But does arguing at least get us somewhere? To test this a
group of students at Lehigh University staged an information stake-out in the
center of the campus on Friday night with an objective: invite their peers to
the Largest Climate March in History: The
Peoples Climate March. Via a
couple of projectors, a sound system and two huge walls at the University
Center, they were able to make people pause for a moment and think about the
Climate March and the Climate
Summit.
Finding yourself in need to catch-up on the debate? You can learn more about the summit
itself and why it matters by checking out this special brief ‘The People’s Climate March: Everything you need to know
to change everything.
But ask yourself why you aren’t aware of the Call to Action
for the Climate March? Light projections using the viral Disruption video and the People’s
Climate March Graphics attempted to encourage a response from students on
Lehigh’s Campus. But the argument in support of Climate Change moved no one. The
real question had been inadvertently raised: How are students at Lehigh living
the spirit of the Climate March?
Are they invested?
The answer is, the students at Lehigh University aren’t
aware of it at all. Everyone
stopped because they were attracted to the Light from the videos. Yet, no one knew what the videos were about.
Instead of an information exchange and debate the organizers expected, they
received confused expressions and low-interest in an event that will shape
everyone’s future.
What became obvious in the outreach session was the disconnect plaguing climate change
action. When buses will be
traveling to the Climate Summit this Sunday in droves from all places across
America, what could possibly be missing from student opinion in a small town
that is only 2 hours outside of NYC? What are Lehigh Students missing?
Emotional response.
“This non-reaction from students is a larger warning to Universities that they aren’t doing enough to engage youth on Climate Change.” --
Gerardo Calderon, a Lehigh Student and community organizer.
The evening was a harsh reality-check of what their peers knew about the Climate Summit this week at the UN. It was clear that engagement on the campus about climate change was staggeringly low. And that individual connection to climate change was even lower. What gives? Can factual Statistics prove and help us understand apathy?
A poll conducted by Gallup this
year found that while 69
percent of Americans believe climate change is caused by human activity,
only half are personally worried about it. “We’ve won the argument but we
haven’t done anything on it,” Bill McKibben of
350.org is noted for saying. “We haven’t been able to overcome the power of
the status quo enough to make real change, so that we’re losing the fight.” McKibben is completely on-point.
Its not a fight of factual evidence, its an emotional one.
Those words are echoed by a study
from Yale University which supports the idea that emotions act as drivers to
connect people to Climate Change Action. "The Role of Emotion in Global
Warming Policy Support and Opposition" speaks to what we already know.
Looking at how research points to the “affect (feelings of good or bad) and
affective imagery (associations) strongly influence public support for global
warming.” What happens to the
style of argument when we voice the issue of climate change as if specific
emotions, like fear, anger, worry, guilt that are programmed into our discourse
and communication?
Through this graphic
the paper further shows how specific emotions were stronger predictors of
global warming policy than supported cultural world-views.
Egalitarianism, individualism, negative affects, top of mind
associations, or socio-demographic variables, including political party and
ideology DIDN’T MATTER. The findings go further to say that,
“50% of the variance in public support for global warming policies was explained by the emotion measures alone. In particular, worry, interest, and hope were strongly associated with increased policy support.”
What does that mean
for people communicating climate change? The results contribute to how
human beings process information and suggest that emotions play a significant
role in public support for climate change policy. So what are the implications for climate change communication
then if we are only hardwired to act when we feel guilty or worried?
Enter a local climate change
advocate in the Lehigh Valley, Dan Poresky, has spoken about the role of human
emotion in the efforts to reach a larger audience to discuss engagement with
Climate Change. His
proposal for Climate Action provides a step-by-step action guide for organizers
to place more emphasis on people than the planet. Put simply, it’s his call, a
local citizen’s call, to action.
By emphasizing, “How is climate
change going to affect me?” Poresky argues that only when people feel secure in
the vision of their future will they push governments to act. That security needs to be based in
emotional response like entitlement, fear, anger, and a sense of loss of what
you cannot regain. This type of proposal is what is needed from citizen
groups. At the junction of climate
change communication efforts from Light Shows to step-by-step guides is the
answer to the lack of emotional engagement.
“People will more readily accept the adaptations necessitated by climate change when they can envision living comfortably in a society with reduced carbon emissions is the norm. Its all about public attitude” said Poresky.
One thing is for certain the People’s Climate March will be an
emotional tour through Manhattan on September 21. Over 400,000 are expected to
show up and walk together. This preempts the week leaders are coming to UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s Climate Summit to discuss ambitious goals to
reduce global warming pollution. That bit is incredibly important.
The People’s Climate March will take place BEFORE a UN meeting on climate change attended by delegates from 168 countries from all over the world on the path to COP20 in Lima, Peru this year. The message is clear: the pressure is on.
Who could argue with that?
If this People’s Climate
March doesn’t make people feel something? What will?
Hope to see you all there in a few hours, physically and emotionally
invested.
--Sarabeth Brockley @sara_brockley
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