Posted by
reasonmclucus on Sunday, April 27, 2008 9:34:02 PM
Did NASA's
James E. Hansen commit perjury when he
testified before House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on March 19, 2007?
Ferenc Miskolczi had
previously informed NASA that the equations being used to predict
catastrophic global warming were invalid. Yet Hansen told Congress that
"greenhouse gases" posed a serious threat.
"The predominance of
positive feedbacks, along with the inertia of the oceans and ice
sheets, has profound practical implications. It means that if we push
the climate system hard enough it can obtain a momentum, it can pass
tipping points, such that climate changes continue, out of our control.
Unless we begin to slow down the human-made climate forcings, there is
the danger that we will create a different planet, one far outside the
range that has existed in the course of human history (References 7, 8,
9)."
"It is because of these climate feedbacks and the inertia
of the ocean and ice sheets that the global warming problem differs
fundamentally from the problem of conventional air pollution (Reference
12). By the time that the public can clearly see the existence of
climate change, there is momentum in the system for a great deal of
additional change. As a result we are probably already very near, if
not beyond, the dangerous level of interference with atmospheric
composition. I have discussed the possibility of drawing down
atmospheric CO2 by burning biofuels in power plants and capturing and
sequestering the CO2 (Reference 13). However, by far the most effective
actions at this time would be to slow current emissions to the
atmosphere, while better understanding and improved technologies are
developed."
My inclination is that he didn't commit perjury even
though his statements were inconsistent with Miskolczi's study. The
transcript of the testimony doesn't indicate he was testifying under
oath. Also other portions of his testimony indicate that agency
representatives were expected to provide official explanations even
though there might be a question about the accuracy of those statements.
However, I'm not an attorney so I'm not sufficiently familiar with the concept of
perjury as it actually applies in a U.S. court of law. I didn't think
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby should have been prosecuted for perjury.
Someone
who is familiar with the law regarding perjury needs to investigate the
situation to determine if Hansen violated the law.