Comments on: To really save the planet, stop going green http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=2498 News and Views from the Grassroots Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:20:36 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Anna Haynes http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=2498&cpage=1#comment-16504 Anna Haynes Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:27:17 +0000 http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=2498#comment-16504 Thank you Mike! The problem with most climate outreach is it ignores our innate single-action bias - so, the people it reaches do one dinky thing, and think they've pitched in. If we can only expect them to do one thing, we'd better make sure it's the most important thing possible - and your column makes it clear what that is. Get your friends and neighbors on board - buy them a subscription to a science magazine this xmas, if they're not on board yet - then share this column with them. Thank you Mike!

The problem with most climate outreach is it ignores our innate single-action bias – so, the people it reaches do one dinky thing, and think they’ve pitched in. If we can only expect them to do one thing, we’d better make sure it’s the most important thing possible – and your column makes it clear what that is.

Get your friends and neighbors on board – buy them a subscription to a science magazine this xmas, if they’re not on board yet – then share this column with them.

]]> By: Caleb E http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=2498&cpage=1#comment-16503 Caleb E Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:25:56 +0000 http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=2498#comment-16503 Whitney you've missing the point, and the hole in Mike's argument. Change, when it happens at all, comes about through the combined power of personal action and collective action. To decry either of these at the expense of the other, as Mike has done, is stupid and divisive as hell. It leaves us feeling even more fractured and weak than we were to begin with. So rather than nurse an ego-stake in this either/or cuteness, a better answer would be to encourage us to do both. Whitney you’ve missing the point, and the hole in Mike’s argument. Change, when it happens at all, comes about through the combined power of personal action and collective action. To decry either of these at the expense of the other, as Mike has done, is stupid and divisive as hell. It leaves us feeling even more fractured and weak than we were to begin with. So rather than nurse an ego-stake in this either/or cuteness, a better answer would be to encourage us to do both.

]]> By: Whitney http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=2498&cpage=1#comment-16483 Whitney Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:33:57 +0000 http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=2498#comment-16483 Wow, Caleb, thanks for your cynicism. You seem to have forgotten that democracy only works if people *participate*. Your citizenship is only as meaningful as what you do with it. Your govt. reps. are not going to come knocking on your door asking for your opinion--it's your responsibility to get out there and make them listen. Trying to change only consumer behavior is a worthy cause, but it's not sufficient for our purposes. It's obvious by now that not enough people are willing to change their behavior enough to make a difference in corporations' bottom lines, and corporations by their nature are obligated to seek profit first, so they sure won't be making voluntary dramatic changes. Therefore, to create effective sweeping change we need to push from the other direction: legislation. Mike's analogy about the Civil Rights movement is an excellent one, and one I will use. Thanks! Wow, Caleb, thanks for your cynicism. You seem to have forgotten that democracy only works if people *participate*. Your citizenship is only as meaningful as what you do with it. Your govt. reps. are not going to come knocking on your door asking for your opinion–it’s your responsibility to get out there and make them listen.

Trying to change only consumer behavior is a worthy cause, but it’s not sufficient for our purposes. It’s obvious by now that not enough people are willing to change their behavior enough to make a difference in corporations’ bottom lines, and corporations by their nature are obligated to seek profit first, so they sure won’t be making voluntary dramatic changes. Therefore, to create effective sweeping change we need to push from the other direction: legislation.

Mike’s analogy about the Civil Rights movement is an excellent one, and one I will use. Thanks!

]]> By: Mike Tidwell on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer | CCAN Blog http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=2498&cpage=1#comment-16474 Mike Tidwell on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer | CCAN Blog Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:54:59 +0000 http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=2498#comment-16474 [...] of Mike’s provocative Washington Post Op-Ed, he’s received a barrage of interview requests, from NPR to the PBS [...] [...] of Mike’s provocative Washington Post Op-Ed, he’s received a barrage of interview requests, from NPR to the PBS [...]

]]> By: Caleb E http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=2498&cpage=1#comment-16466 Caleb E Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:43:56 +0000 http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=2498#comment-16466 Following the same logic, voting should be discouraged too, for it confers far too great an impression of citizenship. Following the same logic, voting should be discouraged too, for it confers far too great an impression of citizenship.

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