http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/20080122_DearChanc ...

 Don't read this unless you can handle the truth

David's commentary cuts through the trivial and shines a light on why progressive movements stall - the lack of inspirational articulation of the big picture.

John F. Kennedy challenged us to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.  JFK articulated a big idea in an aspirational and poetic way, he called for an (outrageously short) timetable, and he challenged Americans to work together to accomplish the goal. And we did!

Contrast this with the whiny pessimism of many liberals.  How in the world can you expect to bring anything significant into being without capturing the imagination of the public?

Progressive thinkers are great at working out the details of an idea, but for moving the sentiment of the public, details belong down the page, not in the headline.

Here's an idea.

Let's have energy independence in the United States by 2020.  On January 1, 2020 or before, we produce 100% of the energy we use and export the excess.  The result: the economy booms (white collar, blue collar, green collar jobs) and we enhance national security by ending our dependence on foreign oil.

Please check out my blog - the New American Village.  

http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/

James Polk, Architect

Is that the rhetoric focuses on paths instead of goals.  Compare "Go west, young man" to "head south on 95 until you get to I-80, make a left and follow signs to California".  Which is more inspiring?  And yet most of what passes for environmental rhetoric is simply path advocacy.  (And as Churchill showed, even if you can't promise optimism, you can still inspire with calls to blood, sweat and tears and rally the masses towards collective effort towards a noble cause.)

"I'm not talking about dance lessons! I'm talking about putting a brick through the other guy's windshield. I'm talking about taking it out and chopping it up."

Join the discussion on global warming, recycling, and organic beer at The Green Miles!

To rally the troops, everyone needs a strong, compelling and exciting message. But, a little sex wouldn't hurt either. Okay, I'm not really talking about "sex"...I'm talking about rallying the troops by making caring about the environment fun, trendy, exciting--and important. Too often, environmentalists are seen as crabby, holier-than-thou finger-pointers. Gristers know that's no fun. Who wants to be a part of that?

While we can look at the original Apollo program for inspiration,(and appreciate/support the new Apollo Alliance) the reality is that going to the moon was something that the government alone could do--Americans supported that through our taxes, but we didn't sit around the dinner table making rocket components. Today our challenge is that while government and business must address climate change, the real change must come from individuals. Consumption and consumer demand drives most of the energy use. Everything we eat, wear, and use was grown, sewn, or manufactured and must be disposed of with the assistance of electricity. Changing the decisions individuals made every day (bottled water or tap? paper or plastic? bike or drive?) will ultimately make the difference.

The mantra at our household has become Think: Less! it may not rally the troops to action, but it helps to remind us that every decision has a consequence. Anyway, at the end of the day a little more fun would be good...and a little sexier message wouldn't hurt either...

-k

Pearl Street::Jason and Kristina Makansi Read Lights Out reviews

Remember "Keep America Beautiful" or Smokey the Bear says only you can prevent forest fires, or a mind is a terrible thing to waste...

I know it sounds like I'm trivializing the issue and reducing climate change to a tag line, but memorable marketing can make a difference. And that's what we're talking about...how to position the "care about climate change" message. To that end, maybe Grist should sponsor a contest to see who can come up with the best "Ad Council-type campaign" theme reflecting the overall idea that caring about climate change is cool, smart, sexy and absolutely essential. Nothing that advocates a particular approach--no paths, just goals.

-k

Pearl Street::Jason and Kristina Makansi Read Lights Out reviews

It's like we are driving a car down the freeway and a few hand scrawled signs by the side of the road say "stop, road hazard ahead." The signs get bigger but we ignore them as we top the hill and start downhill. We pass the final sign, still hand written warning us to stop and whip around a corner.

On the far side of the corner the road merges with train tracks and shoots us into a one-way downhill tunnel. We see a bright light ahead of us and we're STILL accelerating.   Downhill.

With the whole population of humans, plants, animals, fish and other biota riding with us.

We haven't even started to reduce the GROWTH in greenhouse gases. We are already feeling the impact of climate-related severe weather events. Species are going extinct every day.

Oh, and all our climate models have gone blind because the damage is past the "worst-case-scenario." So add a thick coat of grease on the windshield.

So what's that happy tune you wanted us to sing again? I recommend "Locomotive Breath" by Jethro Tull.

...In the shuffling madess
of the locomotive breath,
runs the all-time loser,
headlong to his death.
He feels the piston scraping --
steam breaking on his brow --
old Charlie stole the handle and
the train won't stop going --
no way to slow down....
It's got that proper sense of despair and futility along with a great bass line.

It's quite possible to live comfortable exiting, zero carbon lives; for all of us. The whole world's population. I'm not sure we get to do that and still have an overclass of super-wealthy. They control the worlds media and they aren't listening to Jim Hansen. So until the powers that be change their minds......  

We're still screwed.

Put the Carbon Back