Prosecutions Coming for Global Warming Deniers?

[stephendare]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,370521,00.html

I wonder if they will label River an enemy noncombatant when they come for him?

The heads of major fossil-fuel companies who spread disinformation about global warming should be "tried for high crimes against humanity and nature," according to a leading climate scientist.

Dr. James Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, sounded the alarm about global warming in testimony before a Senate subcommittee exactly 20 years ago.

He returned to the topic Monday with a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., given to the Worldwatch Institute, before which he was called a hero by former Sen. Tim Wirth, D-Colo., who headed the 1988 hearing.

"Special interests have blocked the transition to our renewable energy future," Hansen writes in an opinion piece posted on the institute's Web site. "Instead of moving heavily into renewable energies, fossil fuel companies choose to spread doubt about global warming, just as tobacco companies discredited the link between smoking and cancer.

"Methods are sophisticated, including funding to help shape school textbook discussions of global warming," Hansen continues. "CEOs of fossil energy companies know what they are doing and are aware of the long-term consequences of continued business as usual. In my opinion, these CEOs should be tried for high crimes against humanity and nature."

Later in the day, Hansen appeared at an informal briefing on Capitol Hill with Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., head of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Hansen told reporters and members of the public that the world has long passed the "dangerous level" for greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and needs to get back to 1988 levels.

He said Earth's atmosphere can only stay this loaded with man-made carbon dioxide for a couple more decades without changes such as mass extinction, ecosystem collapse and dramatic sea level rises.

"We're toast if we don't get on a very different path," said Hansen, who is sometimes called the godfather of global warming science, told The Associated Press. "This is the last chance."

Asked by a reporter about the feasibility of putting corporate CEOs on trial, Hansen dodged the question, stressing instead the need to take stronger measures against global warming.

To cut emissions, Hansen said coal-fired power plants that don't capture carbon dioxide emissions shouldn't be used in the United States after 2025, and should be eliminated in the rest of the world by 2030.

That carbon-capture technology is still being developed and not yet cost efficient for power plants.

Burning fossil fuels like coal is the chief cause of man-made greenhouse gases. Hansen said the Earth's atmosphere has got to get back to a level of 350 parts of carbon dioxide per million. Last month, it was 10 percent higher: 386.7 parts per million.

Hansen said he'll testify on behalf of British protesters against new coal-fired power plants. Protesters have chained themselves to gates and equipment at sites of several proposed coal plants in England.

"The thing that I think is most important is to block coal-fired power plants," Hansen told the luncheon. "I'm not yet at the point of chaining myself but we somehow have to draw attention to this."

Frank Maisano, a spokesman for many U.S. utilities, including those trying to build new coal plants, said while Hansen has shown foresight as a scientist, his "stop them all approach is very simplistic" and shows that he is beyond his level of expertise.

The year of Hansen's original testimony was the world's hottest year on record. Since then, 14 years have been hotter, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Two decades later, Hansen spent his time on the question of whether it's too late to do anything about it. His answer: There's still time to stop the worst, but not much time.

"We see a tipping point occurring right before our eyes," Hansen said during his appearance at the National Press Club. "The Arctic is the first tipping point and it's occurring exactly the way we said it would."

Hansen, echoing work by other scientists, said that in five to 10 years, the Arctic will be free of sea ice in the summer.

Longtime global-warming skeptic Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., citing a recent poll, said in a statement, "Hansen, [former Vice President] Gore and the media have been trumpeting man-made climate doom since the 1980s. But Americans are not buying it."

But Rep. Markey said, "Dr. Hansen was right. Twenty years later, we recognize him as a climate prophet."

[RiversideGator]

Can you say thought police.  Are the reeducation camps next?  What a fruitcake!

[civil42806]

"nobody expects the spanish Inquisition"!!!

[Charleston native]

"nobody expects the spanish Inquisition"!!!

Yes! Great Monty Python tie-in...so appropriate in this case.

[RiversideGator]

Can you say thought police.  Are the reeducation camps next?  What a fruitcake!

