Alexander F. Gazmararian and his co-author Dustin Tingley have been awarded the American Political Science Association STEP Section's Don K. Price Award. The award recognizes the best book on science, technology, and politics published in the last year.

The book asks why the world is not moving fast enough to solve the climate crisis, and proposes solutions to make more credible promises that build support for the energy transition. It examines the perspectives of workers, communities, and companies, arguing that the climate impasse is best understood by viewing the problem from the ground up.

The selection committee said the book stood out among the 15 nominated. "Their book makes a sizeable contribution by addressing one of the most pressing questions facing political science and humanity: what are the greatest sources of political inability to address climate change and how do we overcome them?"

"The selection committee was impressed by the book's strength in carefully triangulating a comprehensive analysis across a wide-ranging collection of diverse data, including surveys of citizens and political officials, secondary data, and archival evidence, to generate both theoretical advancements regarding how we think about the politics of climate change policy, while highlighting actionable insights to overcome the political and social barriers impeding progress. For the selection committee, the authors' diligence in combining sound theory along with multiple data sources and sharp analyses boosts our confidence in the proposed actionable steps."

"Moreover, the book was independently nominated by multiple scholars for its excellence. Per one nominee, the book 'offers by far the most ambitious, theoretically rigorous, and empirically careful solution to the puzzle of political unwillingness to address climate change.'"