Global warming in seven words

Here’s your chance to be the Pollan of climate change 94

Posted 7:08 AM on 28 Jan 2008
by David Roberts
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Kristina/Jason's plea for a tagline here reminds me: check out this post over on the NRDC Switchboard blog. It notes the success of Michael Pollan's already legendary aphorism -- "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." -- and wonders whether something similarly compact could be used to explain what people need to know about climate change.

A couple of Times bloggers noted that this little pearl has a "haiku-like resonance" – seven plain words, and something about its two-word / three-word / two-word structure. Dwight Garner amused himself trying his hand at it. And then the Well blog's Tara Parker-Pope thought, Surely this warrants a competition. She posted an entry challenging her readers to vie for top honors – and received more than 1,000 submissions! (My favorite: "Call Mom. Let her talk. Don't argue.")

For years I've been looking for a short, memorable way to convey what people need to know about global warming. Then I saw this and thought, Well, why shouldn't we have some fun with this too?

I hereby declare the Switchboard "Seven Words to Save the Planet" challenge open to all comers.

Let's collectively come up with one and send it their way. Here's my (horrible) inaugural effort:

"Electrify transport. Green the grid. Reconnect communities."

Pollan I ain't.

What have y'all got?

Comments

David Roberts is staff writer for Grist. You can follow his Twitter feed at twitter.com/drgrist.

caniscandida Posted 12:15 am
28 Jan 2008
the less said about Mother, the betterOr, more hopefully:
Love life. Don't be silly. Be kind.

Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.
Permalink
sunflower Posted 12:43 am
28 Jan 2008
Use energy, not too much, mostly sun
Permalink
kmp Posted 1:00 am
28 Jan 2008
walk more. eat local. hug a tree.work less. buy less stuff. live more.

drive less. ride a bike. every day.
Hmm, I'll have to keep thinking. Of course, there's always the classic, that pretty much sums it all up:
"Waste not, want not."
Permalink
sindark Posted 1:00 am
28 Jan 2008
How about:"Make economic activity and greenhouse emissions unconnected."

a sibilant intake of breath
Permalink
David Sassoon Posted 1:16 am
28 Jan 2008
The Obvious OptionUse energy. Not too much. Mostly renewables.

David Sassoon, http://www.solveclimate.com
Permalink
leszekp Posted 1:29 am
28 Jan 2008
7 WordsUse less. Use it wisely. Think. Act.
Permalink
javaearth Posted 1:32 am
28 Jan 2008
Care more. Act with Compassion. Live peacefullyCare more. Act with Compassion. Live peacefully
OR
Learn more. Act with kindness. Stop Killing
OR
Stop Killing. All Worldly Resources. Love More
Permalink
David Sassoon Posted 1:34 am
28 Jan 2008
The Economic ArgumentClean Energy. Sell the Technology. Make Money.

David Sassoon, http://www.solveclimate.com
Permalink
johnmcc793 Posted 1:38 am
28 Jan 2008
GW RealityGlobal Warming; getting real. Hard times ahead.
Permalink
caniscandida Posted 1:46 am
28 Jan 2008
"Make Money"???!Gevalt!
Brilliant, David Sassoon. But one might have thought a Sephardic Jew would have delved morally deeper.

Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.
Permalink
lengould Posted 1:47 am
28 Jan 2008
A haikuHow about, along the theory that if you can't do thermodynamic calculations of heat-engine operation, or logically discusse the relative effects or lifetimes of the daughter nucleii of fission chains, you've little to contribute:
First educate yourself. Then educate yourself. Then educate yourself.
Permalink
David Sassoon Posted 1:57 am
28 Jan 2008
Morally DeeperWhat's morally deeper is implied and hidden.
Clean energy. Sell the technology. Make money.

(Give it away. Don't tell.)

David Sassoon, http://www.solveclimate.com
Permalink
amazingdrx Posted 1:59 am
28 Jan 2008
Green life? Radiocative coal black chemical doom?In this fashion..bumpersticker style...
GREEN LIFE?

RADIOACTIVE COAL BLACK CHEMICAL DOOM?
That'll get the advertising message across. Then add a Hillary?Barack '08 sticker.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
Permalink
caniscandida Posted 2:02 am
28 Jan 2008
Ha!, muchisimo mejor!"Clean energy: give it away; don't tell!"
Perfect!

Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.
Permalink
Jon Rynn Posted 2:07 am
28 Jan 2008
not enough room!public transit. wind solar geothermal. walkable communities.
walkable communities. wind solar geothermal. local production.
Permalink
GreyFlcn Posted 2:08 am
28 Jan 2008
To tweak Robert's one:"Electrify transport. Green the grid. Energy efficiency."
Efficiency is always one of our best ways to deal with this problem, but also one of the most ignored.
Permalink
tico89 Posted 2:11 am
28 Jan 2008
Save Earth. Save yourself. Don't screw up.

If I share initials with 'Global Warming', is that a sign?
Permalink
stevenearlsalmony Posted 2:17 am
28 Jan 2008
Avoid impending ecological catastrophes....................and economic disasters
Limit growth of human consumption, production, propagation.
Steven Earl Salmony

AWAREness Campaign on The Human Population, establised 2001

http://sustainabilitysoutheast.org/
Permalink
Delay And Deny Posted 2:18 am
28 Jan 2008
Did you guys go to school?

Every fourth grader knows a haiku is 5 syllables, then 7 then 5. Leave it up to AGWers to get even that wrong!
Madman in green suit

CO2 replenishs land

Lecture not the earth

Viva la Climate Resistance!
Permalink
GRLCowan Posted 2:23 am
28 Jan 2008
UO2 beats CO2. Burn U, not us.

Good to see you here, Len.
How shall the car gain nuclear cachet?
Permalink
Jon Rynn Posted 2:26 am
28 Jan 2008
stopped paying attention in 3rd gradeOK, 5/7/5:
rail and bicycles. wind solar geothermal. local production
but that is 3/3/2 in words, could also do
electric transport. wind solar geothermal. local production.
which is 5/7/5 and 2/3/2 word-wise, now everybody is happy?
Permalink
Jon Rynn Posted 2:41 am
28 Jan 2008
another try...walkable cities. wind solar geothermal. organic farming.
transit, bicycles. wind solar geothermal. save ecosystems.
Permalink
David Sassoon Posted 2:50 am
28 Jan 2008
CanisCandida - Ladino Misses the Markmore correct would be "Achsan b'kteer."

David Sassoon, http://www.solveclimate.com
Permalink
Easterbunny Posted 2:55 am
28 Jan 2008
That jabailo...Resident Troll. Misses the Point. As Usual.
Permalink
caniscandida Posted 3:08 am
28 Jan 2008
Ah!, pobrecita perricita!Vass iz diss, "Achsan B'kteer"? Nee fun unsern Rebbees! Tzoo turkish!, noo?

Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.
Permalink
Easterbunny Posted 3:10 am
28 Jan 2008
Oh no. This is addictive. Can't stop.Many fools. Ignoring the Evidence. We're doomed.
Or, if you want something more hopeful:
Act now. Reduce your footprint. Live sustainably.
Permalink
sunflower Posted 3:18 am
28 Jan 2008
Canis SassoonI was up in the wee hours last week at MIT discussing business models of clean energy. The issue? To sell or to give away new clean energy technologies. We settled on selling in US markets and giving in international markets. Investors and philanthropists are both happy. Everybody wins.
Sell local, give global, be happy
Permalink
David Sassoon Posted 3:26 am
28 Jan 2008
Arabic Dialectfrom Aleppo's Jewish quarter -- not too long ago under the Ottoman Empire, but Turkish is far different.

David Sassoon, http://www.solveclimate.com
Permalink
GreenMom Posted 3:30 am
28 Jan 2008
Energiya b'shemesh v'ruach. B'kulam achshav.I couldn't resist.
David Sassoon, yours are the best.
Permalink
Bradmeiklejohn Posted 3:31 am
28 Jan 2008
Breed LessBreed less. A lot less. Not at all.
Permalink
javaearth Posted 3:36 am
28 Jan 2008
personal responsibilityStop exploiting. Always act responsibly. Continue educating
personal responsibility - it'll never work! lol!

