In August 2024, UT Law professor David Spence published his first book, marking his work the first “comprehensive scholarly analysis” on the energy transition’s challenges, according to the press release.
On Oct. 20, Spence’s book, “Climate of Contempt: How to Rescue the U.S. Energy Transition from Voter Partisanship,” received the 2025 Hamilton Book Award. Marking 27 years of recognizing UT faculty and staff publications, the program awards a $10,000 grand prize, and finalists receive $3,000 each.
“I had not expected to win,” Spence said. “But I was delighted.”
Spence’s book addresses the challenge of achieving stronger climate policy in the face of growing political polarization and explores ways to move toward significantly reducing carbon emissions. Spence said he felt motivated to write the book because people in his field were not paying attention to or crediting the most important factors slowing policy implementation.
“These are important issues that deserve more attention than they get in political debate,” Spence said.
Spence attributes the cause of the deepened divide to multiple factors. He said modern technology censors certain ideologies and fosters political echo chambers. To understand all climate policy angles, Spence also said that voters should step away from tailored news feeds and create conversations with people who hold opposing beliefs.
“We’ve got to break that spell by talking to each other,” Spence said. “And having more realistic conversations about these issues.”
Robert Prentice, Spence’s colleague and professor in the Business, Government and Society department in the business school, said the book fits well into the current conversation on how to advance climate policies that both political parties consider important.
“(Spence) believes we’ve got more common ground than we tend to think we do,” Prentice said. “If we just listen to each other and talk honestly, we’ll understand that and then maybe we can get together and actually get something done.”
Spence said he feels grateful for the Hamilton Book Awards committee for reading through every book nominated.
“The Hamilton Book Awards honor the power of books as a vital form of research and scholarship,” said Fernanda Leite, interim vice president for research. “(They) transform their expertise into works that enlighten and engage readers far beyond academia.”
