A strong majority of Americans are concerned about the climate crisis. Some people are “climate deniers” or “climate skeptics.” Some of these people have been fooled by fossil fuel company propaganda and/or right-wing propaganda. Some simply do not understand the scientific realities.
Those of us who care about the climate want to build the grassroots movement to protect the climate. Some climate supporters are frustrated, flummoxed, or depressed by the “deniers” and “skeptics” who are polluting mass media, confusing the public, and preventing governments from solving problems.
I have seen several recent articles that can help us understand those people — and how to deal with them effectively. Here are just a few examples:
Climate Denial: Why It Happens and What To Do About It: With Netflix’s “Don’t Look Up” still igniting conversations around science and climate denial, we decided to take a look at why people disbelieve empirical truths in the first place.
https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/climate-science-denial-why-and-what-to-do-about-it
Big Oil’s Tactics to Delay Climate Action Are the New Climate Denialism: https://truthout.org/articles/big-oils-tactics-to-delay-climate-action-are-the-new-climate-denialism/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=1eb85800-300b-4888-bab9-cc44db807709
The information in the article linked immediately above is another great example of what my guest on my September 2021 TV program explained. I named that month’s TV episode “Debunk the Fossil Fuel Industry’s Phony Climate Remedies.” You can watch the video and/or read a thorough summary of what we said at this link: https://parallaxperspectives.org/watch-and-or-read-tv-debunk-the-fossil-fuel-industrys-phony-climate-remedies
The Union of Concerned Scientists (www.ucsusa.org) is a very savvy organization that works effectively on the climate crisis. In September 2021 they posted this resource to help us cope with the “disinformation” promoted by fossil fuel companies, etc.: https://ucsusa.org/climate/disinformation
If you feel stressed out by “climate denial,” this quotation by Aldous Huxley might help you stay grounded in reality: “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
We can move conservatives to support the climate if we use the right kinds of wording and messaging: We can move conservatives to support the climate if we use the right kinds of wording and messaging. Banging away on the facts won’t change the minds of people who refuse to support smart climate actions. For the climate – just as for other issues – we need to “frame” the issue and use the kinds of wording and messaging that will help different kinds of people start to move in our direction. This smart article provides hope for bipartisanship: A new study shows that microtargeting conservatives is the most effective way to reach them on climate change. Donald Trump turned “climate change” into a partisan word — but if we learn to speak a common language on the climate crisis, we can still grow our movement and find the long-elusive bipartisanship that will help win this battle.
Back in 2020, a public opinion poll about the climate says “denialism” has reduced and “alarm” has increased. See this article: https://grist.org/climate/new-polling-on-climate-change-denial-is-out-alarm-is-in/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily
