Description
In 2017, the heat waves, extreme wild fires, and flooding around the world confirmed beyond doubt that climate disruption is now a full-blown emergency.
We have entered Churchill’s “period of consequences”, yet governments have simply watched the disasters magnify, while rushing ahead with new pipelines and annual trillions in fossil fuel subsidies.
Governments simply cannot say they did not know. The events we are seeing today have been consistently forecast ever since the First Assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was signed by all governments back in 1990, which The Lancet has described as the best research project ever designed.
Unprecedented Crime first lays out the culpability of governmental, political and religious bodies, corporations, and the media through their failure to report or act on the climate emergency. No emergency response has even been contemplated by wealthy high-emitting national governments. Extreme weather reporting never even hints at the need to address climate change.
It then reports how independently of governments, scores of proven zero-carbon game changers have been coming online all over the world. These exciting technologies, described in the book, are now able to power both household electricity and energy-dense heavy industry.
We already have the technical solutions to the CO2 problem. With these solutions we can act in time to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to near-zero within 20 years.
These wilful crimes against life itself by negligent governments, oblivious media and an insouciant civil society are crimes that everyday citizens can nonetheless readily grasp – and then take to the streets and to the courts to protest on behalf of their children and grand-children.
This thoroughly researched and highly-documented book will show them how.
LISTEN Rising Up
LISTEN Climate Change, a “Code Red” Global Emergency – Part 1 of 3
LISTEN With Ikonoclast Episode 18 – Unprecedented Crimes with Dr. Peter Carter
LISTEN Action – Part 3 of 3 at the 2018 #WeDontHaveTime Climate Conference
—DONALD A. BROWN, Scholar In Residence and Professor, Sustainability Ethics and Law, Widener University Commonwealth Law School –
“This book makes an important contribution to the public debate about climate change because it effectively explains why the climate change disinformation campaign funded by some fossil fuel companies and free-market fundamentalist foundations should be responded to as an unprecedented virulent crime against humanity. Although the book makes clear that enormous harms to life and ecological systems are already attributable to this disinformation campaign, if the obstructionist power of the disinformation campaign can be neutralized, policy responses are now available that could effectively minimize future climate-induced catastrophic harms.”
—DONALD A. BROWN, Scholar In Residence and Professor,
Sustainability Ethics and Law, Widener University Commonwealth Law School
Contributing Author, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,5th Assessment
—RONALD C. KRAMER, Professor of Sociology, Western Michigan University –
“Green criminologists are increasingly focusing attention on the critical issue of corporate and state crimes related to climate change. This important book makes a significant contribution to those efforts by pulling together a wealth of material to examine one such form of climate criminality, the unprecedented crime of climate science denial. This is a timely analysis given the current political crisis in the U.S., with excellent descriptions of some Game Changers for Survival.”
—RONALD C. KRAMER, Professor of Sociology, Western
Michigan University
—DR. ANDREW Y. GLIKSON, Earth and Paleoclimate Scientist, Australian National University –
“This book is more than timely — it constitutes a last call on the fast approaching calamity for humanity and for nature. The current CO2 rise rate of 2 to 3 parts per million [per year] is the fastest recorded over the last 66 million years. Given amplifying CO2 and methane feedbacks from warming oceans, drying land and [melting] permafrost, without effective efforts at CO2 draw-down, it is hard to see how the rise in global temperature can be halted, with tragic global consequences.” See more in-depth analysis
—DR. ANDREW Y. GLIKSON, Earth and Paleoclimate Scientist,
Australian National University
—MARY CHRISTINA WOOD, Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center, University of Oregon –
“At this mind-blowing moment in time, when humanity faces irrevocable climate tipping points, we need all citizens to call out the climate emergency and take action. This book is a call to arms.”
—MARY CHRISTINA WOOD, Professor of Law and Faculty Director,
Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center, University of Oregon
— LAWRENCE TORCELLO, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Rochester Institute of Technology –
“Peter Carter and Elizabeth Woodworth build a damning case against fossil fuel companies and their political agents, showing that discounting of global warming in pursuit of short term profit is a crime against humanity. In this excellent, well-researched book, the authors map the global effort needed to survive the challenge of global warming—and perhaps to emerge wiser for our labors. Unprecedented Crime: Climate Science Denial and Game Changers for Survival is an indispensable read for the citizens and policy makers who will fight for civilization’s endurance and advancement.”
