Discussing Climate Change

Here’s a brilliant article that examines the challenges that environmentalists face in our discussions on climate change.  Why exactly is this subject so difficult to broach with the “common man?” On a radio show I did last week with a lady in Atlanta, she told me, “Oh, I never, ever bring it up.  If I want to talk about clean energy, I talk about lung disease, or national security, but I pretend I’ve never heard of global warming.”

The article’s author believes that because the public faces rising energy costs, climate change is considered an enemy – not to the well-being of future generations, but to the financial health of those, living here and now, trying to stay above water financially.  It’s regarded as a “costly and distant concern that should not be considered during times of austerity.”

Of course, this mistaken belief is the proud result of a hard-fought propaganda campaign from the fossil fuel industries, which has invested heavily to insure that the “common man” has little or no regard for the subject, and, preferably, believes that it’s the blathering of anti-capitalist radicals or corrupt scientists.

In truth, the product of a concerted effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through efficiency and renewable energy will be a boon to the economy, and ultimately, an actual reduction in our energy bills, as our power consumption falls and the costs of solar, wind, etc. continue to plummet.  It will also generate a resurgence of U.S. leadership in the global marketplace, something I think most Americans would love to see.

But the question remains: how does one best approach the subject?