David B Spence
- The Rex G. Baker Centennial Chair in Natural Resources Law
- Professor of Business, Government and Society, McCombs School of Business
Faculty Profile: David B Spence
Main Profile Content
Featured Work
Climate of Contempt: Rescuing the Energy Transition from Voter Partisanship
Columbia University Press
[from the publisher]
Why is the United States struggling to enact policies to reduce carbon emissions? Conventional wisdom holds that the wealthy and powerful are to blame, as the oligarchs and corporations that wield disproportionate sway over politicians prioritize their short-term financial interests over the climate’s long-term health. David B. Spence argues that this top-down narrative misses a more important culprit—with critical consequences for the energy transition.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.
Biography
David Spence is Rex G. Baker Centenniel Chair in Natural Resources Law at the University of Texas School of Law, and Professor of 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.
Most Recent Media
Read more David B Spence In the News posts.
Courses for Spring 2024
Professional Activities
2020
Fall 2020
Presentation: Complexity and the Political Economy of the Energy Transition
During the fall semester David Spence delivered a talk (based on a working paper) entitled “Complexity and the Political Economy of the Energy Transition” at the following universities: the Columbia University Law School, the Wharton School of Business at University of Pennsylvania, the University of California School of Law, Duke University’s Nicholas Institute, and the University of Texas Energy Symposium.”
2019
Fall 2019
Presentation: The New Politics of (Energy) Market Entry
David Spence recently presented his paper “The New Politics of (Energy) Market Entry” to faculty research colloquia at the Vanderbilt University Law School and the Florida State University School of Law. While at FSU he also delivered the Fall 2017 Distinguished Faculty Lecture, “Complexity and the Energy Transition in the Age of Fracture.” David also presented as a panelist at the “Governing Green Power” conference at the University of Hawaii’s Richardson School of Law, and recently launched a new web site for law and policy scholarship addressing the difficult tradeoffs associated with the green energy transition (EnergyTradeoffs.com).