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Page added on August 29, 2011
NASA’s Hansen Arrested Outside White House at Pipeline Protest
James Hansen, head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, was arrested outside the White House as he joined protesters in urging President Barack Obama to reject TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s $7 billion pipeline.
Before he was taken into custody today, Hansen took a megaphone and implored Obama to act “for the sake of your children and grandchildren.”
“If Obama chooses the dirty needle it will confirm that the president was just green-washing all along,” Hansen, 70, who took a vacation day from his job at the New York based institute to participate in the protest, said in an e-mailed statement.
A State Department report last week said that the pipeline across six U.S. states to carry oil from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast has low environmental risks provided TransCanada complies with U.S. law and follows recommended safeguards. A final decision will be made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this year, based on whether the project is in the U.S. national interest.
Environmentalists oppose the project, citing greenhouse-gas emissions and risks of a spill along the 1,711-mile (4,346- kilometer) route. Alberta oil is separated from sand and clay in a process that uses intense heat, releasing more greenhouse gases than pumping conventional crude.
The protest isn’t the first for Hansen, who was among scientists raising concerns about global warming in testimony to Congress in 1988. He was arrested in 2009 at a West Virginia coal mine, and issued a call in 2008 for executives at oil and coal companies to “be tried for high crimes against humanity and nature.”
Hansen was arrested today with 142 other activists. He was released from police custody within a few hours, according to Matt Leonard, a protest organizer.
7 Comments on "NASA’s Hansen Arrested Outside White House at Pipeline Protest"
Bloomer on Tue, 30th Aug 2011 4:07 am
Head of NASA concerned about Global Warming. I thought climate change was a hoax.
Mike on Tue, 30th Aug 2011 6:12 am
By OPM standards this guy should have been fired a long time ago. Federal employees are ordinarily forbidden from engaging in protests. Employees can engage in normal party politics. And they certainly can’t use their government title in connection with personal politics (as he has done repeatedly).
I guess “environmentalism” gets a pass. I’ll bet NASA’s handling would be just a little bit different if one of their employees was attending neo-nazi rallies…
Roderick S. Beck on Tue, 30th Aug 2011 10:36 am
Mike,
I don’t think you know what are you talking about. There is no prohibition on Federal employees engaging in protests. Any such prohibition is itself unconstitutional.
As for Bloomber, you may be hoax but certainly not global warming.
Plantagenet on Tue, 30th Aug 2011 8:18 pm
Dr. James Hansen is right. Obama’s promises to fight global warming in 2008 were a pack of lies.
Mike on Tue, 30th Aug 2011 9:10 pm
Unfortunately Roderick, I do know what I’m talking about. I spent 19 years in federal service and can assure you that constitutional “rights” can be restrained by terms of employment for civil and military employees. Hansen has crossed the lines of the Hatch Act many times in his “career.”
I personally don’t care if Hansen parades in the nude with the NASA logo on his chest in body paint. What irritates me is the ~political~ enforcement of what are supposed to be secular and objective regulations. Hansen gets a pass. Do you think he would get the same treatment from the DOE? What about a pro-lifer working for HHS? See what I mean?
In the 23 years I spent in association with the feds, I witnessed an erosion of integrity in government that cannot be understated. Corruption, manoeuvre, personal and political motivation are now the operable forces. The silliness that we see daily (and rather expect to see) in the high ranks has trickled down to every petty manager.
VP on Tue, 30th Aug 2011 11:18 pm
In response to Mike’s post, I suggest goggling James Hansen. (Wikipedia’s entry on Hansen is informative.) I think the issue is more complicated than Mike presents it. Just because one worked for an organization doesn’t mean one’s understanding of a policy is the gospel truth.
Mike on Wed, 31st Aug 2011 1:56 am
VP.
It’s not a matter either of “policy” or of “truth” but of law and regulation. But feel free to interpret it any way you like. Everyone else does.