My Hero, James Hanson

By Eric Rempel

We all have our heroes: people we wish we could emulate. I have had several. One of my heroes has been a South African, Nelson Mandela. Mandela moved from prison to president. He is a hero because he did not to use the power of the presidency to get even with those who had imprisoned him.

In recent years my eyes has shifted increasingly to another man, James Hanson. Hanson is 72 – I am three years younger. He announced his retirement this week, because he “feels a moral obligation to step up his activism in his remaining years.”

Hanson's big concern is global warming. Since 1988 he has been warning us that the temperature of the earth is rising as a result of the burning of fossil fuel. He says this rise in temperature, if it continues, will set in motion other processes, such as the melting of polar ice, that will multiply this temperature rise. Soon the trend will be irreversible and the effect on the oceans and our weather disastrous.

Hanson is a scientist. He began his career with NASA in 1967. Recall that NASA is responsible for the US space program. Initially, Hanson's focus was the study of the planet Venus. The NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies was established in 1961 for the purpose of researching and predicting climate change. The Goddard Institute was established well before anyone had issued any warnings about negative climate change.

Hanson left his Venus studies and became the director of the Goddard Institute in 1981. In 1988 he first appeared before the US Congress. Speaking to reporters after that appearance he famously said “It is time to stop waffling so much and say that the evidence is pretty strong that the greenhouse effect is here.” His widely read book, Storms of My Grandchildren, speaks to the effect he believes continued, unfettered burning of fossil fuel will have on his grandchildren, Sophie and Conner. He did not go to the Goddard Institute with conviction about global warming. His convictions came as a result of the scientific monitoring he did while at Goddard.

As the head of the agency set up by the US government to research and predict climate change, his voice carries considerable weight, nevertheless US government action to curb greenhouse gas emission has been minimal. [Canadian government action has been even more dismal]. His political masters have tried to muzzle him. In part they have succeeded, which is why he is resigning. He wants to more actively protest government inaction directed at curbing carbon emissions.

But that does not make James Hanson a hero.

James Hanson found himself with a prestigious job in a prestigious organization. He could have aligned himself with big oil and joined the financial elite. He could have exploited his political connections and become powerful. He could now withdraw, go golfing and enjoy retirement. Instead he chooses to speak the truth to power in the place he finds himself. He has already been jailed twice for that! That's why he is a hero.

Do I have the thoughtfulness, the determination, the courage to do that in the place I find myself?