NASA swipes back at former astronauts over climate change

Daily Caller ^ | 12:06 AM 04/12/2012 | Alex Pappas

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

NASA is swiping back at a group of nearly 50 of its former scientists and astronauts who wrote to accuse the space agency of advocating the “extreme” position that global warming is the result of man-made carbon dioxide.

In a March 28 letter addressed to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, 49 former employees said the “unbridled advocacy of CO2 being the major cause of climate change is unbecoming of NASA’s history of making an objective assessment of all available scientific data prior to making decisions or public statements.”

But NASA responded on Wednesday by saying they don’t “draw conclusions and issue ‘claims’ about research findings.”

“We support open scientific inquiry and discussion,” NASA chief scientist Waleed Abdalati said in a statement provided to The Daily Caller.

“If the authors of this letter disagree with specific scientific conclusions made public by NASA scientists, we encourage them to join the debate in the scientific literature or public forums rather than restrict any discourse,” Abdalati said.

He added: “NASA sponsors research into many areas of cutting-edge scientific inquiry, including the relationship between carbon dioxide and climate.”

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

fyi

[MeganC]

It must be frustrating for NASA when they’re unable to censor, intimidate, or threaten their former employees into silence.

[MikeSteelBe]

NASA is a joke.

Poor management has killed 14 shuttle astronauts.

The fact that plants produce carbon dioxide is not “cutting edge.”

I guess making up BS to fit a political agenda is.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Related thread from Anthony Watts's Website on this statement from NASA:

NASA chief scientist Waleed Abdalati is clueless about what James Hansen is doing ...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

See link at #5.

[Reily]

NASA was poisoned when it stopped looking out into space and started focusing on earth.
I remember in grad school taking grad physics and space science classes and it seemed all they were excited about was this new NASA earth observation program. I finally got to grad school in physics so I could inspired by early NASA, the moonwalk, Star Trek (yes as silly as that was!) and to these profs space stopped and ended in low earth orbit with all attention turned toward terra firma.
I much later find out it was all because of funding.

[ClearCase_guy]

Why does NASA even care about this stuff? Aren’t they supposed to be focused on helping Muslims feel good about Islam?

[Washi]

... cutting-edge scientific inquiry,including the relationship between carbon dioxide and climate.

Cutting-edge scientific inquiry?

But, I thought that it was settled, concensus-based fact that only "deniers" questioned.

[Da Coyote]

NASA is no longer a scientific organization.

(Apologies to all real scientists there...a set that does not include the climate clowns..or the “management”.)

[expat2]

“If the authors of this letter disagree...., we encourage them to join the debate in the scientific literature...” Abdalati said.

That would be fine if the warmists did not prevent counter-argument papers being published in said literature.

[WKUHilltopper]

Hey NASA! Where’d the Ice Age go? Man-made climate change a factor there too? Or could it be any change is cyclical? Oh...cyclical means you can’t use the excuse to tax it.

[Lazamataz]

What a bunch of petulant, unprofessional jerks NASHOLE has become.

[pgkdan]

Gee...I’m old enough to remember when every American could be proud of NASA.

[Noob1999]

..................Aren’t they supposed to be focused on helping Muslims feel good about Islam................

“Waleed Abdalati” ??? Maybe they are - doesn’t sound like an Amish name!

[rlmorel]

Gee. This is a tough one for me. Who should I listen to?

Waleed Abdalati or Michael Collins?

Waleed Abdalati or Harrison Schmitt?

Waleed Abdalati or Walter Cunningham?

Waleed Abdalati or Charles Duke?

Waleed Abdalati or Richard Gordon?

Waleed Abdalati or Ed Gibson?

Waleed Abdalati or Christopher Kraft?

Waleed Abdalati or Al Worden?

Boy, am I ever conflicted on this.

[rlmorel]

Nothing silly about that at all. How many people entered the sciences over the years because of Jules Verne?

Nothing silly there. I recently watched some episodes of Star Trek on Netflix, and it was hard to watch without observing with chagrin the liberal-speak that was in much of the campy script, but that was back when it was still okay to be principled about something, and to use force to defend those principles when circumstances required it.

I watched several episodes and smiled with nostaligia at the campiness...:)

Now, my tastes go more towards something like “GalaxyQuest”!

[Calvin Locke]

Universetoday.com has a loaded article entitled "Letter to NASA is Common Ploy in Climate Change Denial".

The authoress's creds just made me want to stop subscribing to a couple of podcasts.

I expected better of Universe Today. The article comments run the gamut.

[Calvin Locke]

I much later find out it was all because of funding.

NASA's big mistake? Not finding a way to launch rockets fueled with with milk & cheese.

An old joke aimed at the agricultural types at the time, such as Proxmire and Mondale.

[Reily]

I thought Galaxy Quest was hilarious!
It's rare that satire can be such a gem, but it skewered every sacred SciFi (particularly Star Trek!) cow but it a way that was not offensive.