FROM ANGST TO ACTION

Talking about Climate Change and Health

HEALTH IS WHAT MAKES PEOPLE CARE ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

(WHO 2007)

SIX OPINION GROUPS

Alarmed

Concerned

Cautious

Disengaged

Doubtful

Dismissive

Response to Public Health Frame

Maibach BMC Public Health 2010 10-299

Response to Health Co-Benefits

Maibach BMC Public Health 2010 10-299

Maibach BMC Public Health 2010 10-299

Health Frame Induces Hope, even in the Disengaged and Dismissive

GALLUP POLL 2013 HONESTY AND ETHICS BY PROFESSION Highest Lowest

Nurses

Pharmacists

Teachers

Doctors

Military Officers

Police

Clergy

Lawyers

TV Reporters

Advertising Agents

State Office Holders

Car Salespeople

Congresspeople

Lobbyists

AMERICA'S CLIMATE CONVERSATION

Where are we?

Krosnick, 2013 Stanford

60-75% OF AMERICANSSUPPORT CLIMATE ACTION EVEN IF UNILATERAL

83% SUPPORT CLIMATE ACTION EVEN WITH ECONOMIC COSTS

62% WILLING TO PAY MORE FOR ENERGY IF IT LOWERS EMISSIONS

80% of Americans ( 75% of Republicans) support expanding clean energy

68% support energy portfolio standards

63% total (57% of Republicans) support programs to decrease car use

67% of Americans believe CO2 should be regulated as an air pollutant

59% of Americans think we should stop subsidizing fossil fuel

60% of Americans support a carbon tax

MAJORITY OF AMERICANS WANT OUR GOVERNMENT TO ACT

Low confidence that politicians will respond

Low confidence that our society will respond

Can and will 6%

Could but won't 22%

Can't 22%

Unsure 50%

One third are willing to join a campaignto generate political will

to act on efficiency and clean energy: 36%

to act on global warming: 29%

Willing to vote for climate action

2.5x more likely to vote for candidate who supports

3x more likely to vote against candidate who opposes climate action

WHO SHOULD WE BE TALKING TO?

WHAT do they need to know?

HOW do we get them to act?

HOW PEOPLE THINK

www.isthishowyoufeel.weebly.comFrustrated Betrayed Depressed

Guilty Angry Sorry

Helpless Nervous Glimmer of hope

Anxious Apathetic Despair

Worried Optimistic Perplexed

Dumbfounded Distressed Exasperated

I DON'T CARE

"I'm sick and tired of hearing about..."

"I don't want to hear (or think) about this, because it makes me feel..."

TWO PROCESSING MODES

Analytic Experiential

Logical, abstract, deliberative,Learned, slow

Intuitive, concrete, immediate,Visual, emotional

STATIC vs DYNAMIC PERSONALITIES

ALL THINGS NOT BEING EQUAL

THE SILENT MAJORITY

80% of Americans believe that the US has a responsibility to respond to climate change.

70% rarely or never discuss climate change with friends or family.

Why?

REASON STRATEGY

Denial

Finite pool of worry

Individualism

Single action bias

EMOTIONS

SOLUTIONS

SOLUTIONS

POLICY, SOLUTIONS, Health Benefits

POLICY, SOLUTIONS

REASON STRATEGY

Spiral of silence

Lack of confidence

Learned helplessness

Fear of change and loss

MAJORITY

MASTERY

MORAL ARGUMENT, FAKE IT till you make it

Return to familiar past

SOLUTIONS as LOSS PREVENTION

CHARACTERISTICS OF THOSE WHO ACTED

Understanding

Collective and personal efficacy

Invitation from someone they know and respect

SOLUTIONS-BASED EDUCATION

What are the solutions?

Will they work? (climate-wise, cost, technical)

What's in it for us? (savings, health, jobs)

How do we get there from here (policies)?

What can I do (and how do I do it)?

Drawing from our clinical experience with changing behavior

State The Problem

Cut GHG emissions in half by 2030

Case One

9 year old athlete turns into couch potato

20 Years Ago

Coffee(with whole milk and sugar)

Today

Mocha Coffee

45 calories 8 ounces ?

