Using Language, Stories and Identity to Move People To Action Black smoke. Armored vehicles. Pepper spray. Three hundred helmeted police in black riot gear. Lockstep marching, relentlessly forward. Helicopters. Nightsticks. Snipers. Bean bags. Rubber bullets. Sound cannons. Cell phone jamming. Waiting. Drums. Sage. Prayer circles. Tobacco. Song. Unarmed peaceful [...]
90% of Climate Champions Will Read This Post. Here's Why...* 10 carefully selected people sit around a faux mahogany table for a discussion. Two of the 10 are unknowing experimental subjects. The two have been interviewed on a number of topics and selected because their belief in aliens was [...]
Overcoming Two Biases in Our Climate Communications What makes us think we can survive the climate crisis? Certainly, a large portion of our country isn’t concerned. One of our political parties has their heads in the sand or some other place. Of course we are an optimistic species. But [...]
"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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Once when I was hiking in the gloaming, down from the mountain where the stars begin in the vault above. Once when I descended into the forest, and the moon rose over the glade, and the night hawks pealed against the fading light. Once when I was young and [...]
... And What You Can Do About It! Two wind turbines were walking across a field when one said to the other, “Say, what kinda music do you like?” The other wind turbine replied, “I’m a big metal fan....” In 2023, one third of energy generated in Minnesota came [...]
If our climate message(s) were succeeding, then why are we still facing a climate crisis future without more action? Why does Exxon Mobile still get to determine the fate of our children? Why is there a backlash against renewables all across our country? Why did Biden just approve the [...]
