Partisanship, Elections & the Energy Transition
Pesky Pluralism, Part 2
The antagonist in the 2006 film The Illusionist is a fictional 19th century Hapsburg crown prince, played by Rufus Sewell. Sewell's prince is vain and cruel in his personal life, and a dedicated...
“Flooding the zone with s**t”
As I have noted in several other posts (e.g. here and here), a second Trump presidency would represent a setback for the energy transition because of Republicans' turn away from green energy and...
Project 2025 and the Energy Transition, Part 2 – Environmental Policy
[NOTE: There is a post-publication update at the end of this post.] In my previous post I examined what Project 2025 -- the GOP playbook for remaking the executive branch -- had to say about...
Project 2025 and the Energy Transition, Part 1 — Energy Policy
[NOTE: There is a post-publication update at the end of this post.] Progress on climate change will be a big part of Joe Biden's legacy. He defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 election, backed the...
Everything is Great, Everything is Terrible
Chapter 3 of Climate of Contempt describes the politics of climate policymaking in the 21st century, including internecine conflicts among Democrats that are partly generational. By now, it probably...
“It’s Hard to Be Humble”
In 1980, a country music artist named Mac Davis had a hit with a song called "It’s Hard to be Humble." The opening lines were “Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble / When you’re perfect in every way.”...
“I mow my lawn”
In my 20s I worked at a law firm whose system for evaluating the performance of attorneys included a "public service" component. This was fairly typical back then for big firms, and its aim was to...
Why My Book’s Political Predictions Might Turn Out To Be Wrong — “The Inflation Reduction Act will transform climate politics”
Some people, particularly those at the ideological poles of each party, reject the idea that congressional majorities are built by winning the ideological middle. They see engaging the dwindling set...
Conservatives’ Dilemma
Because my book is aimed at the climate coalition -- and how misunderstanding of regulatory politics by some of its members slows energy transition policymaking -- many of my examples of...
“It’s the Voters, Stupid”
The transition to a much lower carbon energy system will (eventually) require congressional legislation. That implies a significant change in the positions of existing members of Congress and/or...
Moral Ambiguity and John Muir’s Human Ecology
In Climate of Contempt I argue that, in politics, we are too casual about developing negative judgments of others in the absence of complete information about what drives their choices. This pops up...