TOP 10 CAUSES OF DEATH IN US

RENAL

LRI

SUICIDE

HEART DISEASE

CANCER

ASTHMA/COPD

STROKE

UNINTENTIONAL INJURY

ALZHEIMERS

DIABETES

RENAL DISEASE

LOWER RESP. INFECTION

SUICIDE

THE POWER OF GROUPS

BRIDGING OUR POLITICAL DIVIDE

RED AND BLUE DISTRICTS AGREE ON MOST SOLUTIONS

WORDS

CLEAN AIR, WATER, AND ENERGY

CLIMATE WORDS

Climate Change

Environment

Mitigation

Emissions

Positive feedback

Celsius

Greenhouse gases

Carbon tax, cap & trade

Renewable energy

Sea level rise, melting glaciers, increased T

Fuel economy

Global Warming

Air we breath, water we drink etc

Stabilizing climate

Pollution

Vicious cycle

Farenheit

Pollution

Make polluters pay

Clean energy

Flooding, storms, wildfires, heat waves

Use less gas

THE MESSAGEClimate change is here now.

We feel fear, anger, guilt and grief too, but there is hope

Solutions exist, here's what they are:

They are technically and economically within reach

They will make our future healthier

We need to change policies, not individuals

We can do it

FINDING AN AUDIENCE

CONNECTING WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

INTRODUCE YOURSELF

Summarize your professional and life experience

Personal story about what spurred you to act on climate

FIND SOME COMMON GROUND

SOLUTIONS-BASED EDUCATION

What are they exactly?

Will they work? (climate-wise, cost, technical)

What's in it for us? (savings, health, jobs)

How do we get there from here (policies)?

What can I do (and how do I do it)?

THE ROADMAP

Healthy policies which escalate to 2030 goal.

Activated citizenry

Replace obstructionist politicians

HUMOR

Carbon is the building block of life

CHOCOLATE BUTTER

ALCOHOLSTARCH

Everything that was ever alive has carbon in it.

Burning things which were once alive releases the carbon into the air

We burn twice as much carbon as the Earth can handle.

1/4

1/4

1/2

Carbon Dioxide Is (pretty much) Forever.H

un

dre

ds

ThousandsTens of Thousands

YEARS TO REMOVE CO2 FROM ATMOSPHERE

DEALING WITH DENIERS

Blue Green Algae Blooms Increase with Water Temperature

Dust Storm Fresno, CA Tenfold Increase in Valley Fever

US Centers for Disease Control

DROUGHT AND DUST

Inhaler Use at Asthma Camp Increases with Ozone Level

Nu

mb

er

of

dose

s of

resc

ue i

nh

ale

r

Ozone Level

HEAT ILLNESS

9,000 US high school athletes/year 40 heat deaths in cars/year

EMISSIONS SCENARIOS

Dust Mite Allergen Required to Reduce FEV1 20% before and after Ozone Exposure

DIOXINS and WildfiresSmoke from Idaho Fires 2013

Ozono irrita los pulmones

Make it personal

Make it local

Shellfish Closures, Whatcom County, WA Rat map NYC

Omaha's program to lower summer ozoneEffect of heat on crop yields- Iowa

Make it concrete

Duluth, MN 2012 New Jersey 2012

Tell a story

Sam Moody Atlanta, GA

Explaining Policy vs Consumer Choice

Thinking globally vs NIMBYly

DEFORESTATION

EMISSIONS

International Climate Talks

“ In order for climate science information to be fully absorbed by audiences, it must be actively communicated with appropriate language, metaphor, and analogy; combined with narrative storytelling; made vivid through visual imagery and experiential scenarios; balanced with scientific information; and delivered by trusted messengers in group settings.”

Center for Research on Environmental Decisions

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

THE PROBLEM: our growing epidemic of chronic disease.

THE CAUSE: pollution, inactivity, bad diets (exacerbated by climate change)

THE SOLUTION: Change our systems of energy, transportation, housing, and food to make healthy choices easy and affordable, saving billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives every year.

OBTW

These healthy solutions will also slow global warming, decreasing heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods, and spread of infectious disease