Leafing Out

Who’s losing interest in global warming?

Apparently, a lot of Americans.

“The latest in an annual series of polls from the Pew Research Center on people’s top priorities for their elected leaders shows that America and President Obama are completely out of sync on human-caused global warming,” wrote reporter Andrew C. Revkin in his Jan. 22 posting of the New York Times Dot Earth blog. “Mr. Obama stressed the issue throughout his campaign and several times in his inaugural speech, mentioning stabilizing climate in the same breath as preventing nuclear conflict at one point,” Revkin said.

So President Obama did–and to a cool reception, at that. I joined the million or so people on the National Mall on inauguration day, and despite widespread cheering during many parts of Obama’s speech, the crowd was mysteriously silent whenever he mentioned fighting climate change.

Revkin’s post goes on to say that the 1,503 adults who took the survey ranked global warming as the last issue out of 20. Not surprisingly, 85 percent listed the economy as the highest priority; global warming captured only 30 percent of the vote.

So the inauguration cheers–or lack thereof–were representative. Why aren’t people concerned about the environment?

I have some theories:

• First, on the surface, everything looks fine. The weather is variable, but weather always is, so why worry?
• Second, the previous administration, under the influence of powerful fossil fuels interests, mixed policy with science for years, funding scientists who refuted humans’ influence on global warming and spinning the science in government environmental reports. The lack of true information has cast unfounded doubt on the science surrounding climate change, and confused the public.
• Third, most environmental communications aren’t doing the trick. Most of the environmental messages we hear are feel-good messages: “Here are 10 easy things you can do to save the planet.” While well intentioned, these messages do not convey the seriousness of the situation. They don’t say how climate change affects you and me, nor do they share the co-benefits of a lifestyle that’s friendly to the planet. So people view environmental action as optional, charitable efforts, to which it’s easy to say, “No thank you; I don’t feel like giving today.”

Why should we be cheering President Obama’s plans to address climate change? Because climate change is real, it is manmade, it is serious, and it will affect all of us.

Changes in weather patterns don’t just give us the possibility of a good tan in January. They also bring the possibility of drought that makes land uninhabitable, crop failure and food shortages, lethal heat waves, intense hurricanes, increased risk of disease, and more.

What’s the benefit to you and me of slowing climate change? Life on a planet whose weather behaves more or less the same for us, our children, and our children’s children as it did for our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.

Cheers to that.