Hansen Near Exposure?

NASA scientist James Hansen is one of the most egregious self-promoters in the AGW movement.  Some ten years ago, his blatant posturings raised the first questions in my mind about the integrity of climate change science, and the AGW proponents in particular.

This morning I read that a watchdog group has filed suit against NASA, claiming that it is withholding documents that show Hansen has accepted over $1M in unethical compensation – from the same groups that profit by his public statements about AGW.  From the article:

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Washington, D.C., a group claims NASA is withholding documents that show James Hansen failed to comply with ethics rules and financial disclosures regarding substantial compensation he earned outside his $180,000 taxpayer-paid position as director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

"Hansen's office appears to be somewhat of a rogue operation. It's clearly a taxpayer-funded global warming advocacy organization," said Chris Horner, a co-founder of The American Tradition Institute, which filed the lawsuit. "The real issue here is, has Hansen been asking NASA in writing, in advance, for permission for these outside activities? We have reason to believe that has not been occurring."

The lawsuit claims Hansen privately profited from his public job in violation of federal ethics rules, and NASA allowed him to do it because of his influence in the media and celebrity status among environmental groups, which rewarded him handsomely the last four years.

Let's hope the suit has some success, and we all get to see what this guy has been doing to climate science...