
Climate of Contempt—Political Partisanship, Climate Action, and the Energy Transition
DATE: Thursday, March 27 2025
TIME: 12:15 pm - 1:30 pm MST
LOCATION: College of Law and Virtual Event
A Wallace Stegner Center Greenbag
A conversation with author David Spence from the University of Texas. He will be interviewed by Dean Elizabeth Kronk Warner on his new book, Climate of Contempt: How to Rescue the U.S. Energy Transition from Voter Partisanship. As societal discourse becomes increasingly divisive, how do we address climate change—and protect our democracy?
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Climate of Contempt offers a voter-centric, bottom-up explanation of national climate and energy politics, one that pinpoints bitter partisanship as the key impediment to transitioning to a net zero carbon future. Members of Congress respond to voters whose animosity toward the opposing party makes compromise politically risky. The most powerful driver of polarization, in turn, is the mixture of ideology and social media that constitutes today’s information environment, which amplifies anger, spreads half truths and falsehoods, and sows division, distorting voters’ understandings of the energy transition and their fellow citizens.
Spence explores the effects of polarization, partisanship, and propaganda on energy policy and considers how to build a broader climate coalition. He contends that cooperation on this crucial issue is still possible, but it will require sustained person-to-person engagement across ideological and partisan boundaries to foster a more productive dialogue. Providing a timely and incisive understanding of the politics of the energy transition, Climate of Contempt suggests new paths forward and offers hope for a net-zero future.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:
David Spence is Rex G. Baker Centennial Chair in Natural Resources Law at the University of Texas School of Law, and teaches Business Government & Society at the McCombs School of Business. Professor Spence is co-author of the leading energy law casebook, Energy, Economics and the Environment (Foundation Press), and has published numerous scholarly articles on subjects relating to energy policy, regulation and the regulatory process. Professor Spence’s research focuses on the law and politics of energy regulation, broadly defined. His scholarly writings address both the economic regulation and environmental regulation of the energy industry (both the fossil fuel and clean energy sectors). He has Ph.D in political science from Duke University and a J.D. from the University of North Carolina.

This event is sponsored by the Cultural Vision Fund.
For questions about this event, email events@law.utah.edu.
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