The Green New Deal and Ham
Do you like The Green New Deal and ham?* I do not like them, Sam-I-am. I do not like The Green New Deal and ham…. Would you like them Here or there? … Sam! If you will let me be. I will try them. You will see. Say! I [...]
Can Big Oil and Utilities Help in the Transition from Carbon?
For a while there has been popular speculation that utilities were in a death spiral. They have been hit with pollution regulation, clean energy mandates, higher fuel costs and disruption from clean low cost distributed renewable energy. Their primary purpose has been to “keep-the-lights-on,” and the world is changing [...]
Heroes and Courage for the Climate
On April 1st, 1940 in the small village of Ihithe, Kenya, a young girl was born. Her name was Wangari. Her parents were proud, and this is the way it is for all of us. We are the product of the hopes and dreams of our ancestors. While some [...]
Environmental Messaging – Creating Pictures from Numbers
Forests are the lungs of the earth. They give us about one third of the oxygen we breath, and they sequester carbon dioxide. Around the world, they absorb almost 40% of human carbon emissions and help slow the rate of global warming. I am walking along the east side [...]
Environmental Messaging – Are You Amplifying These Frames?
Most of us are too busy to think. Yet we are constantly exposed to frames that reshape our thinking. For environmentalists, most of the frames we are exposed to are created by fossil fuel and right wing political think tanks. The result is that public opinion moves toward their [...]
Environmental Messaging – Clarity
Clarity is your most powerful tool in crafting your message. It confers sincerity, and sincerity, along with competence, builds credibility and trust. Our political discourse today is full of smoke. As a result, no one trusts politicians. The same occurs in the environmental movement. We talk too much, we [...]
Do You Know These Four Steps to Better Environmental Messaging?
You have been infected by fossil fuel companies. You are now spreading their infection. Please stop and wash your hands. To understand why the environmental movement is losing, one has to understand how we are being manipulated by the fossil fuel industry. I’ve written about this subject in Messages [...]
Promoting Renewable Energy: Seven Areas that You Might Be Missing
I have a confession. As a strong citizen proponent of renewable energy, I admit that I have been naïve. On my journey of understanding what can be done to promote the use of clean energy, I’ve learned two things. The first is that the messaging is simple and clear. [...]
Environmental Messaging – Will They Kill Your Messenger?
A Republican, a Democrat, a utility executive, and a construction manager walked into a bar. They had been invited by a lobbyist. There’s no punchline. This is what actually happened. I was at a renewable energy seminar in the Twin Cities. There were four people on the panel plus [...]
Environmental Messaging – Remember When…?
Remember when you were a kid. It was August, and the summer was a thousand years long. You’d take your bicycle out past Society Road to the swimming hole on a hot day. That’s where you met Libby. Just friends then, but it felt like something else. The next [...]