

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  3. Richard Hendricks said:

    Curtis – You see what looks like an iceberg ahead of you. When do you ask the captain to start turning the ship? When you confirm it is an iceberg? When you confirm it is big enough to sink the ship? When you confirm that it is on a collision course with your ship?

    How much proof is necessary? Let’s say the odds are 10% that AGW is real and accurately portrayed in the scientific research. Do we continue to do nothing? What about 50%? 90%? 99%? How much proof is necessary before action should start?

    A little lean towards the safer side is warranted, after all we’re betting the whole planet here.

  4. Michael Jones said:

    Curtis,

    The Global warming science has been already shown to be valid…the Earth itself is showing signs everwhere.

    Melting artic ice, more acidic ph in ocean waters, more record flooding, shifting of specie zones, ect.

    Dr Hansen already has laid it all out in his recent book, “Storms of our Grandchildren”. In addition read Dr. Peter Ward’s titles on the subject also.

    Also, Bill McKibben’s recent best seller EAARTH

    Unffortunately $$$ are being poured into discrediting the issue (remember the hoopala over the non scandal “climategate”, right before the Copenhagen conference?

    The science is pretty straight foward.

    We, the public (voters) are being mislead by special vested interests (ie coal, oil ects). Generation HOT will pay for our lack of action.

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