Book review by David Mitchell, Missouri Chapter ExCom
James Hansen is the NASA scientist who so famously testified to Congress in the late 1980's, sounding the alarm about the dangers of global warming. In Storms of My Grandchildren, his first book, Mr. Hansen uses his position as a preeminent NASA climate scientist, to attempt to educate the public about the dangers of global warming. He notes the tremendous gulf between the public understanding of the issue, and the scientific reality.
Mr. Hansen reviews the science of global warming, developing the argument that CO2, the primary greenhouse gas, must be 350 ppm (parts per million), or less. Currently, C02 is about 387 ppm, increasing about 2 ppm annually. The failure of humanity to reduce it's carbon fuel use sufficiently to achieve 350 ppm, will result in dire consequences. Mr. Hansen states the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets will destabilize, with a 1-2 meter sea level rise by 2100. There will be increasing severity of storms, hundreds of millions of climate refugees, the possible collapse of social order, and the passing of the tipping point leading to runaway global warming.
Mr. Hansen feels if humanity burns all reserves of oil, coal, and gas, there is a "substantial chance" runaway global warming would lead to the Venus syndrome, a super hot planet devoid of all life.
Mr. Hansen’s prescription for saving the planet is the initiation of a policy, fee and dividend, along with the abolition of all U.S. coal plants by the year 2030. He discusses the absolute necessity to work with China and India to reduce their coal use, since coal currently provides 75% of their energy needs. Mr. Hansen describes fee and dividend as an annually increasing tax on fossil fuel as it is mined or drilled, paid by corporations, with those funds paid directly to U.S. citizens as a dividend. The dividend is used to pay for the increase in energy costs, with the more carbon efficient citizens saving money. Billions of decisions by millions of citizens will drive down the societal use of carbon over time. Mr. Hansen eviscerates the idea of cap and trade, stating it will not work, citing the failure of this policy with the Kyoto Protocol in reducing worldwide emissions. He repeatedly asserts there must be no new coal plants, stating a "line in the sand" must be drawn.
Mr. Hansen calls on the federal government to develop a prototype "fourth generation" nuclear plant, whose design can be replicated to replace the coal plants to be terminated by the year 2030. He does not feel conservation, efficiency, and renewable energies will be able to provide enough energy by 2030, with coal supplying 50% of current electricity needs. His support of nuclear power would be anathema to most environmentalists, but he regards nuclear as part of the portfolio of strategies used to save and develop energy.
Mr. Hansen is a federal government employee, and describes the efforts of the Bush administration to silence him. He has a much more positive attitude towards the Obama administration, but feels President Obama does not "get it". Citing his experience in government, he reports the powerful energy special interests have been successful in subverting the U.S. democratic system. He calls on all concerned citizens to advocate within our democratic system, seeking to maximize their leverage, urging direct support of Bill McKibbens 350.org campaign.
Mr. Hansen reports he has been studying Gandhi's concepts of civil disobedience, and has been arrested in the fall of 2009, protesting mountaintop removal coal mining in West Virginia. He feels civil disobedience may be humanity's best hope of saving the planet.
The U.S. is, by history, the greatest fossil fuel user, and we must collectively transform our economy to one not primarily dependent upon fossil fuel use. James Hansen is doing his best to sound the clarion call to action, before it is too late.