NASA climatologist tells students to vote for green candidates

By Diane Knich (Contact) The Post and Courier

Friday, October 24, 2008

Leading NASA climatologist James Hansen told students at the College of Charleston Friday that the first step to reduce global warming is to influence the democratic process. The event was one of many such activities on campus in recent weeks launched, at least in part, to encourage young adults to vote in the upcoming election.

Hansen was in town with Power Vote, a national nonpartisan group that aims to unite one million young "climate voters" behind a platform for "clean energy, green jobs and economic justice," said Anne Fitzgerald, one of the group's organizers. Hansen told students that "we're about to head off in new territory" in global warming. "If we stay on the current path," he said, "we could drive to extinction a good percentage of species on the planet."

He also said that if people don't reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which come mostly from burning fossil fuels such as oil and coal, "we could see disintegration of ice sheets and a corresponding rise in sea level." "You have to get the right people in office and don't let up at that point," Hansen said.