Tuesday, January 27, 2009
James Hansen's former boss cannot take it any more
Most righty bloghounds know James Hansen as the NASA scientist and advisor to Al Gore who has been escalating the threat of anthropogenic global warming for more than twenty years, and who accused the Bush administration of "muzzling" him (notwithstanding the many hundreds of media interviews he has given while on the job). Well, at least one of his former supervisors, Dr. John S. Theon, has gone public as an AGW "skeptic", said that Hansen was not muzzled, and criticized Hansen's impact on the agency's reputation. We are, of course, quietly and patiently waiting for press coverage to match the stories that came out when Hansen claimed he had been gagged.
6 Comments:
By 
Lee, at
Tue Jan 27, 11:47:00 PM:
Hansen is an excellent example of why "civil service job protection" should be eliminated. No private sector company would let a loose cannon like this continue to work for them, yet the Federal government is full of them (Richard Clarke being another example). It's too bad that The One is putting still more of these types on the government payroll, where they will push their personal agendas for years.
By Brian, at
Wed Jan 28, 03:55:00 AM:
The press release was obviously written by Sen. Inhofe's hack, Marc Moran (who also has refused to put his money where his incredibly voluble mouth is on AGW).
You read it carefully, and the reference to not being muzzled was when Hansen was very indirectly under Theon, which ended in 1994. The censorship came during the Bush administration.
Misleading can be a lot more evil than a direct lie, it takes even more effort to unearth.
By TigerHawk, at
Wed Jan 28, 06:30:00 AM:
The press release was obviously written by Sen. Inhofe's hack, Marc Moran (who also has refused to put his money where his incredibly voluble mouth is on AGW).
I agree with that. As for the muzzling, there is no evidence that Hansen was muzzled. He got a phone call from somebody at the White House that bitched about what he was saying. He ignored it, and in fact turned it into a public relations opportunity. What's the big deal?
By Jim VAT, at
Wed Jan 28, 06:39:00 PM:
Hansen was never muzzled. His public appearances and articles skyrocketed during the Bush years.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/06/03/nasa-press-office-is-criticized-on-climate-reports/
By 
, at
Wed Jan 28, 07:40:00 PM:
Nasa's own Inspector General:
Our investigation found that during the fall of 2004 through early 2006, the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs managed the topic of climate change in a manner that reduced, marginalized, or mischaracterized climate change science made available to the general public through those particular media over which the Office of Public Affairs had control (i.e., news releases and media access). We also concluded that the climate change editorial decisions were localized within the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs; we found no credible evidence suggesting that senior NASA or Administration officials directed the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs to minimize information relating to climate change......
Further, it is our conclusion that the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs’ actions were inconsistent with the mandate and intent of NASA’s controlling legislation—the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 19581 (Space Act) and NASA’s implementing regulations—insomuch as they prevented “the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination” of information concerning NASA’s activities and results.....
we cannot reconcile that the Space Act would permit any purposeful obfuscation of scientific research by the Agency in any news dissemination forum as “appropriate” under the Act.
The supporting evidence detailed in this report reveals that climate change scientists and the majority of career Public Affairs Officers strongly believe that the alleged actions taken by senior NASA Headquarters Public Affairs officials intended to systemically portray NASA in a light most favorable to Administration policies at the expense of reporting unfiltered research results.
http://oig.nasa.gov/investigations/OI_STI_Summary.pdf
By , at
Mon Feb 02, 12:41:00 PM:
James Hansen is a pathalogical liar and many are seeing through his lies and you can bet he is getting big time attention from the liberal left-wing news media spreading his lies
