'Want To See Our Money Go To The Right Place’: Rich McCormick Grills NASA Chief On Climate Change

5/5/2024

During a House Science, Space & Technology Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) questioned NASA Administrator Bill Nelson about the International Space Station and climate change.

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Transcript

00:00All right, sir. Thank you very much. Now. I'd like to recognize the gentleman from Georgia. Dr. McCormick

00:09Thank You mr. Chair and and it's good to see you mr. Administrator senator captain astronaut

00:17there are seldom times where I get to see somebody who has as many titles as I do and and more and

00:23Actually somebody who I'm a little envious of as somebody who's actually done something

00:27I want to do that haven't been able to do as a matter of fact if you have any advice for a guy who

00:32Would love to follow your traction to space someday as a doc and pilot. Just let me know

00:37I'll be happy to meet with you for lunch. We need medical doctors to go to Mars

00:42I'm sure a lot of my constituents would like to send me there

00:48Appreciate you

00:49Being here today in all seriousness

00:51NASA and space exploration are virtual are vital for our national security economic growth scientific

00:59Advancement international prestige and our inspiration as Americans

01:04Just recently Venturi astrolab incorporates a startup founded by a veteran spaceflight

01:09robotics engineer has unveiled a

01:12groundbreaking prototype of a lunar rover the flexible logistics and exploration vehicle flex

01:19If NASA integrates flex into the Artemis program

01:22It will mark the return of passenger capable roll rover to the lunar surface since Apollo

01:2817 in 1972

01:30It's this kind of discovery that inspires the future generations of scientists engineers and explorers

01:37It's pretty exciting to me too

01:39With this being said Nisa NASA has been plagued by the same issues for years

01:45Constant deadline extensions flawed cost estimating processes and poor financial management

01:51Administrator Nelson you're in your testimony

01:53You highlighted the great success of the International Space Station in the milestone of 23 years with continuous human presence in low-orbit

02:01Earth

02:03as a NASA approaches this

02:052030 deadline to decommission the International Space Station and aims to transition to a commercially owned and operated

02:12Platforms in the low-earth orbit

02:14Do you believe that NASA has an obligation to ensure continued human presence in the low-earth orbit?

02:21Yes

02:23Great, and you know, it's it's funny. I'm gonna get a little bit off track

02:26We just recently talked about some of the the pollutants and and how earth might be warming and I agree. There might be climate change

02:34I

02:35Think the one thing that worries me is that we get away from science in a Senate article that was published back in

02:412007 it talked about the heating of other planets in our solar system. It's back in 2007. It's continued

02:48Would you say there's more concrete?

02:50Carbon dioxide and vehicle emissions in Neptune Jupiter and Mars during this period of time

02:57Just like there is in in this earth. I

03:01Don't know. I would say probably not because I don't know of anybody who's building concrete or or

03:06Who has vehicle emissions in those planets? They're also heating

03:09I would say that's pretty much factual unless we know unless you know some life that you haven't told us about so far

03:14Well, what I do know is that we are seeing

03:19The heating up of the earth and our instruments have indicated that and we've seen wouldn't discount that at all, sir

03:26And I'm just saying that it's happened to other plants in the solar system, too

03:29They don't have the same challenges we do now

03:32I want it. I want to be scientific you and I are scientists by nature. We love facts

03:36We love to talk about things that matter things that we can change

03:40But I also don't waste time money on things. We cannot change back in the 70s

03:45We're talking about global cooling during some of the highest

03:48Carbon dioxide emissions of all time and we've seen decreases in certain pollutants while the earth is

03:55Heating so I just want to have a scientific conversation with you and I about what's really causing the heating and can we affect it?

04:02Or do we need to put our money elsewhere to help us adjust for those while the earth continues its natural cycle?

04:09Because I am a scientist

04:10I do understand how much carbon dioxide are there and how much the United States produces as a global percentage of that carbon dioxide

04:18Would you agree that it could be due to something other than methane and carbon dioxide that's causing the earth to heat?

04:25Well, there are multiple. There you go. Yes, sir

04:28And that's what I agree with you a hundred percent as a scientist multiple factors some which we can and some which we cannot

04:35Affect I just want to see our money go to the right place. I know I'm almost out of time

04:39I'm gonna ask you one more question

04:42Commercial and international patterns are key to success of the Artemis campaign the Commercial Lunar Payloads

04:48service the CLPS program housed within the science mission directorate has

04:52Resulted in the first ever landing on the moon by a commercial entity and the first u.s

04:56Landing in over 50 years

04:58Are there opportunities beyond the Commercial Lunar Payloads service where the Artemis campaign and science mission directorate have mutual interest in the development of?