James Hansen Versus the Bush Administration

Climate change, less correctly call global warming, is a polarizing topic of debate. The science used in predicting climate change is still being developed as well as the models used for predicting climate change. One of the scientists in the forefront of developing climate change science is Dr. James Hansen of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). Dr. Hansen has been in the news for more than just his scientific opinion.

In the spring of this 2006, Dr. Hansen made international news when he alleged he was being censored by the Bush administration. During a Sixty Minutes interview with Scott Pelley, Hansen mentioned that the Bush Administration wanted press releases reviewed prior to release and press interviews at GISS to be conducted by Dr. Hansen's supervisors.

Speaking on the Bush administration, Dr. Hansen said that President Bush is aware of climate change and man's involvement. Hansen mentioned that the Bush administration has spent billions on climate change, but hansen does not feel that Bush understands the urgency of the situation. Dr. Hansen has disagreed in the past with Vice President Al Gore's wanting to overly emphasis certain impacts of climate change and President Bush selecting only certain aspects of climate change to address.

NASA administrator Michael Griffin, during an interview with Nation Public Radio's, Madeline Brand, stated that he was not sure that global warming was an issue that needed to be wrestled with. "First of all, I don't think it's within the power of human beings to assure that the climate does not change, as millions of years of history have shown.", said Griffin. In Griffin's opinion, he was not sure who should decided what the optimal climate should be, feeling that was an arrogant position to take.

Dr. Hansen's response to Michael Griffin's remarks; "It was a shocking statement because of the level of ignorance it indicated with regard to the current situation. He seemed unaware that 170 nations agreed that climate change is a serious problem with enormous repercussions, and that many people will suffer if it is not addressed.

In February, 2002, the Bush administration announced plans to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of the United States by 18 percent in ten years. The 2003 FY budget included 4.5 billion dollars for climate change programs. The full Whitehouse press release can be viewed here. This program seems to have been dismissed by Dr. Hansen and others at the time as the reductions were based on the GDP.

The clean coal emphasis of the Bush administration has also been dismissed by many. In one of Dr. Hansen's own research papers he mentioned that Black Carbon (BC) has a higher impact on radiation forcing (trapping the sun's heat) than previously estimated. Per his research, BC could be a climate change factor nearly equal to carbon dioxide (50% to 80%). If Dr. Hansen research is correct, reducing BC emissions of coal power processes and diesel fuel combustion, could have large impact on reducing man's contribution to climate change.

Still, as Michael Griffin mentioned, history has shown a steady rise in temperature since the Ice Age. It just might be arrogant to think that man can control the natural aspect of global warming.

Sources: CBS News, National Public Radio, www.whitehouse.gov

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