If it's science, silence it

The NY Times has a story this morning about NASA climate expert, James E. Hansen, who claims the Bush Administration is trying to silence him when he speaks out about global warming.

Ho hum. So what else is new?

What is refreshing about this story, however, is the fact that Hansen is refusing to obey his orders and is fighting back. It's about time we had a mutiny or two on this ship of state.

Update: Here's a bit of what Hansen is saying, from today's Washington Post:

The debate has been intensifying because Earth is warming much faster than some researchers had predicted. James E. Hansen, who directs NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies, last week confirmed that 2005 was the warmest year on record, surpassing 1998. Earth's average temperature has risen nearly 1 degree Fahrenheit over the past 30 years, he noted, and another increase of about 4 degrees over the next century would "imply changes that constitute practically a different planet."

"It's not something you can adapt to," Hansen said in an interview. "We can't let it go on another 10 years like this. We've got to do something."