9 Tips to Help You Talk About Climate Change From “Saving Us”
This month I read an excellent book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World.
I’ve read many books about climate change, but this one stood out because it focuses on how to talk about climate change.
The more I’ve learned about the history of climate change, from the discovery of elevating CO2 levels, to oil and gas companies covering it up, to the hyper-polarization of climate science, I’ve learned that effective communication is at the heart of it all.
Bringing more awareness to our word choice, our attitude, and our approach to talking about climate change will help us save the planet.
I grew up in middle class Vermont, where we talked about about climate change. I have a distinct memory from 7th grade where we debated the merits of a plastic bag ban in Vermont. I have another when my next-door neighbor, a girl four years younger than me, asked me why the trash bag in our car was filled with recyclable bottles.
Everybody in my childhood world seemed to care and wanted to take steps toward solutions.
As I got older and became exposed to different perspectives, the thought that people could fully deny it would put me into a combative spiral. I would get worked up over what politicians said and be left speechless, angry, and sad around hockey teammates who openly called it a hoax. I stopped thinking about it because by and large, it was hard to.
Talking about climate change, and being around those who are working on it, motivated me to fight for a cleaner world.
At NYU, I took a hands-on class called NYC Coastlines. Each week, we visited Governors Island to learn about the magnificent waterways that define New York City.
One week, we spoke with people from the Billion Oyster Project, a group working to restore water-cleaning oysters into the NYC waterways. From them, I saw people dedicating their lives to working on solutions, with concrete results to show for it.
In our final projects, my classmates shared dozens of different ways they were thinking about climate change and its impact on New York City. This ranged from the development of “Smart Hills” in NYC parks, which would better absorb rainwater, to creating plans for communities in areas at risk for flooding.
Being around those talking about climate change and excited by the solutions inspired me to get more involved myself.
I believe by talking about climate change, we can be more excited, more motivated, and more aware of the problems facing us.
Action begins with conversation. I wrote this article to distill the communication tools that Hayhoe talks about, plus a few of my own.
Within those conversations, these tools will leave you and the other person excited, motivated, and on common ground for how we can make the world a better place.
Let’s get into it.
1) Don’t Waste Your Energy on Deniers
In the preface, Hayhoe writes, “The biggest challenge we face isn’t science denial. It’s a combination of tribalism, complacency, and fear.
The majority of Americans know that climate change is real, that it’s caused by humans, and that the time for change is now. However, watching the news or listening to politicians might make it seem otherwise. The discourse is often drowned out by fervent deniers and the politicians who want their votes and dollars.
It’s tempting to believe that if we could just persuade these people, everything would be okay.
However, climate change denial is about their feelings and their identity, not facts. And even if you move them over a little bit, that’s still a long way from taking action.
There are millions of people who already agree with you, but who are on the sidelines.
I think about myself in college. It may only take a nudge: a new perspective, an exciting opportunity, the right circumstance, for them to step into the ring with you.
I put most if not all of my friends into this category. These are the people most likely to listen to me anyway.
The deniers are often committed to denying it’s a problem. If some of them come around, great. I’d rather talk to the millions just a few steps away from doing something about it.
Don’t Waste Time on “Zombie Arguments”
If you do find yourself in one of these situations, don’t waste your time on what Hayhoe calls “zombie arguments.” This is the long debunked misinformation that just won’t seem to die. Hayhoe writes, “The key when these zombie arguments surface is to have an answer, but to keep it short. Acknowledge the objection, and provide a brief response. Then pivot promptly to connecting over shared values rather than divisive arguments.”
2) Make it Concrete, Not Abstract
In copywriting, we’re taught to ask, “What’s in it for them? Why should they care?”
When people think about the future, about abstract concepts like global CO2 levels, it’s much harder to see why this matters for them, right now.
But climate change is already affecting so much of what we care about.
To do this, it reminds me of another copywriting lesson, a concept called the ladder of abstraction.
We can describe the same situations in specific or abstract terms, or anywhere along that ladder.
The global increase in CO2 levels and average temperature are abstract. These numbers mean nothing to most people. They’re cold and emotionless. Americans don’t even understand Celsius. Frankly, these abstract points do a disservice to the countless people already affected by climate change.
In contrast, something more concrete will show people what’s in it for them. Ideally, you talk about something that they care about.
If they like skiing, it means worse and shorter ski seasons. If they play hockey, it means fewer outdoor skating days each year. If they like the beach it means more coastal flooding. In many places it means worse bugs. More air pollution means higher chances of asthma. All of this is here and now.
Use concrete examples that they will relate to and care about.
3) Avoid Trigger Words
In copywriting, we’re also taught to think about which words resonate with the target audience.
The flip side of this is to avoid words that bring an automatic negative reaction. To those who are skeptical of climate change, remember that a big piece of this skepticism is not necessarily about the science, but about the big organizations and governments like the US and European Union whom they don’t trust.
These trigger words include “global warming,” “climate change” and “1.5 degrees Celsius.”
To climate skeptics, these all have strong negative connotations. Plus as I said, those who are already suffering the consequences of climate change don’t want to hear that it’s not an issue now, that it’s only an issue “once we hit over 1.5 degrees.”
Both skeptics and the disenfranchised aren’t moved towards positive action by these trigger words.
As Frank Luntz says in one of my favorite books on writing propaganda Words That Work, “It’s what what you say, it’s what they hear.” When you say “under 1.5 degrees Celsius,” what you think they hear is we need to act now. What they hear are the jumble of arguments put forth by conservative media against climate action over the last 20+ years.