Permalink
wendypenner Posted 3:42 am
28 Jan 2008
7 wordsGet off your big behind and walk?
not so positive but kinda catchy?
Permalink
wiscidea Posted 3:46 am
28 Jan 2008
Did jabailo go to school?!His "haiku" is quite deep.
We have mad corporate entities wearing green facades... coroporate greenwashing.
Yes, CO2 replenishes the land, but too much is bad. Water is good for us, but submerge jabailo for a few minutes and he will become rather uncomfortable.
Finally... do not lecture the Earth... CORRECT! ... LEARN from the Earth!
Leave it to a global climate change denier to undermine his own position by trying to be a Mr. Smarty Pants.
Otherwise... good job, Mr. Bailo.
Permalink
caniscandida Posted 3:57 am
28 Jan 2008
eem lo achshav, eimatai?Right, GreenMom: Achshav, achshav, achshav b'Yisrael!
"Shemesh" is sure-as-tootin' "sun." "Ruach" as "wind," though, seems to evacuate the rich religious connotations of that word. Oh well, let us indulge the Israelis in whatever they want to do, with their electric cars, for example.
I knew somebody, David, a long time ago, here at Columbia, with roots in Halab/Aleppo, but I forget his last name (NOT Sassoon). He was a topic of conversation in the Barnard College cafeteria, for being led around as if helplessly by a semi-Israeli lass.
Last semester, I realized a student of mine was one of the very Syrian Jews who had been written up in the New York Times Magazine, in November or so, though not himself in the Brooklyn clan -- great guy, with a lovely sense of the victimization of Hector in the Iliad.
Well hey, those Asians gotta stick together!

Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.
Permalink
eriqa Posted 4:08 am
28 Jan 2008
a little justiceDeveloped countries, don't hog the fossil fuel!

Permalink
Jon Rynn Posted 4:38 am
28 Jan 2008
Just for yucks......maybe there should be a progression from the first part to the other, so
no fuels. wind solar geothermal. electric economy
Permalink
Jon Rynn Posted 4:44 am
28 Jan 2008
for transportation...no cars. trains, bikes, buses. mostly walking
Permalink
caniscandida Posted 4:54 am
28 Jan 2008
jess me 'nmy dogaint gotta go

no

aint gotta go

no

aint gotta go

no

jess me 'nmy dog

yeah

jess me 'nmy dog
#$%#$%#$%#$%#$%##%+_#$% : )
For the formalists: "Aint gotta go" is supposed to be three words. "Jess me 'nmy dog" is supposed to be four words. So do the math.
John Bailo,

we are all playing hookey.
Or, rather, even if we were in our respective schools of the belles lettres, the assignment was not to write a classic Japanese haiku, now was it.
That said, there have been some well-intentioned but plodding prosaic offerings. Oh well, they all get A for effort. But no contracts.

Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.
Permalink
kayser Posted 5:31 am
28 Jan 2008
Possibilities"Tax carbon. Don't spend alot."
"Use less juice. Burn less stuff. Use the sun."
"Eat puppies. Roasted with garlic demiglaze" (OK, made that one up)
Permalink
infp Posted 5:44 am
28 Jan 2008
2-3-3One Earth.

Live green now.

Or we die.
Permalink
David Roberts Posted 5:46 am
28 Jan 2008
2-2-3Live smarter. Healthier too. No Birkenstocks required.

grist.org
Permalink
GreenEngineer Posted 6:12 am
28 Jan 2008
Not climate-change specific, but...Sustainable design in a nutshell:

Waste equals food. Use current solar income.
Permalink
wiscidea Posted 6:13 am
28 Jan 2008
Attempt #1It's

The

Foundation

Of

Our

Economy

Stupid
Permalink
wiscidea Posted 6:14 am
28 Jan 2008
Attempt #2It's

The

Foundation

Of

Human

Civilization

Stupid
Permalink
wiscidea Posted 6:15 am
28 Jan 2008
Attempt #3It

Provides

Your

Food

And

Water

Stupid
Permalink
caniscandida Posted 6:55 am
28 Jan 2008
"stupid"Ummm, Whiskey kid, let us see what we can do when we replace that annoying last word.
Or were you trying to make a point?
By the way, the Modern Language Association will be all over you for apparently equating "our economy" with "human civilization." So you had better get your press releases ready.

Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.
Permalink
wiscidea Posted 7:01 am
28 Jan 2008
Attempt #4It's

The

Foundation

Of

Human

Civilization

Nitwit

Permalink
caniscandida Posted 7:03 am
28 Jan 2008
"nitwit" -- brilliant! You got it!

Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.
Permalink
bookerly Posted 7:40 am
28 Jan 2008
My Two Fen
Love family, friends and a simple life.
patrick in Beijing
Lots of great slogans!!! Why limit ourselves to one!! Use them all!!
Permalink
David Roberts Posted 7:47 am
28 Jan 2008
The problem,is that these are starting to drift away from the initial challenge -- communicating about global warming -- and toward extremely general environmental slogans.
It is communicating about climate change in particular that is so difficult.

grist.org
Permalink
wiscidea Posted 8:06 am
28 Jan 2008
Attempt #5Warm

Earth's

Atmosphere
Watch

Us

Melt
Oops
Permalink
Delay And Deny Posted 8:11 am
28 Jan 2008
e. e. cummings

Hookey...maybe.
Actually, you all sound a bit like e.e. cummings.
in just spring

when the queer old balloon man

gets his house washed away

and has to wear hip boots

by record flooding
Or something like that...

