By James Lewis

James Hansen, NASA’s True Believer in the global warming credo, has just been quoted by the Globe & Mail of Canada as follows: “Prof. Hansen and his colleagues argue that rapidly melting ice caps in Antarctica and Greenland could cause oceans to swell several metres by 2100 - or maybe even as much as 25 metres, which is how much higher the oceans sat about three million years ago.” “If we follow ‘business-as-usual’ growth of greenhouse gas emissions… I think that we will lock in a guaranteed sea-level rise of several meters, which, frankly, means that all hell is going to break loose.”

So you have a choice. You can either (a) hop in your car and head for the hills, or (b) consider the very real possibility that Dr. James Hansen has jumped the shark, and is rocketing upward fast enough to achieve orbital velocity. I personally think he has slipped the surly bonds of earth, as the poet says. NASA’s Prophet of Doom is up, up and away, with a beautiful vrroom. 

Dr. Hansen has gone further out on a limb, and has now issued a challenge to our presidential candidates. He wants all the 2008 candidates to sign a Declaration of Stewardship for the Earth and all Creation.

So does Dr. Hansen really expect billions of human beings to stop wanting things? Imagine all those cars screeching to a halt. Imagine NASA crumbling, never to launch another space probe. That’s “economically sound” according to our hero, because it would lower carbon emissions. This is not sound scientific thinking. It does not reflect well on NASA. Maybe Dr. Hansen should just become Al Gore’s speech writer, rather than occupying a tax-paid position in government science. Because it’s less than honest to use the credibility of science in pursuit of some personal obsession.

See whole story here.

Also read in NEWSBUSTERS how Hansen has been harshly criticized by a leading IPCC author about moving from scientific discourse towards advocacy.