When we look back at the election or the climate challenge, we will see that our success was determined by the stories we told. Politics and climate are now inextricably linked. So we can also apply the same observations about political stories to the stories we tell about the [...]
Why do Exxon Mobil and Donald Trump get to determine the fate of our children and a livable planet? Both use the language of violence. Both are a huge threat to our future and democracy. Both are connected. Our leaders are calling for us to calm our rhetoric in [...]
"For the first time in its history, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has named the spread of climate misinformation as an obstruction to climate action, particularly in the United States.[i]" The question becomes, how do we deal with this onslaught of misinformation and disinformation? The first step is [...]
We know that the way we use language in the public debate often influences which policies or candidates gets supported. Often, the most effective language activates deep-seated circuits or frames in our brains that are about right and wrong. For example, “My country, love it or leave it.” This [...]
I generally stay away from new year’s resolutions. As I get older, they seem less aspirational and more shame-based at some level… lose 10 pounds, exercise more, eat less junk. That sort of thing. But nothing will make me 21 again and resolutions can seem too prescriptive. I’m more [...]
Choose Your Climate Label Carefully... The new House Speaker, Mike Johnson, has been described in headlines by the Guardian, US Energy News, the Hill, and many other media outlets as a “Climate Skeptic.” Most of the articles identify his connection with the fossil fuel industry, and his 100% rating [...]
Why does ExxonMobil get to determine the fate of your kids, family and community? Does this piss you off? Then, I'll get to it in a moment. I want to tell a story first. I was talking to a new member of a climate group recently and asked him [...]
I am a SWIMMER! When I started in the climate movement I went in search of “magic words.” Something simple that I could say that would motivate others to take action. Perhaps you’ve also wished for those words. I found it was a fool’s errand. Not the search for [...]
Would you show up for a first date with a ring, a proposal for marriage, and your parents in tow? Of course not. But that’s what a lot of climate activists and communication professionals do by mistake. I was talking to the director of a Minnesota climate organization the [...]
According to Anthony Leiserowitz, Director of the of the Yale Project of Climate Communication, “We are in a propaganda war with the fossil fuel industry, but we aren’t even on the battlefield.” To which I will add, that we don’t even know we’re in a war, or if we [...]
