The Big Lie: Is Climate Change Denial a Crime against Humanity
![handle is hein.journals/ijhrl7 and id is 91 raw text is: THE BIG LIE
Is Climate Change Denial A Crime Against Humanity?
William C. Tucker*
There is no doubt that anthropogenic warming of the Earth is
underway due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil
fuels. The impacts on humanity will be increasingly severe, with
some scientists warning that the very survival of the human spe-
cies is at stake. Urgent action is needed to avoid catastrophe. Yet,
the United States has still failed to take meaningful steps to miti-
gate GHG emissions or exercise international leadership on the
issue, likely due to energy industry propaganda designed to con-
ceal the dangers offossilfuels from the public by deceiving it as to
the true state of climate science. Because this systematic plan of
deception affects the entire population of the Earth, contributing
to widespread deaths, displacement of persons, and untold depri-
vations of human rights, this article examines whether it consti-
tutes a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute from
which the International Criminal Court derives its authority.
Keywords: international criminal law, human rights, climate
change, denial, crime against humanity
[I]n the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; be-
cause the broad masses of a nation are always more easily cor-
rupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than con-
sciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of
their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the
small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little mat-
ters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It
would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths,
and they would not believe that others could have the impudence
to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which
prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they
will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there
may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie al-
ways leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a
fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who
conspire together in the art of lying. -Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf'
* William C. Tucker, A.B. cum laude Harvard College, J.D. Northeastern U. School of
Law, is an Assistant Regional Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II. He
is writing here in his individual capacity and not as government counsel. All opinions
expressed herein, including but not limited to positions on legal or policy issues, are entirely
his own and are not to be construed as those of EPA or the United States.
, Adolf Hitler, MEIN KAMPF 185 (James Murphy trans., Hurst and Blackett Ltd. 1939).
This quotation is admittedly taken out of context, since in it Hitler was not ostensibly
describing his own purposes but blaming the Jews for perpetuating a big lie by placing the
blame on the Army and not the German government for the loss of the first world war. Id. at
184-85. Nevertheless, the statement presciently reveals Hitler's utter contempt for the](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/ijhrl7&div=7&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Big Lie: Is Climate Change Denial a Crime against Humanity
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