JEFFREY A. LOCKWOOD

The following essay was written for my nature/environment column on the Unitarian Universalist World website (https://www.uuworld.org/authors/jeffreylockwood). However, the editors decided that the content was too politically sensitive, that even the most liberal of religions was too politically polarized, and that too many readers would engage the work uncharitably and be offended. Censorship? Not really (I respect the editors’ judgment). But a heartbreaking state of aff

Here is an intriguing email and my response (both somewhat abridged, so let me know if you’d like the full versions). I showed the controversial image in question (Grasshopper in Cyberspace, Galina Lukshina, 2003) during a university presentation about my writing, when discussing the Riley mystery series. CONCERN: Your seminar was fascinating [but] the image of the woman on her back in a very sexualized position, with the insect head twisted around is not appropriate. Yes, p

So, what is being said about Behind the Carbon Curtain in Wyoming, the most politically conservative state in the country? In the last few months, I’ve spoken—and listened—in seven cities and towns: Casper, Cheyenne, Gillette, Lander, Laramie, Rawlins, and Sheridan (Jackson is slated for September 14th). That’s a fair sampling from which I offer three observations. First, the people of the state are remarkably civil. Folks have directly but politely challenged my conclusio

It’s been a month since the release of Behind the Carbon Curtain: The Energy Industry, Political Censorship and Free Speech—and there’s been virtually no hostile response or uncivil discourse. The folks with power and money have been eerily silent, despite my having made public presentations in Casper, Gillette, Lander, Laramie, Rawlins, and Sheridan to nearly 400 people. At the University of Wyoming, my presentation was hosted by the Sierra Club (not the university), althou

I wrote Behind the Carbon Curtain, The Energy Industry, Political Censorship and Free Speech over the course of 5 years—and it will be released in April (http://www.unmpress.com/books.php?ID=20000000006024). When I began, I couldn’t imagine that the president of the United States would evince utter disdain for the First Amendment. This book tells the stories of artists, scientists, and educators silenced by the energy industry in collusion with the government. I hope that m

Talk about darkly fortuitous timing! With the furor over censorship these days, readers should flock to my forthcoming book, Behind the Carbon Curtain: The Energy Industry, Political Censorship, and Free Speech (UNM Press, March 2017). Well, at least left-leaning readers because, as one might infer from the title, the book explores the ways in which those whose wealth and power derived from fossil fuels have manipulated government to shut down artists, fire scientists, and

When I was pitching my proposal for Behind the Carbon Curtain: The Energy Industry, Political Censorship and Free Speech, one of the concerns raised by publishers was that the book was too local or regional. Presumably the oppression of public discourse by corporations was unique to Wyoming (really?!). Although it is abundantly evident that corporations are busy funding right-wing think tanks to undermine the science of climate change (having succeeded in confusing the publ