Climate change has been in the public discourse since at least the 80’s, so legislators did know. It just hasn’t been in their interests to acknowledge it.
The Venn diagram of public discourse and legislator knowledge isn’t a circle.
And the public discourse was filled with FUD from Big Oil, no place more so than the halls of congress.
I understand your point but let’s not ignore that fossil fuel corporations have made campaign donations and contributions to legislators for as long as those corporations existed. Whether or not legislators totally bought into the FUD (and I’m not sure all did, the same way not everyone in the wider public discourse bought into it) it was literally not in their interests to legislate against fossil fuel.
Climate change has been in the public discourse since at least the 80’s, so legislators did know. It just hasn’t been in their interests to acknowledge it.
The Venn diagram of public discourse and legislator knowledge isn’t a circle.
And the public discourse was filled with FUD from Big Oil, no place more so than the halls of congress.
I understand your point but let’s not ignore that fossil fuel corporations have made campaign donations and contributions to legislators for as long as those corporations existed. Whether or not legislators totally bought into the FUD (and I’m not sure all did, the same way not everyone in the wider public discourse bought into it) it was literally not in their interests to legislate against fossil fuel.
So, yes, we should hold them responsible.