The Purpose of my Blog

The purpose of this blog is to provide context and replace cynicism with hope and educated action

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Blog Post #6 Why I Will Never Call Myself an Environmentalist (Even Though I Am)

Environmentalists are empathetic and compassionate, passionate and perseverant. They are also undervalued. But they have trouble with strategic communication. As I mentioned in my first science communicator blog post, people who care about the environment need to be more tactical. Rather than try to convince voters to protect the environment for the greater good, they need to appeal to more selfish, individualistic concerns. Instead of helping voters understand the more impactful ecosystem services that nature provides, they focus on clean air and water, which most Americans already have. That’s not entirely wrong, clean air and water are still under threat from the modern Republican Party. The Supreme Court continues to repeal essential water protections for millions of Americans. It will forever be important to maintain environmental victories already gained, but the biggest fights are for the future. And in order to win those fights, the arguments of environmentalists have to shift ...
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Blog Post #5 The Most Selfish, Hyper-Individualistic Argument as to Why You Should Care About Conservation

When most people think of an environmentalist, they think of a Greenpeace activist in a kayak, blocking an oil crew from leaving a harbor. Or they think of a literal tree-hugger. This misperception is the main weakness of environmentalists. There needs to be a revamping of the stereotype. That way, even if someone is an outright climate denier, an activist may yet be able to get their vote on conservation bills. One key to being strategic is to retire moral arguments when explaining why everyone should care about nature. People from different political and social groups are brought up differently and have different values. You’re not going to change their moral DNA.   Appealing to our desire for clean air and water won’t be enough to convince folks of the importance of conservation either. That’s because, in the United States, the majority of communities already have clean air and water. The key is to appeal to their self-interest. Everyone in the country, whether or not they have ...
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Blog Post #8 How Climicide Fosters Climate Terrorism

The most dangerous thing about climate change is that it has the potential to destabilize numerous systems in our world. If left unchecked, it could completely upend weather systems and patterns, food production, oceans, economies, disease patterns, wildlife migration patterns, global trade, governments, and mental health. When poorer countries are slammed by climate disasters it can easily turn their precarious existence from poor to desperate, causing widespread hopelessness, anger and desperation. This becomes fertile ground for climate terrorism. Climate terrorism is when a few people in a country deeply affected by climate change commit an act of violence in retaliation for climicide. Climicide occurs when a small group of wealthy oil executives in rich countries continue pumping out fossil fuels despite knowing the devastating effects. Climicide is such a disturbing phenomenon because fossil fuel companies like Shell, Exxon, BP and Chevron have known all along exactly what the bu...
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