They Knew: The US Federal Government's Fifty-Year Role in Causing the Climate Crisis

by James Gustave Speth, Julia Olson (Introduction), Philip Gregory (Introduction)

Overview

A devastating, compelling account of the federal government's leading role in bringing about today's climate crisis.

In 2015, a group of twenty-one young people sued the federal government in Juliana v. United States for violating their constitutional rights by promoting climate catastrophe and thereby depriving them of life, liberty, and property without due process and equal protection of law. They Knew offers evidence supporting the children's claims, presenting a devastating and compelling account of the federal government's role in bringing about today's climate crisis. James Gustave Speth, tapped by the plaintiffs as one of twenty-one preeminent experts in their climate case, analyzes how administrations from Carter to Trump—despite having information about the impending climate crisis and the connection to fossil fuels—continued aggressive support of a fossil fuel based energy system.

What did the federal government know and when did it know it? Speth asks, echoing another famous cover-up. What did the federal government actively do and what did it fail to do? They Knew (an updated version of the Expert Report Speth prepared for the lawsuit) presents the most definitive indictment yet of the US government's role in the climate crisis.

Since Juliana v. United States was filed, the federal government has repeatedly taken unprecedented steps to delay the case and force it to the appellate courts' shadow dockets. Yet as the case progresses slowly but certainly, it is inspiring a generation of youthful climate activists.

An Our Children's Trust Book

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262545099
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	08/23/2022
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	416,975
Product dimensions:	6.06(w) x 9.06(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

James Gustave Speth served as Chair of the US Council on Environmental Quality during the Carter Administration, and from 1993 to 1999 was Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. A retired Professor of Law at Vermont Law School, he served for a decade as Dean of the Yale School of the Environment and was cofounder of the World Resources Institute and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Table of Contents

Introduction Julia Olson Philip Gregory ix

Author's Note xxvii

The Speth Expert Report for Juliana V. United States Overview 3

1 Climate Science Knowledge the Carter Administration Inherited 7

2 The Jimmy Carter Administration (1977-1981) 13

3 The Ronald Reagan Administration (1981-1989) 41

4 The George H. W. Bush Administration (1989-1993) 59

5 The William J. Clinton Administration (1993-2001) 85

6 The George W. Bush Administration (2001-2009) 99

7 The Barack Obama Administration (2009-2017) 115

8 The Donald J. Trump Administration (2017-2020) 133

9 Conclusion 151

Appendix: The Procedural History of Juliana Julia Olson Philip Gregory 157

Qualifications of the Author 167

Abbreviations 169

Reader Access to Exhibits 173

Notes 175

References 219

Index 249

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Devastating. Enraging. Indispensable. Would that the world had more heroic elders like Gus Speth. He has produced a damning record that will become a potent tool for justice.”
—Naomi Klein, Gloria Steinem Chair in Media, Culture, and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University; author of This Changes Everything, The Shock Doctrine, and No Logo
 
“With skill and dedication, Gus Speth has documented precisely what we knew and when we knew it. This book is a shocking reminder of the chances for action we've already missed, and a spur to finally move with the vigor the climate crisis demands.”
—Bill McKibben, Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College; founder, 350.org
 
“Wondering how in the world the catastrophe of climate change could be happening and whom to hold responsible? Look no further than They Knew—Gus Speth’s enlightening and infuriating new book.”
—Van Jones, CNN commentator, author, and founder of the Dream Corps

“Gus Speth has written a history of federal action and inaction on climate change that spares neither Democrats nor Republicans. They Knew is at once a searing indictment and a fascinating read.”
—Elizabeth Kolbert, staff writer, New Yorker; author of Under a White Sky and The Sixth Extinction

“Speth reveals the smoking gun of the climate crisis in the US government’s unholy alliance with the fossil fuel industry. The history presented in They Knew makes clear that democratic action is needed now to ensure a future for seven generations to come.”
—Catherine Flowers, Founder and Director, Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice; Professor of Practice, Duke University; 2020 MacArthur Fellow; author of Waste

Editorial Reviews

"A rousing condemnation of a system bent on short-term gain against long-term health."
—Kirkus Reviews

"Drawing on first-hand knowledge from his time as chair of the US Council on Environmental Quality during the administration of president Jimmy Carter (1977–81), and his founding role in several major environmental non-governmental organizations, Speth gives a clear and concise account of the scientific evidence available to successive US presidents and Congresses over five decades. He provides a chilling description of the gulf between the safer course of action recommended by scientists and advisers, and the reality of federal policy."
—Nature

"Working pro bono [for Juliana v. United States], Speth produced a lengthy report tracing nearly 60 years of federal action on climate change and fossil fuel development. That report is the foundation for this book. Parts of the story have been told before... but Speth's volume covers a broader period of time, says more about federal encouragement of fossil fuels, and as befits a legal filing, is richly documented."
—Science

"The road to climate hell has long been paved with deniability. While climate scientists over the past half century have amassed evidence that the use of fossil fuels is bringing about environmental disaster, US presidents and congresses have been steadfast in looking the other way. The publication of this well-researched, damning examination and indictment of federal policies will make it impossible to assert ignorance ever again.”
—Yale Alumni Magazine

"They Knew is a must-read, because this book is not so much ‘history’ as it is a window into the present, in which the pressures from the fossil fuel industry and the processes of government collide. The more we can see what they knew then, the greater the possibility that we can contend with what we know now."
—YES! Magazine

"Gus Speth’s new book is an enlightening and infuriating academic masterpiece, a detailed history of the US federal actions and inactions on climate change, a biting indictment and fascinating read."
—Udo E. Simonis, Journal of Environmental Law and Policy

From the Publisher

2021-06-01
A real-life legal document that, absent the requisite love story, could be a James Grisham whodunit.

Acting as an expert witness, former government official Speth provides a background chronicle for the constitutional case called Juliana v. United States (2015), which “is no ordinary lawsuit.” The case holds that the government has known since at least the early 1960s that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide causes climate change. In almost every administration, environmental scientists and federal officials have issued relevant reports, and Congress has mulled over them, so that any protestation of ignorance (no excuse in any event) is simply not true. Moreover, in Juliana, the plaintiffs are young people who “are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.” Some children mentioned in the case live in places such as Hawaii, where storm patterns are intensifying in strength; some have had to abandon their homes in low-lying coastal areas in the face of rising sea levels. Speth, who co-founded the National Resources Defense Council, convincingly establishes that the government knew long in advance that these eventualities were likely to occur: He recounts that Daniel Patrick Moynihan told Richard Nixon in 1969 that the trends in rising temperatures were likely to raise sea levels by 10 feet. Wedded to the fossil-fuel economy, however, several administrations simply tucked the reports into a desk drawer. Others, particularly the one headed by Donald Trump, seemingly took delight in contravening any efforts at conservation and instead opened federal lands to further extraction. Ronald Reagan’s government essentially did the same while George H.W. Bush, despite talking a good game, helped weaken international conventions so that they contained no binding targets. Not surprisingly, Barack Obama “did more than any other president to address [climate change].” Though the case was dismissed in 2020, the Juliana argument is convincing, and even if an appeal is denied, it makes for eye-opening reading.

A rousing condemnation of a system bent on short-term gain against long-term health.

Kirkus Reviews