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What Is Your Vision for a Better Climate Future?

2020-04-29T16:35:19+00:00April 28th, 2020|Climate Communications, Climate Strategy, Environmental Messaging|

I am captivated by maps. They possess some magical pull on my imagination. Names take on a mystical significance with the rhythm of their syllables; the Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Kyoto and the Cauca. This could just be a romantic reflection, but I am curious about our human attraction to horizons. [...]

What Can We Message About Climate Now?

2020-04-18T21:02:08+00:00April 18th, 2020|Climate Communications, Climate Strategy, Environmental Messaging|

As climate communicators, we are all struggling with three main questions during the pandemic. The first is when is an appropriate time to restart our messaging. The second is what messages work best during these times. The third is which audience targets yield the biggest benefits. A number of [...]

Climate Communicators – Be Careful of the Economic Narrative

2020-04-15T22:24:21+00:00April 15th, 2020|Climate Communications, Framing, Green New Deal|

I’d just finished giving testimony to an administrative law judge on why a new dirty tar sands pipeline was a bad idea. It is the climate equivalent of putting 40 black smoking coal plants in my state. There was a group of Union Local 49 guys in yellow t-shirts [...]

Focus on Differences Between the Pandemic and the Climate Crisis

2020-04-13T17:16:20+00:00April 13th, 2020|Actions You Can Take, Climate Communications, Climate Strategy, Environmental Messaging|

Remember when some kid told you that tennis balls had poison gas in them, and if you cut them open you would die? This became a widespread belief, or credo among my childhood friends. A credo may have some elements of truth, or sound true, or it can be [...]

The Bad Framing of the “People’s Bailout Campaign”

2020-04-02T17:40:08+00:00April 2nd, 2020|Climate Communications, Framing|

As communicators, we know words matter. They influence whether we are attracting people to a new idea or unconsciously turning them off. Naming the “People’s Bailout Campaign," by a coalition of groups, is one example where we could have done better with our words. Why? Because the campaign name [...]

Do You Know How To Use the “Contagious” Quality of Values and Stories?

2020-03-15T19:22:46+00:00March 15th, 2020|Actions You Can Take, Climate Change, Climate Communications|

If you are reading this, chances are you’re a climate communicator. You may also be frustrated with the progress we’ve made over the last 30 years. The communication techniques of dull fact-based presentations, or the abject fear we’ve painted haven’t worked, and won’t work simply by doubling down. So [...]

Corona Virus and Climate – Walls Won’t Help

2020-03-04T18:09:09+00:00March 4th, 2020|Actions You Can Take, Climate Communications, Environmental Messaging, Reasons for Acting, Renewable Energy|

I am struck by the similarities of the Corona Virus and the Climate Crisis. They are both equal opportunity threats to our way of life. The COVID-19 virus will not be stopped by walls, and neither will the impact of climate. Yet there is a common path forward. In [...]

Do You Make These Three Mistakes When Posting to Facebook on Climate?

2020-02-26T20:26:33+00:00February 26th, 2020|Climate Communications, Climate Strategy, Environmental Messaging|

When your hair is on fire, what should you do? Run around and keep yelling, “My hair is on fire?” Or perhaps ask people for help?  After all, they can see your hair is on fire. The same thing applies to the climate crisis. Our house is on fire. [...]

Climate Strategy – Are We Ignoring Rural America?

2020-01-15T18:56:13+00:00January 14th, 2020|Climate Communications, Climate politics, Climate Strategy, Reasons for Acting|

I have a friend who grew up in rural Minnesota. His favorite expression is, “You can’t put a duck bill on a beaver and call it a platypus.” This aphorism pretty much sums up urban thinking about rural America. We try to make it something it isn’t, and then [...]

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