Things to think about when you don't have habeus corpus anymore.

I wonder if climate change denying makes you merely an american criminal or a global one?

In any case, at least Gitmo is all broken in.  Tell Inhofe we said hello.

Stephen:  Your usual comical absurdity is veering into lunacy.

[Doctor_K]

I wonder if climate change denying makes you merely an american criminal or a global one?

And who's laws would one be persecuted under?  Sovereign nations in Europe? Japan? China? The U.S.? Russia? The E.U.? The UN?  Scary proposition.

In the meantime, are we talking about people who deny climate change entirely or doubt the affect/extent of anthropogenic climate change?  And again, why can't there be doubters in the increasing hypothesis-turned-theory-turned-hysteria?

Great article here:  http://www.europeancourier.org/37.htm

Specifically:

Worldwide, the media has taken a particular interest in the issue of global warming. One prominent advocate of AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming) theories was recently hailed by Time Magazine as an “environmental prophet” and, in that same article’s headline, even likened to Jesus Christ. [7] Such journalistically-questionable use of religious rhetoric in reference to AGW, a scientific subject, has only complicated the issue for both governments and the general public.

This reminds me of a comment Stephendare made to me earlier in another, related, forum about detractors pulling out the 'great fire from above' religiosity.  Whereas, IMO, both side are equally guilty.

[RiversideGator]

This just goes to show how this GW nonsense has become a new religion for those lefties who have long ago abandoned Christianity.  It does prove that the religion instinct is very strong in mankind.

[Driven1]

The title of this thread is a lie. 

Read the story.

Prosecutions are, in fact, NOT coming for anyone who denies global warming.  Because one looney climatolist says a prosecution should take place does not mean any district attorney in any state or district of the U.S. has decided to prosecute a case.

Lying propaganda.  Par for the course though.

[BridgeTroll]

The title of this thread is a lie. 

Read the story.

Prosecutions are, in fact, NOT coming for anyone who denies global warming.  Because one looney climatolist says a prosecution should take place does not mean any district attorney in any state or district of the U.S. has decided to prosecute a case.

Lying propaganda.  Par for the course though.

Oh but he wants to... he "dodged" the question... he wanted to answer in the affirmative.

[RiversideGator]

Driven:  Good point.  There are no imminent prosecutions and the title of this is yet another Dare falsehood.  It is truly bizarre that he gleefully awaits the day this might happen.

[gatorback]

Driven:  Good point.  There are no imminent prosecutions and the title of this is yet another Dare falsehood.  It is truly bizarre that he gleefully awaits the day this might happen.

Oh, is it truly that bizarre?  I think people by nature are fasicinated with current events and for the most part bored and looking for new things.  Kind of not unlike rubberneckers.  You shouldn't look, but you can't not.

[RiversideGator]

A Desperate Man

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 6/23/2008

Radicalism: In another example of junk science run amok, NASA scientist James Hansen wants oil executives put on trial for giving "misinformation" about his global warming theory. Is this where society is headed?

If so, we are headed for a dangerous place. Only in totalitarian systems is dissent a criminal offense.

Hansen, who 20 years ago Monday cranked up the global warming scare with his congressional testimony, is a clever promoter. By fusing his pseudo science with the wild-eyed efforts of eco-activists, media dupes and pandering politicians, he's been able to convince the public that his flawed theory is actually holy writ.

Out of this has emerged a madness that has divided Westerners into "us," the believers, and "them," the skeptics who are looked down upon as socially irresponsible reprobates.

That's not enough for Hansen, though. He now wants to ratchet his machine up a few notches.

Put the oil men on trial, he says, because it's "a crime" for them to "have been putting out misinformation" that places doubt on his unproved â€" and unprovable â€" premise that man's use of fossil fuels is warming Earth.

We wonder: Will it be up to NASA's secret police to make the arrests that will be necessary to drag these men before the tribunal?

Al Gore, the most famous face of the global warming-industrial complex, has been saying for years that the debate is over, that science has declared humans are responsible for climate change.

