May 31st 2022
Hi Folks,
Our next climate change meeting will be June 7th at 10am at the Ely Senior Center. The TG presentation that day will be given by Grant Hauschild, the DFL candidate for Minnesota’s senate seat currently held by Tom Bakk who is retiring. Grant was invited to our CC meeting but was unable to fit us into his schedule. Save your climate questions for him at Tuesday Group.
For our 10am meeting here are some suggestions. I would like to take some time to reflect on how we feel about the current climate situation and how we talk to others about climate. Talking to others is important. We have a better chance of achieving useful goals when more people are informed. There is so much climate news and it’s the bad news that gets the headlines. Sometimes it is useful to concentrate on the good news for talking points and to keep our spirits up.
Citizens’ Climate Lobby has recently discussed how to use “The Six Americas” as a conversation starter. This comes from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Most people have heard about climate change (aka “Global Warming”) and most have some opinion about how serious it is. The crew at Yale asked 1000 people how they felt on a scale that goes from
Alarmed to Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, Doubtful and Dismissive. The sizes of the bubbles show their results.
Where are you on this scale? Since you are reading this email I would guess you are in the Alarmed or Concerned categories. Ask your friends and neighbors. CCLers have been using this at tabling events with good success in getting people engaged. You can read about the program here: Six Americas With only about 10% in the “dismissive” category that means that most people are willing to consider a discussion.
Another approach that maybe useful is inspired by the Peanuts cartoon where Lucy gives Climate Anxiety Advice in lieu of 
Psychiatric Advice for 5¢. You might make enough to buy a cup of coffee. Anyone want to try this at the farmers market? What advice or counselling would you give? Here is a link: Climate Anxiety Advice 5¢
Katharine Hayhoe is a leader in how to talk about climate. She is a Prof of Climate Science in Texas. Here is her biography: Heyhoe bio She is an author and popular public speaker. Her most recent book is “Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World”. If you search for her on YouTube there is a lot of material. I have picked out 2 videos. The first, which will give you a quick taste of her style, is an 8 minute segment with Jimmy Kimmel KH with Kimmel The next is a longer interview with Citizens’ Climate Lobby about her recent book “Saving Us”. If you don’t have time to watch it all go to 21 minutes and watch a few minutes from there. KH with CCL
If you have favorite authors, speakers that help you understand our climate while staying positive please share!
Hope to see you June 7th
Thanks
Barb
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