Viva la Climate Resistance!
Permalink
wiscidea Posted 8:12 am
28 Jan 2008
Attempt #6Welcome

To

The

Neo-Jurassic
Look

No

People!
Permalink
Jon Rynn Posted 8:22 am
28 Jan 2008
and it rhymesdon't emit. you must commit. just do it.
Permalink
elbarto Posted 8:25 am
28 Jan 2008
all we ever needed is...the sun. endless fusion power. harness it.
Permalink
sunflower Posted 8:27 am
28 Jan 2008
Mass extinction, end of history, prognosis grim.
Permalink
elbarto Posted 8:40 am
28 Jan 2008
A couple more...the economy. wholly owned subsidiary. of environment
the greenest product is none at all
Permalink
Jon Rynn Posted 8:41 am
28 Jan 2008
wake up.feel the sunshine.use the sunshine.
Permalink
koosf Posted 9:13 am
28 Jan 2008
From HollandThere's Gore

Roll up sleeves

Raise dykes
Permalink
kayser Posted 9:31 am
28 Jan 2008
A few more, 2-3-2How about:
"Eat plants. Don't drive much. Tax soot."
or
"Consume consume. Consume consume consume. Consume consume."
Permalink
Winoria Posted 9:46 am
28 Jan 2008
My haiku (chopped off at the knees)Relax more. Live for tomorrow. Worry less.
Permalink
Winoria Posted 9:48 am
28 Jan 2008
one moreChill out. Step up. Save the Planet.
Permalink
caniscandida Posted 10:06 am
28 Jan 2008
WiscIdea,Attempts #5 and 6 are superb.
John Bailo,

you are getting it!! That "queer old balloon man" bit is really fine!

Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.
Permalink
stevenearlsalmony Posted 10:13 am
28 Jan 2008
So much chin music.................so little action.
Permalink
stevenearlsalmony Posted 10:23 am
28 Jan 2008
A sign of the times..............So few make so much
wealth by doing so little
that can be judged good.
Permalink
stevenearlsalmony Posted 10:30 am
28 Jan 2008
Babel of voices................sharing naught.
Permalink
GreenMom Posted 12:14 pm
28 Jan 2008
My English attemptClean Energy. Green Jobs. One Planet.
Permalink
GreenMom Posted 12:17 pm
28 Jan 2008
English attempt #2No new coal. Stop the madness.
Permalink
Anna Haynes Posted 1:57 pm
28 Jan 2008
PrioritiesFriedman's right -

change leaders first

later lights
Permalink
amazingdrx Posted 3:16 pm
28 Jan 2008
Just one more wordGreenmom.
Clean Energy. Green Jobs. One Living Planet.
That's the bumpersticker. That's a winner.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
Permalink
amazingdrx Posted 3:44 pm
28 Jan 2008
Winner declared!http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2008/1/29/ ...
I've declared your slogan the winner greenmom, on my blog, for what that's worth, hehey. With the one word addition.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
Permalink
314159265 Posted 9:34 pm
28 Jan 2008
We nourish on Earth. It's not flat.
Permalink
314159265 Posted 9:45 pm
28 Jan 2008
Mother Earth neither is flat nor infinite
Permalink
GreenMom Posted 10:56 pm
28 Jan 2008
Hey thanks, Amazing!
Permalink
stevenearlsalmony Posted 11:34 pm
28 Jan 2008
Congrats to Green Mom..........Keep going....
Steve
Permalink
LegumeSam Posted 1:54 am
29 Jan 2008
Yeah yeah yeahLocalize production/ leave carbon in ground.

http://www.dailykos.com/User/Cassiodorus
Permalink
Martha Hagood Posted 2:48 am
29 Jan 2008
Ride bus. Learn to cook. Make compost.Eat greens. Ride a bike. Waste not.
Permalink
Martha Hagood Posted 2:50 am
29 Jan 2008
Walk mostly. Count your kilowatts. No cowmeat.
Permalink
amazingdrx Posted 2:53 am
29 Jan 2008
I put it upGreenmom, on the NRDC blog. Do we get a cut of the bumpersticker loot?
Nope, it'll all go to lobby against Cape Wind and for "clean" coal, nukes, and fuel farming. After all, it IS NRDC.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
Permalink
birdboy Posted 4:36 am
29 Jan 2008
climate haikuclimate changing fast

its from burning fossil fuels

time has come to act

a liberal in redsville
Permalink
birdboy Posted 4:37 am
29 Jan 2008
climate not-quite-haikuClimate changing fast

from burning fossil fuels;

humanity won't last

unless we make some rules.

