Australian criminologist Rob White takes fossil-fueled trip to Michigan, then says that contributing to climate change should be considered a crime

Should refusal to address climate change be a crime?

Australian criminologist Rob White says climate change is not just a matter for scientists and environmental groups. The professor at the University of Tasmania says contributing to climate change should be considered a crime. White says human failure to grapple with climate change is an example of “ecocide”, a term he defines as willful or negligent refusal to reduce carbon emissions.

White, who speaks Monday evening at Western Michigan University, says scientific evidence that human-generated carbon emissions are changing the world’s climate is overwhelming. White says, “Environmental harm that creates death in a wide scale should be, ought to be, considered a crime.”