He, of course, is wrong. There are skeptics in the scientific community, literally thousands of them.

Many are on the leash, however, afraid to speak out for fear of being bullied, denied research grants and ostracized for expressing politically incorrect doubt. For them, the debate is indeed over.

Those who refuse to be browbeaten, though, are in danger of seeing their careers ruined or, perhaps someday, sharing a prison cell with the oil executives Hansen wants to try.

Criminalize dissent: That's one way to ensure the debate is over.

Hansen's comment is revealing. It's the sort of declaration made by a desperate man trying to hang on to his declining relevance.

Hansen knows the climate of fear he has stoked is receding as more people start to see through his nonsense. He's just trying to stir up some storm clouds.

http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=299112954905500

[Lunican]

Have you ever notice that all of your Global Warming articles come from investment and business news sites?

[Charleston native]

Evidently, Lunican, you have failed to notice the others that have been posted here from science journals and science organizations. Here is another non-investment news article, which proposes litigation against Hansen that would be actually considered legitimate (added emphasis through bold text mine):

James Hansen: Abusing the Public Trust
By Brian Sussman

Monday, James Hansen, Director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), addressed Congress and brought a new twist to his tired global warming song and dance routine.  Hansen now seems to be calling for the chief executives of Big Oil to be tried for high crimes against humanity.  Their crime?   Spreading doubt about global warming. 

Actually, it is Hansen who is guilty. Guilty of abusing the public trust.

James Hansen is the recognized international arbiter of the global temperature record-past, present and future.  Armed with a network of thermometers, state-of-the-art satellites, computers and a huge chunk of NASA's near $18 billion budget, Hansen is the man who is deemed the final authority on Al Gore's constant claim that "the earth has a fever." 

All this despite the fact that GISS' own data clearly illustrates that the Earth's temperature has been flat since 1998 and recently has been dipping downward.  Hansen's shenanigans on Capital Hill are not about climate-they are about money.

As is the case with all government agencies, maintaining a budget is critical.  The bureaucrats at NASA boast of their obvious needs for cash:  completion of the International Space Station, furthering the Space Shuttle Program, and, of course, preventing the world from spontaneously combusting in a ball of flames.  Hansen is a zealous promoter of the latter, and, since the 1980s, has been able to keep the funds flowing-both into NASA, as well as into his personal pocket-to study the world's climate.  A slick marketer, Hansen possesses an insatiable appetite for media attention -- as long as the person asking questions is favorable to his point of view.

In 2007, Hansen agreed to an interview conducted on a rooftop in downtown San Francisco with a counterculture, internet-based outfit called TUC Radio (TUC is an acronym for "Time of Useful Consciousness"-the time between the onset of oxygen deficiency and the loss of consciousness").  During the interview Hansen hardly sounded like an honorable director of a U.S. government agency, but rather more like an underground community agitator: 

"I tell young people that they had better start to act up.  Because they are the ones that will suffer the most.  Many of the changes will take time, but we're setting them in motion now.  We're leaving a situation for our children and grandchildren which is not of their making, but they're going to suffer because of it.  So I think they should start to act up and put some pressure on their elders, and on legislatures, and begin to get some action."

I assume that prior to the interview, Hansen made it clear that all his comments were his own and not representative of NASA.  That is a line he uses from time to time to appear as pure as the wind driven snow.  But the truth is, Hansen a proclivitiy for popping off at the mouth.

Early in 2006, a major story in the New York Times pointed a finger at the Bush Administration for supposedly trying to censor Hanson.  In part, it read:

The scientist, James E. Hansen, longtime director of the agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in an interview that officials at NASA headquarters had ordered the public affairs staff to review his coming lectures, papers, postings on the Goddard web site and requests for interviews from journalists.

The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming.

Can you blame the administration for wanting to review his content?  As a NASA Director, his role should be collecting data and truthfully sharing results, not trying to influence policy and legislation.

