NASA scientist warns Kansans about CO2 emissions

A NASA scientist told Kansans that if the world’s carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, life on Earth could end.
    James Hansen, head of NASA’s Institute for Space Studies, said if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t brought under control, “We are going to destroy the creation.”
    The effect C02 emissions have on the environment has been at the forefront of a debate in southwest Kansas, revolving around two coal-fired plants near Garden City.
    Dodge City commissioners signed onto a letter earlier this year, advocating a re-evaluation of the state's decision to block permits for the plant.
    Legislators have vowed to take the case up once more.
    Hansen spoke Tuesday during the Kansas Wind and Renewable Energy Conference in Topeka. He was among the first scientists to raise concerns about global warming in the 1980s.
    He called it “a planetary emergency.” He advocates phasing out all coal-fired power plants by 2030.
    He spoke a day after Roy Spencer, a research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, told a business conference that natural climate cycles are causing warming.

    EDITOR'S NOTE: Daily Globe managing editor Mark Vierthaler contributed to this report.