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...
May 5, 2024 | Blog, Journalism, Bias & Censored News
In chapter 4 of Climate of Contempt I explore the way competition from social media and advocacy journalism has crowded out – and changed – traditional journalism. And I use this blog to point out examples of the kind of incomplete picture of the politics and the...
Apr 20, 2024 | Blog, Framing and the Energy Transition Debate
There is an old axiom (sometimes attributed to Carl Sandburg) that trial attorneys know: “When the law is against you, argue the facts. When the facts are against you, argue the law.” The 1990s courtroom/family drama “Picket Fences” featured a...
Feb 5, 2024 | Blog, Partisanship, Elections and the Energy Transition
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 in various ways throughout the book, one of which is the introductory...