Is a $1.2 million bribe the reason why James Hansen promotes global warming?

1. The American Tradition Institute is a climate denial think tank with ties to the usual suspects in the energy industry: the Kochs, Exxon Mobil, etc. Their activities include suing states to overturn renewable energy standards, suing states to overturn laws limiting corporate political spending, and singling out two climate scientists, Michael Mann and James Hansen, and barraging their employers with onerous Freedom of Information Act requests, for documents that may or may not exist, about events that may or may not have ever happened.

This is a no-lose political maneuver. If the employer complies, the targeted scientist has every detail of his employment exposed to the public, ripe for harassment and quote mining. What days they took off sick. Every email ever CC'd to them. And if the employer fails to comply, the targeted scientist looks guilty, and the employer looks complicit and trying to hide something.

Perhaps the American Tradition Institute isn't intentionally conducting a litigious intimidation campaign against climate scientists. But if I wanted to conduct a litigious intimidation campaign against climate scientists, the American Tradition Institute is doing exactly what I'd do.

By the way, NASA agreed to turn over the Hansen compensation records to ATI in November 2011. Nobody's said much about the records since. They're nowhere to be found on ATI's website. Guess there wasn't anything juicy to quote mine from them? Or maybe the point wasn't getting the records, it was filing the requests, filing a high-profile lawsuit, making a lot of noise and generalized accusations, spooking a key climate scientist, and making it look like NASA's hiding something?

2. Low six figures is a typical salary for a director of a large federal government program. Every graduate with a science degree knows public sector pay is lower, but even so, I'm still surprised Hansen's pay is so modest, considering the distinguished science background he brings to the position. Similar positions in the private sector pay a -lot- more; Martin M. Koffel, CEO and chairman of environmental engineering firm URS, Stanford MBA, makes low eight figures.

So it doesn't bother me that Hansen received a cool quarter million prize from the Heinz foundation for his achievements in climate science. That's not dirty money from environmental extremists. That's ketchup money. Set up by a Republican philanthropist, no less.

3. Carbon tax? It's like the monster that was under my bed when I was a kid. I didn't know how big it was. I didn't know what it looked like. I didn't know exactly what it might do. But I was so sure it was there and it was bad!

Compare to carbon dioxide pollution. We've measured exactly how big it is. We know what some of its effects look like. And we're pretty sure of what it's going to do -- that is, what it's going to -keep- doing.

enable's be worry-free, Dana, they are doing the exact same problem idea proponents who attempt to discredit scientists funded by using Exxon are doing (and we both understand there are various them doing that). this is not any longer honest to lambast the concept fighters without taking a crack on the =proponents= besides. both area opt for to structure up. That suggested, sure, this is fully ridiculous to intend that Hanson is being bribed to lie about climate change. As Bob has so aptly placed it, it really is technology, and what counts is the tips. Hanson might want to be receiving funding from the devil and it does no longer make a distinction. leads to technology are not on the marketplace to the utmost bidder.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” - Steve Jobs

Here is the link:

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/06/james_...

The blog is evidently run by neo-con kooks reliable neither on the subjects of politics nor science.

It is unfortunate that respected and accomplished scientists have to put up with such smearing nonsense, but other than noting the ideological "credentials" of the anti-science bandwagoneers, and particular kooks involved, I'd say such garbage deserves no attention.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=America...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Thinker

Edit: The wording of the question is unfortunate. Hansen most assuredly does NOT "promote" global warming. He has STUDIED it extensively (starting well before scientists including him were even sure there was such a thing as global warming, and LONG before Michael Crichton had the slightest inkling of it, and LONG LONG before the dupes of the dupes of the dupes of the fossil fuel funded fellow-travelers of Crichton started parading their ignorance about it on YA). Hansen has also WRITTEN about global warming, and spoken out about the DANGERS and DAMAGE to our society and economy if we continue to do basically nothing about it.

"$1.2 million or more in the past four"

How that equal a $40,000 per year bonus? The worst thing that will happen to him is that he will get fired from his $180,000/year job and then go on a speaking tour making more money telling alarmists that the world is going to end.

Here is a link for those who think a bribe is the real reason Hansen is concerned about AGW..

http://www.ehow.com/how_6281497_make-funny-tin-foi...

Your "article" is a blog with no support, and written under a pen name. It is very hard to react to something that is just anonymous accusations. Can you not at least cite a source other than an anonymous blog?

Do you know the difference between journalism and blogging?

Yeah, that sounds pretty unlikely to me, too.

I suspect he promotes global warming because it, ya know, fits the evidence...

Yes. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

You are only talking about now. How much under the table has he taken in the past? Lying to Congress is not cheap, you know.

He is still working on it and with the help of you useful idiots and a hundred million in his pocket he will probably prevail.

well,i can't say anything.