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Getting to net zero carbon emissions will require Congress to more aggressively regulate greenhouse gas emissions. If the idea has wide support (and it does), why can’t Congress muster the will to do it?
Join us on October 7 for a talk by David Spence (University of Texas at Austin), who tackles this question in his new book Climate of Contempt: Rescuing the U.S. Energy Transition from Voter Partisanship (Columbia University Press, 2024). Spence proposes that the problem is not that members of Congress are unresponsive to voters—but that most are responsive to the most partisan voters who perceive the most negative effects of these regulations. Meanwhile, the online information environment—rife with misinformation and spin—pushes all of Americans to become more partisan over time. Spence argues that this environment breeds misunderstanding of the value choices the energy transition entails and warps each party’s sense of its political opponents.
This talk is organized by the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability and the Nicholas School of the Environment.
