Hansen Urges Drastic Action and Says Energy CEOs Guilty of "High Crimes"

NASA climate scientist James Hansen has told a House committee that the United States must lead the world in swiftly passing “transformative” climate change legislation or face disastrous environmental consequences this century, including a probable sea level rise of at least two meters and mass extinctions. Speaking exactly 20 years after first warning the U.S. Congress of the dangers of global warming, Hansen — director of the Goddard Institute of Space Sciences — also said that the heads of oil and coal companies who spread doubt about global warming and resist efforts to move to a carbon-free economy “should be tried for high crimes against humanity and nature.” Hansen called on Congress to approve sweeping climate change legislation in the next year that would include a tax on carbon and would phase out coal-burning power plants by 2025, unless they employ carbon sequestration technology.