They Knew

The Us Federal Government's Fifty-Year Role in Causing the Climate Crisis

By: James Gustave Speth, Julia Olson

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Audio CD | 23 August 2022

At a Glance

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304 Pages

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22.86 x 15.24 x 2.54

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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

Industry 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

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

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