NASA, Climate Change, and Duke Energy (and Jim Rogers)

This past week, an interesting (eg. rather frightening) report was published by leading climate change experts, among them Dr. Jim Hansen of both NASA and the Colombia Earth Institute. As opposed to theoretical models, these researchers used history as their guide.

And the findings, you've probably already guessed, are not so good for the climate.

To study the history of climate change, the researchers drilled core samples from the bottom of the ocean. Then, they compared current atmospheric carbon levels with the levels around the times of past climate disasters.

You can check out the best coverage of the story in the Guardian.

Immediately, the Guardian reported, Hansen et al. called for massive carbon reductions if, "humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilisation developed."

He told representatives of various EU member countries that they'd better slash their carbon emissions to 350ppm (parts per million ). At 550ppm, the EU already has the most stringent carbon controls in the world.

Hansen recently wrote a letter to Duke CEO Jim Rogers, urging him to reconsider construction of the Cliffside Coal Plant Dr. Hansen explains the plant is at the bare minimum a tremendous waste of money as it will have to be shut down in the near future.

In that letter, Hansen urged Jim Rogers to meet and discuss carbon emissions, the role of Duke Power in climate change, and the impact of Cliffside on global warming. As reported in the Washington Post, Rogers accepted. We'll see how productive the meeting really is, but here's hoping the professor can teach something to North Carolina's captain of industry.