Jul 25, 2024 | Blog, Partisanship, Elections and the Energy Transition
Progress on climate change will be a big part of Joe Biden’s legacy. He defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 election, backed the doomed Build Back Better bill, and signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Those actions might have earned him a little more solid...
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...
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,”...
Jun 1, 2024 | Blog, Democracy and Transitions to Authoritarianism
One of the central implications of the analysis in Climate of Contempt is that the energy transition is inextricably intertwined with U.S. political dysfunction. In chapter 6 I cite scholars who study transitions from democracy to populist authoritarianism who contend...