— LAWRENCE TORCELLO, Associate Professor of Philosophy,
Rochester Institute of Technology
—WILLIAM E REES, PhD, FRSC, Professor Emeritus, UBC/SCARP –
“The science is not in dispute—CO2 emissions are on the rise again and GHGs are accumulating at an unprecedented rate—humanity is changing Earth’s climate. Even if the national emissions targets established by the 2015 Paris accord were fully implemented (unlikely as is demonstrated by Canada’s performance, for example) the world is on track for a catastrophic 3.2 Celsius degree mean global temperature increase by 2100. In short, climate change deniers, corporate stake-holders and recalcitrant governments are essentially defending a position that will raise sea levels by more than a metre, destroy ecosystems essential for human survival, displace or kill tens of millions of innocent people and otherwise undermine global civilization.
“In these circumstances, are not foot-dragging decision-makers—more even than deniers—guilty of at least environmental negligence (defined in Canadian common law as unreasonable conduct in ‘…failing to do something that a reasonable person would do” to prevent such damage)? Or perhaps the charge should be criminal negligence…'”.
—WILLIAM E REES, PhD, FRSC,
Professor Emeritus, UBC/SCARP, Faculty of Applied Science
—REINHOLD GALLMETZER, Appeals Counsel at the International Criminal Court –
“Criminal justice can contribute to addressing the climate crisis. A significant share of greenhouse gas emissions is associated with conduct amounting to violations of existing criminal law. Targeting climate change by enforcing criminal law can be extremely efficient. It can be done on the basis of existing laws, through existing institutions and with minimal additional cost. Peter Carter and Elizabeth Woodworth’s book is a timely and important contribution to the debate regarding how criminal prosecutions, both at the national and international level, could be used to repress and deter climate damaging conduct at a large scale and on a lasting basis.”
—REINHOLD GALLMETZER,
Appeals Counsel at the International Criminal Court
and founder of the Center for Climate Crime Analysis
—HOWARD BREEN, resilience.org –
UNPRECEDENTED CRIME: Climate Science Denial And Game Changers For Survival is just such a book that you shouldn’t miss in this increasingly post-truth age. With chapter-after-chapter gut punch, it is a volume that reads like a UN science team jointly making a life-and-death 911 call recording to a planet of primed and waiting emergency responders: ‘We’ve hit bottom. The situation is dire. Time is short. Ignore the criminal deniers, bankers, media and politicians! We need to urgently mobilize millions now!’”
—HOWARD BREEN, resilience.org
—MARGARET KLEIN SALAMON, Common Ground –
“A fascinating exposé of the climate crisis awaits you in Peter Carter and Elizabeth Woodworth’s, “Unprecedented Crime: Climate Science Denial and Game Changers for Survival.” It is a comprehensive look at the climate crisis through a legal frame, discussing the relevant national and international statutes and lawsuits, with a focus on the perpetrators of the climate emergency that confronts us all.”
—MARGARET KLEIN SALAMON, Common Ground
CHARLIE SMITH, The Georgia Straight –
“…there’s a breathtaking array of technologicalsolutions to the climate crisis outlined in the book. They include a detailed explanation how improvements in battery technology is making it far easier to store renewable electricity. And, of course, Unprecedented Crime documents phenomenal progress in the development of solar, wind, and geothermal energy…”.
CHARLIE SMITH, The Georgia Straight
aadmin8336 –
“In Unprecedented Crime, Woodworth and Carter remind us that action is happening and that new avenues of legal pressure can be pursued—another arena that’s heating up for the better. Indeed, after months of failed government attempts to delay and dismiss, Juliana v. United States [Dr. James Hansen’s case against the US government for knowingly promoting a climate- and future-damaging fossil fuel industry] has finally been rescheduled for trial on October 29. It’s being billed as the “trial of the century…”
AMY REISWIG, Focus on Victoria
Donald A. Brown –
“This book makes an important contribution to the public debate about climate change because it effectively explains why the climate change disinformation campaign funded by some fossil fuel companies and free-market fundamentalist foundations should be responded to as an unprecedented virulent crime against humanity. Although the book makes clear that enormous harms to life and ecological systems are already attributable to this disinformation campaign, if the obstructionist power of the disinformation campaign can be neutralized, policy responses are now available that could effectively minimize future climate-induced catastrophic harms.”
—Donald A. Brown, Scholar In Residence and Professor, Sustainability Ethics and Law, Widener University Commonwealth Law School Contributing Author, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 5th Assessment
Ronald C. Kramer –
“Green criminologists are increasingly focusing attention on the critical issue of corporate and state crimes related to climate change. This important book makes a significant contribution to those efforts by pulling together a wealth of material to examine one such form of climate criminality, the unprecedented crime of climate science denial. This is a timely analysis given the current political crisis in the U.S., with excellent descriptions of some Game
Changers for Survival.”
