Talking climate

It’s getting easier and easier to have conversations about the climate crisis. More people than ever are concerned about it; the media are covering it more; and the U.S. government has approved billions of dollars to fund solutions. Having these conversations is more important than ever. There are still widespread misconceptions that are slowing down efforts to solve the crisis. The public demand for action does not yet match the magnitude of the crisis we are in. The fossil fuel industry and its political lackeys are still trying to slow the transition to renewable energy.

Writing in Scientific American, Susan Joy Hassol, says “The words we use and the stories we tell matter. Transforming the way we talk about climate change can engage people and build the political will needed to implement policies strong enough to confront the crisis with the urgency required.”

Let’s start with the word “natural.” The fossil fuel industry likes to refer to one of its major products as “natural gas.” This makes it sound healthy and good. It’s actually “methane gas,” a poisonous substance that ….

I recently asked some friends what they found hard about starting conversations about climate change. One said they just didn’t know how to begin. Others said they were afraid they’d get asked a question they didn’t know how to answer, or feared triggering a disagreement, or they just didn’t know how to react when people were hopeless.

I recognized all of these as difficulties I’ve had in various situations. However, the experts say it’s really important that we talk about climate a lot. “The first step to action on climate change is to talk about it, that’s the number one thing we can do,” said Lucky Tran, who’s in climate communications at Columbia University. “We can’t solve any problems, especially at the global scale, if we don’t talk about the problem and the best way to address it.” This will be key to building a movement large enough to insist on action on the scale that is needed.

We used to think that the goal in communicating about climate was to convince people that climate change is real and caused by humans. That’s no longer necessary with most people. Polls show that a huge majority of people in the country understand that climate change is happening and are concerned about it. Our big job now is to make the topic more salient, let people know they are not alone with their concern, and enable people to express their desire for bolder climate action.

I’ve written often about the importance of our talking with people about climate change. While polls show that more people are worried about climate change, it is not yet a major salient issue for most people. Jessica Lu and John Marshall, of the Potential Energy coalition, write that we need to talk about climate a lot more often. Their study of the data shows that “frequency of exposure strongly predicts growth in climate supporters.”

Polls show that less than 15% of the population talks about climate often and roughly 75% of people report that they hear other people talk about it less than once a month. Lu and Marshall write that people are simply not hearing about climate often enough. “Based on the data, our best guess is that the average person needs to see and hear about climate at least 80 times a month — potentially even more — to become an active supporter of significant climate action.”

What’s most effective for us to say?

As I’ve written before, talking about climate change is critical to building a powerful people’s climate movement. Lots of people are vaguely concerned about the climate, but many of those aren’t yet speaking up or taking action. It would be good for us to talk about climate change with almost everyone. Sharing our love for the planet, sharing some information about climate change, and inviting people to join us in taking action, is vital to moving things forward. Having some key facts at our fingertips, committed to memory, can make us better communicators and enliven our interactions. Once I’ve chosen a number to remember, I find I retain it better if I make a point of sharing it often in conversations.

Here is a small collection of key numbers and facts you can use when talking with people about climate change.