James Hansen’s Posts

• Coal River Mountain Action

  The story of our civil disobedience against mountaintop-removal coal mining 3

  Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago

  Several people asked for more information about the 23 June civil disobedience near Coal River Mountain. We need Dickens to describe the local situation, but you can glean something from a statement I was reading at the time we were arrested (reprinted below).

• Dear Barack and Michelle

  An open letter to the president and first lady from the nation's top climate scientist 48

  Posted 10 months, 1 week ago

   

  29 December 2008
  Michelle and Barack Obama
  Chicago and Washington, D.C. United States of America

  Dear Michelle and Barack,

  We write to you as fellow parents concerned about the Earth that will be inherited by our children, grandchildren, and those yet to be born.

  Barack has spoken of "a planet in peril" and noted that actions needed to stem climate change have other merits. However, the nature of the chosen actions will be of crucial importance.

  We apologize for the length of this letter. But your personal attention to these details could make all the… Read More

• Obstruction of justice

  Virginian coal protesters receive B-minus plea bargain for Kingsworth-like activism 3

  Posted 1 year ago

  "You're Hannah, right?" Hannah Morgan, a 20-year old from Appalachia, Virginia, was one of 11 protesters in handcuffs early Monday morning on Sept. 15 at the construction site for a coal-fired power plant being built in Wise County Virginia by Dominion Power. The handcuffs were applied by the police, but the questioner, it turns out, was from Dominion Power.

  "Mumble, mumble, mumble," the discussion between police and the Dominion man were too far away to be heard by the young people. But it almost seemed that the police were working for Dominion. Maybe that's the way it works in a… Read More

• Trumping old King Coal

  Kingsnorth six acquitted in U.K. for coal-plant protest and vandalism 3

  Posted 1 year, 1 month ago

  Good news from the U.K.: The Kingsnorth Six were acquitted by a Crown Court jury. They were members of a group of 23 Greenpeace volunteers who had attempted to shut down the Kingsnorth coal-fired power plant, specifically the six were the ones painting the smokestack with "Gordon Bin It" when interrupted by the police. Their defense was "lawful excuse": that they were protecting property of greater value (the Earth!) from the impact of climate change. We will need our Mercedes-driving lawyer friends to tell us if the verdict has greater significance -- but the jurors were common people, not… Read More

• Dear Governor Greenwash

  Hansen: Governors aren't getting it 10

  Posted 1 year, 5 months ago

  My recent experience with governors raises a question about whether this is an effective way to communicate about climate change. (Apologies for the length -- you may skip the three tales and go to the bottom line.)

  Dear Governor Pawlenty [PDF]

  Minnesota Gov. Pawlenty presides over a population that appreciates nature. Explorer Will Steger has done a marvelous job of informing the public there about climate change in the Arctic, the threat of climate change to species and indigenous people, and the relevance of climate change to Minnesota. Early actions made it appear that Minnesota would be… Read More

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