a liberal in redsville
Permalink
frw Posted 4:50 am
29 Jan 2008
Euphoria checkFossil-fueled ethanol, toxic hybrid batteries, better technologies needed.
Permalink
frw Posted 4:54 am
29 Jan 2008
Euphoria check IIsolar farm destroys natural desert

Windmills kill birds

Hydropower destroys rivers
Permalink
frw Posted 4:57 am
29 Jan 2008
Euphoria check IIINon-toxic alternatives

3Rs & Mass Transit

Think Holistically.
Permalink
amazingdrx Posted 5:04 am
29 Jan 2008
Simple Renewable smart grid plugin hybrid rooftop solar.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
Permalink
amazingdrx Posted 5:22 am
29 Jan 2008
Non-toxicNon-toxic (lead/acid, but it's contained and recycled) "Oasis" truck battery. Inexpensive, 1/5th that of equivalent lithium ion battery capacity.
Plugin hybrid battery solution.
http://www.pjstar.com/stories/011208/BUS_BFFJKJV1.027.php ...
First battery off the line, Jan12th, 2008. When can we buy them? This summer maybe they say.
How about a nice slogan for this battery? anyone?
Fireflyed hybrid plugged into renewable green grid.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
Permalink
birdboy Posted 6:56 am
29 Jan 2008
climate chaos from fossil fuels change course

a liberal in redsville
Permalink
koosf Posted 9:42 pm
29 Jan 2008
Just one more entryI think the following is the strongest:
You're either with us or against us
Permalink
spaceshaper Posted 10:49 pm
29 Jan 2008
"More orgasms. Fewer kids."I can't claim it as my own: I just saw it as a bumper sticker and thought it spoke elegantly and eloquently to the two big issues: quality of life and overpopulation.
And as a bonus, it's guaranteed to piss some people off!

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
Permalink
amazingdrx Posted 5:14 pm
02 Feb 2008
WinnerOfficial winner on NRDC. Not the greatest. Not that surprising considering their clean coal and fuel farming support.
http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/solutions/step4.asp
http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/solutions/step3.asp
Not exactly what one would expect from a frontline eco org. No wonder Barack supports them too. These are the lobbyists for green revolution. Can't we do better than this?

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
Permalink
stevenearlsalmony Posted 12:44 am
03 Feb 2008
Bill Clinton's unexpected expression.........of intellectual honestly regarding the extent to which the leviathan scale and rapid growth of the global economy can be seen ravaging the Earth.
FINALLY, SOMEONE TELLS IT LIKE IT IS.
Steven Earl Salmony

AWAREness Campaign on The Human Population, established 2001

http://sustainabilitysoutheast.org/
Permalink
ianwilker Posted 2:11 am
03 Feb 2008
well said.I like Anna Haynes' submission a lot!

Links: || http://www.onearth.org/blog || http://www.linkedin.com/in/iwilker || http://nyu.facebook.com/profile.php?id=834915 || http://twitter.com/iwilker

Permalink
ianwilker Posted 2:17 am
03 Feb 2008
winner picked over at NRDC's SwitchboardDan Lashof crowned this one the winner of his little contest:
Climate Challenge. Our Greatest Opportunity. Seize It.
He also singles out some other entries he liked; read 'em after the jump.

Links: || http://www.onearth.org/blog || http://www.linkedin.com/in/iwilker || http://nyu.facebook.com/profile.php?id=834915 || http://twitter.com/iwilker

Permalink
kmp Posted 2:17 am
03 Feb 2008
NRDC Winner

Honorable mention:
Honorable mention:

Rusty Pritchard -- Jan 25 2008 08:46 AM

Worship God. Love people. Care for creation.
Rusty admits that its 2-2-3, not 2-3-2, but its good.
Grand prize:

Jesse Jenkins -- Jan 24 2008 01:02 AM

Climate Challenge. Our Greatest Opportunity. Seize It.
Pretty vanilla slogan, if you ask me. And the honorable mention? What does religion and respect/love for fellow man have to do with climate change? (Yes, of course, everything is interconnected when we are talking about the Earth, but really, a bit of a stretch to "communicate what people need to know about global warming," no?)
Permalink

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Here’s your chance to be the Pollan of climate change 94

Posted 7:08 AM on 28 Jan 2008
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Posted 7:08 AM on 28 Jan 2008
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