Join the GW Alliance for a Sustainable Future and the Energy Law Program for a conversation with Professor David B. Spence on his latest book, Climate of Contempt: How to Rescue the U.S. Energy Transition from Voter Partisanship. 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. This event will be in-person at GW Law's Burns Moot Court Room.

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About the Book

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.

Speaker

David B. Spence holds the Rex G. Baker Centennial Chair in Natural Resources Law and specializes in energy law, administrative law, environmental law, and oil and gas. His research focuses on the law and politics of energy regulation, broadly defined. Professor Spence is co-author of the leading energy law casebook “Energy, Economics and the Environment” and has published numerous scholarly articles on subjects relating to energy policy, regulation, and the regulatory process. In addition to teaching at Texas Law, he is a professor of Business Government & Society at the McCombs School of Business.

Discussant

Frank Sesno serves as the Director of Strategic Initiatives and Professor at the School of Media and Public Affairs, and as the Executive Director of the George Washington University Alliance for a Sustainable Future. The Alliance is a broad pan-university initiative to amplify the university’s teaching, research, convening and impact relating to global challenges around climate change, environmental justice, and sustainability.

An Emmy-award winning journalist, Sesno’s journalism career spanning four decades has put him at the reporting forefront of major events including presidential campaigns and debates, superpower summits, and conflicts worldwide. He served as director of the School of Media and Public Affairs from 2009-2020 and has extensive experience and an abiding commitment to environmental journalism and stewardship. He teaches environmental reporting and founded Planet Forward, a platform for college students worldwide to research and publish stories about climate change, sustainability, and innovation. Sesno hosts programs on Public Broadcasting focusing on the health of the Chesapeake Bay, sea level rise, and community resilience.