Recently there has been a concerted effort to make a kind of a vibe shift about how we talk about climate. [Laughs.] Climate action needs way better vibes.
Is it your sense that there are people who want to be involved in climate but are paralyzed by fear or despair? Or that there are disinterested people who are just waiting to be motivated by a softer approach? First of all, I don't think there's any one way we should be communicating about climate. Some people are very motivated by the bad news. They're like: "Whoa, that's terrifying. What can I do to prevent the worst-case scenario?" Some people need that jolt, and that's what gets them going. Some people are overwhelmed by that and don't know where to start. Sixty-two percent of adults in the U.S. say they feel a personal sense of responsibility to help reduce global warming, but 51 percent say they don't know where to start. So to me, the question is how do we harness and support these millions of people in this country who would like to be a part of the solutions? We have moved beyond the platitudes of reduce, reuse, recycle. People don't even pay attention to the first "r" there. But how can we create a culture where everyone has a role to play? What are we going to do when faced with this problem? Are we going to put our heads in the sand, or are we going to pitch in?
You said the first "r" in reduce, reuse, recycle is one that a lot of people ignore. That makes me think about an idea that's difficult — the idea of sacrifice. People don't like sacrifice. People don't like bans. But I think there's a way to frame that as: This is an opportunity to live a different and better life.
Make the case that it's better. I don't think consumerism is that satisfying for most people. We're taught that we need to keep up with these trends and buy all this stuff, but it doesn't really make us happy. Happiness levels are declining. People have fewer close friends. It's not like the current status quo is awesome and we should be fighting to hold on to it. We just have a bunch of junk. Instead of being surrounded by beautiful, durable, repairable things that we love, we've got a bunch of single-use plastic garbage. Having piles of garbage everywhere is not super delightful. Having all this fossil-fuel-based plastic on every beach and in our drinking water and in our rain and in our beer and in our seafood, which is currently the case — it's not like that's a life I want to hold on to. Often we think about the changes that are needed, and we don't look at both sides of the coin. We think about, This is going to be expensive, or, This is going to be inconvenient, without thinking about, Do you know how inconvenient and expensive climate change is? It is so much worse.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/18/magazine/ayana-elizabeth-johnson-interview.html
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