Des Orsinelli: Those who ignore climate change are dooming their grandchildren

James Hansen, in his book “Storms of my Grandchildren” (2009, Bloomsbury Publishing) says that a runaway greenhouse effect is a “certainty” if we pull all of the fossil fuels out of the ground (including tar sands). He must be some kind of renegade, non-climate pseudoscientist right? No, he’s a careful, honest, peer-reviewed climate scientist.

Well, he must be exaggerating the science to ensure continued funding. No. In fact, while working at NASA during the George W. Bush administration, his funding was cut somewhat. This was likely because of his public communication of the dangers of human-caused climate change.

Hansen is not a fake scientist, he’s not a liar and he’s not an “alarmist” – he’s just telling the truth. We can wean ourselves off fossil fuels by 50 percent over 20 years at a cost-of-living rise of 2 percent (like adding one year of inflation over 20 years).

That’s the right thing to do. The yet unborn, who will suffer the consequences if we don’t act, are counting on us.

This story was originally published February 14, 2017 at 11:03 AM with the headline "Des Orsinelli: Those who ignore climate change are dooming their grandchildren."