Wednesday, March 14, 2012

More on the Hansen award

I posted earlier today on the decision to award the Edinburgh Medal to James Hansen.  He is head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University.    He is both an activist and an alarmist about climate change, going well beyond the position of many scientists who are concerned about global warming - as you will see from the following (background information sent out to those invited to the event).
"Climate change is a moral issue of unprecedented scope - a matter of intergenerational injustice.  As today's adults obtain benefits from fossil fuel use, the consequences will be felt mainly by young people and future generations.  Meanwhile, people in less developed countries and indigenous people across the world are likely to be burdened the most but are least able to adapt to a changing climate.  In his stirring Medal address, Dr James Hansen will draw attention to the science and to the pressing moral issues.. . . a man who is passionate about helping people understand climate change and humanity's role in causing it, and who is admired far beyond the science sphere for his fearless commentary and authority on this crucial issue."
This "stirring address" will take place in the City Chambers in Edinburgh on Tuesday 10th April.

Certainly it is a crucial - even a moral - issue. But there are not a few who think that Jim Hansen is on the wrong side of morality.

By way of example, alarmism has brought us
  • a biofuels policy which has penalised the poor across the world by pushing up food prices
  • a renewables energy policy which takes money from the poor (increased energy prices) to give to the rich (so called renewables subsidies)
  • malpractice in science as evidenced in the 'hockey stick' claims, Climategate emails, and the Russell and other enquiries plus much, much more
I am ashamed that Edinburgh has associated itself in this way with climate alarmism.

Previous recipients of the Edinburgh Medal include
  • 1990 Steven Jay Gould
  • 1992 Heinz Wolf
  • 1995 Sir John Crofton
  • 1997 Amartya Sen
  • 2001 Sir John Sulston
  • 2004 Professor Steven Rose
  • 2005 Prof Colin Blackmore
  • 2006 Professor James Lovelock
  • 2007 Dr Richard Horton
  • 2008 Professor Chris Rapley CBE 
  • 2009 Professor Jonathan Beckwith
  • 2010 Professor Sir Alex Jeffreys
  • 2011 Professor Karl Djerassi







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