4) Share The Fun, Not The Glum
Through my teenage years, the sinking feeling that we were screwed kept me from taking action on climate change.
Even if on some level that’s true, what’s also true is that countless people right now are working on real solutions that are making a difference for the people in their communities.
Hayhoe asks in the book, “What solutions can I bring up that whoever I’m talking to might get excited about?”
Some that have inspired me include expanding public transit and living car-free, growing more plants in cities (as I saw when I visited Medellín), eating local, and so much more. These are all exciting with real benefits. More plants means cleaner air in cities, better transit means more opportunity for everyone, and eating local is boom for local economies and your health. And, they all fight against climate change!
Focusing on “what we can gain, not lose,” will encourage others to participate.
Follow Fear with Solutions
One failure of the climate movement is how much it relies on fear. It makes logical sense that wildfires, droughts, storms, and more should motivate us to action. However all this bad news often makes me want to build a pillow fort and declare it my new anxiety kingdom
Hayhoe writes, “Fear-based messaging can motivate us very effectively if we know how to turn that fear into tangible action…. if negative news about climate change is immediately followed with information explaining how individuals, communities, businesses, or governments can reduce the threat, then this information can empower rather than discourage us.”
Fear is powerful, but we must channel that into action.
5) Come With Compassion, Not Guilt
Another bad habit of climate activism is to guilt normal people into changing their behavior.
No ordinary person is responsible for the system we live in. I would never buy a truck because I know how bad they are for the planet and how unsafe they are for pedestrians. However, I understand why a dad would buy one to feel safer driving with his children. He didn’t choose to live in a car-dependent world where driving poses the greatest risk to his kids.
Avoid pushing the guilt of the fossil fuel industry’s crimes onto ordinary people.
Instead, let’s remember to come with compassion and understanding.
This isn’t only the right thing to do, it’s also more effective. In the book, Hayhoe quotes a study from Georgia State University that showed, “when people were told to change their behavior, receiving instructions that implied their choices were being judged as inadequate at best, bad at worst, their willingness to take personal actions to reduce their carbon footprint decreased. They were also less likely to support pro-climate political candidates, and even their trust in climate scientists dropped.”
We want to invite people to the party of fighting for a better world, not guilt them into going.
6) Lead by Example
I saw a post from my friend and fitness coach Robbie Farlow about parenting. He asked, how do you get your kids to eat more vegetables? You eat vegetables yourself.
Leading by example is often more persuasive than any sentences we can string together.
In Saving Us, Hayhoe quotes a study from the Journal of Energy Research & Social Science that showed that “Having solar panels on a house near you, where you could see them and talk to a real live person who had them, it turned out, was the biggest predictor of whether you’d get them yourself.”
There are several reasons for this. When you see a neighbor taking action, it becomes less mystical and more possible.
This spring when I was in Connecticut, I aimed to help my girlfriend’s family to compost. When I brought it up to her aunt, at first I sensed her skepticism. A few days later, she told me she talked to her friends in the gardening club and they compost. A few days later, we went together to pick up a free compost bin from the town. Having examples in her life made the difference.
I don’t believe I’ll convince anyone to take public transit more or live car-free if I don’t do it myself.
7) Plant Seeds, Don’t Try to Change Minds
Earlier this month I went to Vermont for a week. I saw that my mom planted tomatoes, swiss chard, and sunflowers. The tomatoes and the sunflowers were thriving. The swiss chard looked like a small leaf sticking out of the ground. It wasn’t doing so well.
“Two out of three is pretty good,” I said.
“Yup, we can plant seeds and water them but we can’t make them grow,” she replied.
It reminded me of a conversation-turned-argument I had as a teenager with an evangelical Christian about climate change. I remember talking to my mom about it afterward, sharing my frustration about how nothing seemed to get through to her.
She said to me, “Well, all you can is plant seeds.”
Some will germinate and thrive, others won’t. If two out of three do, that’s pretty good.
8) Make The Action Approachable
Last year, I felt ready to take action. Yet, weeks kept going by, as I felt caught up in the routines of life. I knew I needed to block off some time, even just an hour, and dedicate it to reading, learning about, or taking action on climate change.
I resolved to choose Saturday mornings. Soon, it became a simple mantra “Saturday Are For The Planet.”
This was impactful because it was approachable. I knew I couldn’t drop everything. But I could spend a few hours each week.
When we talk to people about climate change, it helps to give a simple action step.
9) Be Annoying
“Don’t be afraid of sounding like a broken record,” Hayhoe writes. Or in my words: be more annoying.
In my newsletter from last year, I gave the example of Hermione Granger in the 4th Harry Potter book, and how she consistently annoyed Ron and Harry with the plight of the House Elves.
It was uncomfortable. They were annoyed. Yet, they couldn’t ignore that what she was saying was the right thing to do.
Again, this doesn’t mean guilting others or using fear, it may mean reminding them again that it’s Saturday, and Saturdays are for the planet.
It could mean texting them to ask if they attended that volunteer event, or regularly sending interesting articles related to saving the planet.
Ultimately, tools like these are great, but we need to put ourselves out there and have those conversations ourselves.
Start Right Now
Open a new tab and google a climate-related topic you’re interested in. Bookmark the next article you want to read. Text a friend about climate change right now. Our actions can spread their tentacles to countless people and create a world-changing effect.
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