Democracy Now! (12/4/15)
In 1988, James Hansen first warned about the dangers of climate change when he testified before Congress. At the time he was NASA’s top climate scientist. He would go on to become the nation’s most influential climate scientist. This year he is making his first appearance at a U.N. climate change summit. He has come to Paris to warn world leaders that they are on the wrong track to prevent dangerous global warming.
AMY GOODMAN: So, you wrote a piece in The Guardian saying, we’re at the point, now, where temperatures are hitting the one centigrade mark. You said, the U.N. is on the wrong track with plans to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius.
JAMES HANSEN: Yeah, absolutely. This is really a total fraud. You know, there’s no — we’re not going to reduce emissions as long as we let fossil fuels be the cheapest form of energy. There are lots of countries that want to lift their people out of poverty. And of course, they should do that. But everybody would be better off if the price of fossil fuels was honest. It should include its cost to society. …
