Thanks, Joel for yet another thought-provoking post. In response to the question you raise about how to change the conversation about climate change and how to make the message more effective, it's obviously necessary to make the issue personally relevant -- and that will be different from person to person. There's been a lot of news articles and reports that feature hard data but the more data we push, in some ways the more distant and unemotional the news becomes -- and without emotional engagement, we cannot achieve personal relevance. That's one of the reasons why promoting the climate change message through social media can be so powerful. The Hopenhagen campaign is a perfect example.

Submitted by @ckawa

Yes, much is right I read about the lack of information and education among American consumers. However it might be a much to easy conclusion and a kind of false belief to assume that this will change the picture instantly.
Taking a perspective from my home country Germany and other European nations I would agree that the general level of information and education is higher. However did this alone make people act and decide differently already? Not really. What simply changes the picture is the fact, that a German consumer pays $9 for a gallon at the fuel station, which makes him driving different cars in a different way and let him consider twice to walk or take the bike sometimes. Keep in mind he pays 75 cent(!) for a plastic bag in his grocery store which will easily urge him to bring his own. He need to pay for the size of his trash container which again may motivate him to reduce his garbage by leaving waste at stores (he is allowed to do that) or simply buying products with less packaging. Finally all the great stories you hear about Germany's renewable energy sector, all working only due to incentives of doing the right thing.
The list can be easily continued but will result in the same conclusion: Consumers, households and companies independent how well they are educated and informed will turn their attitudes into action when they have an answer on the question "What's in there for me?"

Hi Joel,

Thank you for your post. We definitely need to figure out the best ways to communicate on climate to the public and it's great that organizations are teaming up to do just that.

I think it's also important, though, to frame messages differently depending on whom you're talking to, and to make an effort to engage people that have typically been left out of the conversation.

This can't be about the environment; it has to be about people.

Thanks again!
Kara
http://ecoamerica.typepad.com/blog/