Nasa climate expert says agency muzzling him

Story is here:
www.msnbc.msn.com...

Source Quote:
James Hansen, is the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. ..said the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture in December calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases

Believed to have begun at the University of Iowa in 2004, Hansen was giving a speech and complained that government climate scientists were being silenced.

Since then, NASA public affairs staff have been reviewing his postings on the Goddard website, along with his lectures, papers and requests for interviews from journalists.

“They feel their job is to be this censor of information going out to the public,” the Times quoted Hansen as saying, adding that the scientist planned to ignore the new restrictions

[edit on 30-1-2006 by Eden]

Sad as it is, NASA has to be friendly to the administration in power to keep their funding flowing. I guess this is just some back scratching.

Wildly misleading headline.

He is free to speak his views as a private citizen and no one has ever tried to censor him.

ALL federal employees -- from cabinet secretaries to the office janitor -- cannot speak publicly representing themselves as an agency spokesman without clearing their comments through agency channels.

Hansen wants to make public comments as a spokesman and representing the agency without clearance. He is wrong to do so.