What They Knew: The U.S. Government and the Climate Crisis

“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. Why you can trust us By Larry Parks Daloz 6 MIN READThe word “causing” stands out in the title of James Gustave “Gus ” Speth’s new book, They Knew: The US Federal Government’s Fifty-Year Role in Causing the Climate Crisis. Carter knew, and, with Speth and others, he set about establishing a foundation for a realistic attack on the problem. Bush’s chief of staff, John Sununu, actively encouraged support from the fossil fuel industry to undermine public consensus around climate change. In the end, with power clearly in the hands of fossil fuel interests, greenhouse gases continued to increase unabated.