Jul 15, 2024 | Blog, Democracy and Transitions to Authoritarianism
In an earlier post I noted the growing list of scholars who warn of parallels between historical transitions from democracy to repressive dictatorships, on the one hand, and U.S. politics today, on the other. Part of what they see has to do with the recent...
Jul 10, 2024 | Blog, Partisanship, Elections and the Energy Transition
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 goes without saying that overcoming intraparty conflict is crucial to...
Jul 5, 2024 | Blog, Framing and the Energy Transition Debate, Partisanship, Elections and the Energy Transition
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.” The song was obviously tongue-in-cheek, but when it comes to...
Jul 1, 2024 | Blog, Framing and the Energy Transition Debate
In March of 2024 the Breakthrough Institute’s Ted Nordhaus published an article entitled “Did Exxon Make It Rain Today?” The gist of the article is his claim that most media coverage of climate change catastrophizes the issue, and that climate scientists are complicit...
Jun 25, 2024 | Blog, Partisanship, Elections and the Energy Transition
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 encourage its attorneys to develop broader connections in...
Jun 20, 2024 | Blog, Democracy and Transitions to Authoritarianism
In last chapter of Climate of Contempt, I argue that the future of the energy transition is intertwined with the future of liberal democracy. I write in chapter 6 that only voters can peacefully reverse the “trend of ever-increasing polarization and tribalism,”...
