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The Rev. Mitchell C
. Hescox
The Evangelical Environmental N
etwork
26%
24%
18.10%
1.70%
16.10%
13.80%
Am
ericas Religious
Landscape Evangelicals
Catholics
Mainline
Jewish
Unfiliated
Others
Pew Forum
on Religion and Public Life
20%
79%
2012 Presidential Elections Evangelical
Obam
a
Rom
ney
Pew Forum
on Religion and Public Life
40%
59%
2012 Presidential Elections W
hite Catholics
Obam
a
Rom
ney
Pew Forum
on Religion and Public Life
! To date the solutions for creating a sustainable planet and m
inimizing
the most severe clim
ate impacts
have focused on priories not consistent w
ith conservative A
merican values.
! Typical Messaging
◦ Future Threat ◦ Prove The Science ◦ Establish N
ational Policy
! Conservative A
merica holds
different values.
! Change requires understanding
existing values.
! Science is not a primary value.
! Governm
ent is not a primary value.
! Ongoing N
ational Study with a
leading evangelical group and m
ajor scientific body. ! C
limate change is not even a
scientific issue – it’s political
1 Myers, N
isbet, Maibach,
Leiserowitz, 2012
! Clim
ate change m
essaging using science and governm
ent policy fuels denial.
1 Myers, N
isbet, Maibach,
Leiserowitz, 2012
! Conservative Values/B
eliefs ◦ Faith ◦ Fam
ily ◦ Life (pro-life as w
hole life) ◦ C
hildren’s Health
◦ Elected conservative leaders
! “In an extremely partisan environm
ent, R
epublican votes against environm
ental bills legitimate public
opinion opposed to action on climate
change. When the R
epublicans increase voting support for
! environmental bills, it reduces
partisanship and increases public support for actions to address clim
ate change.”
Brulle, Carm
ichael, Jenkins, Clim
ate Change (2012)
George W
. Bush
2003 - President’s E
mergency P
lan for A
IDS
Relief (P
EP
FAR
)
Rich S
tearns P
resident of World Vision
! Vincent Moyo, M
alawi country
representative for Tearfund, went
so far as say, "climate change is
turning out to be more challenging
than HIV/A
IDS." N
early 1 million
Malaw
ians are infected with H
IV or A
IDS, but the entire population of
15 million suffers from
the sym
ptoms of clim
ate change.
! Transforming C
onservative A
merica
! Who
! Why
! What
! Hope
! Who is im
pacted ! H
ealth Impacts
1 ◦ C
hildren’s Health D
omestic
◦ Children’s H
ealth International
1 Myers, N
isbet, Maibach, Leiserow
itz, 2012
! My shoes sank
deep into the crystalline sand of w
hat used to be a river. A
n elderly m
an from
Fombe village,
Malaw
i
! told me that
water stream
ed here year round w
hen he was a
child. Banana
trees and other vegetation once flourished on its banks,
! … In A
merica,
climate change
is a matter of
debate, but in places like M
alawi, it’s a
matter of life and
death.
! Who is im
pacted ! H
ealth Impacts
1 ◦ C
urrent Children’s H
ealth D
omestic
◦ Children’s H
ealth International ◦ Extrem
e Weather as H
ealth C
oncern ◦ Future G
enerations 1 Yang and Kahlor, Science Com
munication 2012
! Why are our children hurting? ◦ Engage personal experience on their surroundings – share stories ◦ C
onversation on the science ! N
ot new, understood for over a
century ! A
nswer questions
! No hype – it’s bad enough
! What to do? ◦ Personal em
powerm
ent ! C
are For Our C
hildren – now &
future
! Stewardship
! Energy Prosperity
! What to do? ◦ A
merica’s “C
an Do Spirit”
! Requires: A
ll Am
erican Effort ! R
emem
ber: Overcom
ing Past A
dversity ! 5%
Efficiency/year in Carbon U
se1
! Following Lead of A
merican
Business
! Am
erican Ingenuity 1 Too Late For Tw
o Degrees,
PriceWaterhouse C
oopers, N
ovember 2012
! What to do? ◦ Policy Efforts
! Energy Efficiency ! Energy R
esearch ! Flood Insurance ! C
ost Effective Foreign Aid
! Market B
ased Price on Carbon
! Hope ◦ Faith – A
ll things are possible ◦ B
etter Future for our children ◦ B
ipartisan Effort – working
together
! A National C
onsensus For A
ddressing Clim
ate Change
will not happen w
ithout a m
essage consistent with
conservative values delivered by creditable m
essengers.
! Brulle, R
obert, Jason Carm
ichael, J. Craig Jenkins,
Shifting public opinion on clim
ate change: an empirical
assessment of factors influencing concern over clim
ate change in the U
.S., 2002–2010, C
limatic C
hange, S
eptember 2012, Volum
e 114, Issue 2, pp 169-188;
! Myers, Teresa A
., Matthew
C. N
isbet ,Edw
ard W.
Maibach &
Anthony A
. Leiserowitz, A
public health fram
e arouses hopeful emotions about clim
ate change, C
limate C
hange (2012), 113, 1105-1112;
! Too Late For Two D
egrees?, Low carbon econom
y index, P
ricewaterhouse C
ooper, UK
, Novem
ber 2012, w
ww
.pwc.uk.
! Yang, Z. Janet, LeeAnn K
ahlor, What M
e Worry? The
Role of A
ffect in Information S
eeking and Avoidance,
Science C
omm
unication (2013), 35, 189