<p>On Tuesday&nbsp; <a title="we blogged" href="../../../view/fossil-fools-day" id="f0jh">we blogged</a> that eight North Carolina residents were arrested for locking themselves to bulldozers at Duke Energy’s Cliffside coal plant as part of &quot;a Fossil Fools Day&quot; demonstration.&nbsp; <a title="James Hansen" href="../../../view/censoring-climate" id="msry">James Hansen</a> — a leading climate scientists and the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute — wrote a letter to Duke Energy’s CEO James E. Rogers about the new plant. Here’s an excerpt from that letter:</p>

<blockquote id="v9jk">I was glad to see you attend my talk on climate change in Charlotte last November.&nbsp; I write to inform you of progress in understanding of human-made climate change and the challenge it poses for those, such as yourself, who are charged with providing the public with essential energy.&nbsp; I know you aim to do that in a way that protects the long-term interests of people and nature, so I end with a proposal for cooperation in defining potential alternative actions. <br id="vnxk" />

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Mr. Rogers, the challenge is greater than we thought just a few years ago.&nbsp; The attached paper, &ldquo;Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim?,&rdquo; for example, makes clear that we have already passed the limit for CO2 that we can allow to exist over the long-term.&nbsp; Mother Nature, as a friend of mine has noted, is wagging her finger at us: &ldquo;Now you have gone too far!&rdquo; <br id="s87r" />

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Consequences of ignoring this admonishment would be severe.&nbsp; The Earth is nearing climate &ldquo;tipping points&rdquo; with potential effects, many irreversible, including extermination of countless species, ice sheet disintegration and sea-level rise, and intensified regional climate extremes.&nbsp; A world filled with desperate climate refugees, we are warned by retired US generals and admirals, would be not only tragic, but dangerous for everyone. <br id="u.rw" />

</blockquote>

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Hansen sent this letter out to those of us on his email list, accompanied by a note entitled &quot;Mr. Rogers and Darth Vader.&quot; Read both in full <a href="http://www.washingtonindependent.com/files/washingtonindependent/hansen-joins-duke/20080331_DarthVader.pdf">here</a> (pdf).</p>