—Ronald C. Kramer, Professor of Sociology, Western Michigan University
Dr. Andrew Y. Glikson –
“This book is more than timely — it constitutes a last call on the fast approaching calamity for humanity and for nature. The current CO2 rise rate of 2 to 3 parts per million [per year] is the fastest recorded over the last 66 million years. Given amplifying CO2 and methane feedbacks from warming oceans, drying land and [melting] permafrost, without effective efforts at CO2 draw-down, it is hard to see how the rise in global temperature can be halted, with tragic global consequences.” See more in-depth analysis
—Dr. Andrew Y. Glikson, Earth and Paleoclimate Scientist, Australian National University
Mary Christina Wood –
“At this mind-blowing moment in time, when humanity faces irrevocable climate tipping points, we need all citizens to call out the climate emergency and take action. This book is a call to arms.”
Mary Christina Wood, Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center, University of Oregon
Lawrence Torcello –
“Peter Carter and Elizabeth Woodworth build a damning case against fossil fuel companies and their political agents, showing that discounting of global warming in pursuit of short term profit is a crime against humanity. In this excellent, well-researched book, the authors map the global effort needed to survive the challenge of global warming—and perhaps to emerge wiser for our labors. Unprecedented Crime: Climate Science Denial and Game
Changers for Survival is an indispensable read for the citizens and policy makers who will fight for civilization’s endurance and advancement.”
— Lawrence Torcello, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Rochester Institute of Technology
William E Rees –
“The science is not in dispute—CO2 emissions are on the rise again and GHGs are accumulating at an unprecedented rate—humanity is changing Earth’s climate. Even if the national emissions targets established by the 2015 Paris accord were fully implemented (unlikely as is demonstrated by Canada’s performance, for example) the world is on track for a catastrophic 3.2 Celsius degree mean global temperature increase by 2100. In short, climate change deniers, corporate stake-holders and recalcitrant governments are essentially defending a position that will raise sea levels by more than a metre, destroy ecosystems essential for human survival, displace or kill tens of millions of innocent people and otherwise undermine global civilization.
In these circumstances, are not foot-dragging decision-makers—more even than deniers—guilty of at least environmental negligence (defined in Canadian common law as unreasonable conduct in ‘…failing to do something that a reasonable person would do” to prevent such damage)? Or perhaps the charge should be criminal negligence…'”.
—William E Rees, PhD, FRSC, Professor Emeritus, UBC/SCARP, Faculty of Applied Science
Reinhold Gallmetzer –
“Criminal justice can contribute to addressing the climate crisis. A significant share of greenhouse gas emissions is associated with conduct amounting to violations of existing criminal law. Targeting climate change by enforcing criminal law can be extremely efficient. It can be done on the basis of existing laws, through existing institutions and with minimal additional cost. Peter Carter and Elizabeth Woodworth’s book is a timely and important contribution to the debate regarding how criminal prosecutions, both at the national and international level, could be used to repress and deter climate damaging conduct at a large scale and on a lasting basis.”
—Reinhold Gallmetzer,
Appeals Counsel at the International Criminal Court and founder of the Center for Climate Crime Analysis
Howard Breen –
“Seldom are missed books truly missed opportunities — but nothing could possibly be worse than missing an opportunity that could have saved your life, and those of your family and friends.
UNPRECEDENTED CRIME: Climate Science Denial And Game Changers For Survival is just such a book that you shouldn’t miss in this increasingly post-truth age. With chapter-after-chapter gut punch, it is a volume that reads like a UN science team jointly making a life-and-death 911 call recording to a planet of primed and waiting emergency responders: ‘We’ve hit bottom. The situation is dire. Time is short. Ignore the criminal deniers, bankers, media and politicians! We need to urgently mobilize millions now!’”
—Howard Breen, resilience.org
Margaret Klein Salamon –
“A fascinating exposé of the climate crisis awaits you in Peter Carter and Elizabeth Woodworth’s, “Unprecedented Crime: Climate Science Denial and Game Changers for Survival.” It is a comprehensive look at the climate crisis through a legal frame, discussing the relevant national and international statutes and lawsuits, with a focus on the perpetrators of the climate emergency that confronts us all.”
—Margaret Klein Salamon, Common Ground
Charlie Smith –
“…there’s a breathtaking array of technologicalsolutions to the climate crisis outlined in the book. They include a detailed explanation how improvements in battery technology is making it far easier to store renewable electricity. And, of course, Unprecedented Crime documents phenomenal progress in the development of solar, wind, and geothermal energy…”.
Charlie Smith, The Georgia Straight
Amy Reiswig –
“In Unprecedented Crime, Woodworth and Carter remind us that action is happening and that new avenues of legal pressure can be pursued—another arena that’s heating up for the better. Indeed, after months of failed government attempts to delay and dismiss, Juliana v. United States [Dr. James Hansen’s case against the US government for knowingly promoting a climate- and future-damaging fossil fuel industry] has finally been rescheduled for trial on October 29. It’s being billed as the “trial of the century…”
Amy Reiswig, Focus on Victoria