Thirty nine years ago, on this day, October 27th, 1987, James Hansen was at a “Preparing For Climate Change” conference – Nathaniel Rich Losing Earth
“Congress had already begun to consider policy — in 1987 alone, there were eight days of climate hearings, in three committees, across both chambers of Congress; Senator Joe Biden, a Delaware Democrat, had introduced legislation to establish a national climate-change strategy. And so it was that Jim Hansen found himself on Oct. 27 in the not especially distinguished ballroom of the Quality Inn on New Jersey Avenue, a block from the Capitol, at “Preparing for Climate Change,” which was technically a conference but felt more like a wedding.
The convivial mood had something to do with its host. John Topping was an old-line Rockefeller Republican, a Commerce Department lawyer under Nixon and an E.P.A. official under Reagan. He first heard about the climate problem in the halls of the E.P.A. in 1982 and sought out Hansen, who gave him a personal tutorial. Topping was amazed to discover that out of the E.P.A.’s 13,000-person staff, only seven people, by his count, were assigned to work on climate, though he figured it was more important to the long-term security of the nation than every other environmental issue combined.”
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 349ppm. As of 2026, when this post was published, it is 430ppm. This matters because the more carbon dioxide in the air, the more heat gets trapped. The more heat, the more extreme weather events. You can make it more complicated than that if you want, but really, it’s not. Fwiw, I have a tattoo of the Keeling Curve on my left forearm.
The broader context was that James Hansen had been warning people about carbon dioxide build up, especially since 1981 and had suffered career consequences for his team. A grant was withdrawn in 1981.
The specific context was that it was two years after the Villach conference, and these are among the many efforts made by pro-action senators, senatorial staffers, environmental groups, etc. for action to happen, and this conference preparing for climate change really should be seen in the context of Villach and Bellagio, with people pulling every lever that they could think of.
What I think we can learn from this is that before Hansen’s testimony in 1988 the scene was already being set.
What happened next Hansen gave his testimony, and by 1989 organised denial and resistance to sensible policy action was on the rise. It has won, and we have blown our opportunities to avoid (or delay) dangerous climate change.
On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays
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You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
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Also on this day:
October 27, 1967 – “the Swedish environmental turn” picks up speed
October 27, 1988 – the Guardian’s advertising dept is revolting
October 27, 1990 – denialist letter published (demolished days later)
October 27, 1990 – The Economist admits nobody is gonna seriously cut C02 emissions