Congressman Darryl Issa (R-San Diego) called Hansen on his continual talking out of turn.  During a hearing on Capitol Hill regarding his abuse of his government status, Issa said, "You're speaking on federal paid time.  Your employer happens to be the American taxpayer."  Issa went on to say that an internet search showed Hansen had had stated on more than 1,400 occasions in over a year's worth of interviews and appearances (15 interviews alone in the month that the congressional hearings were taking place) that the Bush Administration had censored him. 

According to the Associated Press: 

"Hansen said...as a matter of free speech, government scientists should not be restrained in their remarks or have public affairs officers listening in on interviews."

I agree with Congressman Issa.  Government bureaucrats should not be allowed to use their job as a soapbox; nor should they be allowed to receive huge sums of cash for work they have conducted on the taxpayer's dime, from private, liberal interests with a global warming agenda. 

Examine the largess culled by Hansen.

In 2001, the Heinz Foundation "awarded" James Hansen with a payment of $250,000 for his work on global warming.  According to the foundation: 

"It was Dr. Hansen who, in the sweltering, drought-scorched summer of 1988, went where few scientists were willing to go-before Congress, to explain just how serious the potential for global warming truly was."

The Heinz Foundation, directed by the wife of U.S. Senator and former presidential candidate, John Kerry, is widely known for its support of liberal causes. Is it any surprise that James Hansen also endorsed John Kerry for President in 2004?  The quarter of a million was just a tease of additional monies to come.  In 2007, Hansen split a $1 million prize from the Dan David prize category of "Future Quest for Energy" (layman's translation: a world without oil).  In addition he also reported to have acted as a consultant to Gore's global whining slide show, which was the impetus to the Prince of Peace's film, "An Inconvenient Truth."  In fact, in 2006 Hansen had the gall to appear on a New York City stage with Mr. Gore to promote the then upcoming film-though he did reportedly inform the audience, "I'm not speaking as a government employee."
           
Topping it all, Hansen has allegedly received hundreds of thousands of additional dollars to further politicize the issue of global warming.  According to Investors Business Daily, "How many people, for instance, know that James Hansen, a man billed as a lonely ‘NASA whistleblower' standing up to the mighty U.S. government, was really funded by [George] Soros' Open Society Institute (OSI), which gave him ‘legal and media advice'?  That's right, Hansen was packaged for the media by Soros' flagship ‘philanthropy' by as much as $720,000, most likely under the OSI's ‘politicization of science' program."

Hansen denied any relationship with OSI, but Investor's Business Daily refused to back off on their story, "claiming the funding first passed through the Government Accountability Project, which then used it to package Hansen for the media."

With that kind of cash allegedly lining his pockets, do you think that Hansen will ever allow the data that he is charged with maintaining to point to anything but disaster? 

In talk-radio such conflicting activities would be deemed "payola" with the guilty party booted out the door.  For the sake of truth, and the proper use of the taxpayer's dollar, James Hansen needs to be relieved of his NASA duties. 

Show Mr. Hansen the door -- for the sake of humanity.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/06/james_hansen_abusing_the_publi.html

Abusing the public trust, bribery...River, do you think there could be some traction to this idea? I think those 2 charges alone would be enough to prosecute. Let's see how Hansen would feel being on that side of the roasting stick.

[Charleston native]

Jim Hansen:  Correctly predicts 20 sequential years of development extrapolating from massive data from which he brilliantly deduced the future...

This is completely untrue. The world's oceans haven't submerged coastlines or more (erosion and temporary flooding are constant changes with any coastal areas), ice is being re-formed at a fast rate in the Arctic and Antarctic, and hurricanes haven't dramatically increased. Any brilliance he has would be in duping government agencies to donate him money and suckering people who practically worship him as some sort of prophet.

The American Thinker has far more credibility than many of your sources you've posted here, Stephen. I noticed that you didn't even address the point of the article...since the statements are pretty accurate.

And uh, since when is the promotion of Israel as a legitimate nation considered a negative against a publication?