Engaging the Public & Policymakers on Climate Change

New Models and Approaches

@MCNisbet

Goucher College

4.18.13

Matthew C. NisbetAssociate ProfessorSchool of CommunicationAmerican University Washington D.C.

Polarized Politics and Divided Views

@MCNisbetSee analysis at the Vote View blog by political scientists Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal, updated from

McCarthy, Nolan, Keith T. Poole and Howard Rosenthal. Polarized America: The Dance of Ideology and Unequal Riches.

Boston, MA: MIT Press, 2006.

Polarized Politics and Divided Views

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Polarized Politics and Divided Views

@MCNisbetGuber 2013. American Behavioral Scientist

The Economy and Our Limited Pool of Worry

@MCNisbetNisbet, 2011; Scruggs & Benegal, 2012; Brulle et al, 2012

350.org and Grassroots Mobilization

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o “We feel strongly that the Internet is best used to get

people together face-to-face. Too many organizations

have put a blind faith in the Internet, thinking that

simply having a basic online presence will

immediately transform their group to a cutting-edge

miracle of advocacy and activism.” – McKibben et

al., 2007

o “Our most consistent audience is the community of

people who care about climate change and see it as a

problem and are committed to do something about it.

The metaphor we like to use is, yes, there‟s an issue

of preaching to the choir, but imagine if you could

have the choir all singing from the same song sheet.”

– May Boeve, 350.org Executive Director

Telling Stories about Wicked Problems

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o The more complex a problem like

climate change, the more equally

plausible discourses and

narratives exist about what should

be done.

o Climate change serves as an

opportunity for different groups to

mobilize on behalf of their

values, goals and vision for

society.

o By analyzing discourses “we can at

least recognize that the sources of

our enduring disagreements…lie

within us, in our values and in our

sense of identity and purpose.”

Climate Change as Cultural Debate

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Scientists & Environmentalists as Cultural Tribe

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McKibben as American Romantic

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o Wild regions are “frequently likened to Eden itself,” and

viewed as the “one place we can turn for escape from our

own too-muchness.”

o In Nature, “the supernatural lay just beneath the surface,”

enabling people to “glimpse the face of God.” – William

Cronon

o Nature and community become instruments to argue

deeper truths: “A farmers‟ market is a sign of a „quiet

revolution‟ that will change everything. The revolution

concerns an idea – that economic growth and material things

will not make us happy.”– Richard White

McKibben as Deep Ecologist

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o Applies metaphor of “overshoot and collapse,” in which

computer models predict that human population

growth, rising consumerism, and resource depletion exceed

the carrying capacity of the planet.

o As consequence, society needs to deprioritize economic

growth, and to instead focus on quality of life.

o Societal transformation will require widespread activism

that challenges status quo. Idealizes a Jeffersonian

agrarian economy comprised of self-reliant

communities.

o Focus is on locally-based “appropriate technologies”

such as solar and wind power. Deeply suspicious of genetic

engineering and nuclear energy.

Tom Friedman and the Green Growth Perspective

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o Limits to growth can be stretched if the right policies and

reforms are adopted. Combines a focus on a “soft path”

approach with a pricing mechanism on carbon.

o For Friedman, the world is a “growth machine” that “no

one can turn off.” Need “Code Green” plan that would

create “abundant, cheap, clean, reliable electrons.”

o Social change happens “by leveraging the greatest

innovation engine God ever created, which is the combination

of American research universities, venture capital, and

the marketplace.”

o “America will have its identity back, not to mention its self-

confidence, because it will again be leading the world on

the most important strategic mission and values issue of the

day.”

Culturally Consistent Strategy & Investments

Design to Win Foundations, 2008 to 2010

@MCNisbetNisbet, 2011

The Green Prometheans

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o Question the Romantic ideal of Nature separate from

humans in the Anthropocene. Emphasize both the problem

and the opportunity in mega-cities and urban areas.

o Argue that environmentalists have long suffered from a

technological bias towards “soft path” approaches.

o Instead, climate change is an innovation problem, need to

consider a broader menu of technological options including

natural gas drilling; nuclear power; carbon capture and

storage; genetically engineered food, and geo-

engineering.

1. Expert Institutions as Honest Brokers

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Means and options focused

• Goal: Adaptation and resilience.

• Expand menu of options currently discussed.

• Provide differential information on

effectiveness, risks, costs, social implications.

Pluralistic and participatory

• Diversity of experts and stakeholders.

• Public consultation and co-learning.

Goal is to enable and empower decisions, not to

influence, persuade or limit.

2. Networks and Trust Matter

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Social

relationships, networ

ks, and identities

Trust, credibility, alienati

on relative to science-

related institutions

The uptake

and

influence of

“expert”

science-

related

knowledge

Practical

reason, localized

knowledge

Bryan Wynne

Common Criteria Used to Judge Expert Advice

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1) Does expert knowledge work? Do predictions fail?

2) Do expert claims pay attention to other available knowledge?

3) Are experts open to criticism? Admission of errors, or oversights?

4) What are the social / institutional affiliations of experts? Historical track record of trustworthiness, affiliation with industry?

5) What issues overlap or connect to lay experience?

3. Multiple Publics Matter

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Kahneman, D. (2003) In T. Frängsmyr (Ed.), Les Prix Nobel: The Nobel

Prizes 2002 (pp. 449-489). Stockholm, Sweden: Nobel Foundation.

3. Judgments and Decisions Are Context Dependent

Kahneman, D. (2003) In T. Frängsmyr (Ed.), Les Prix Nobel: The Nobel Prizes

2002 (pp. 449-489). Stockholm, Sweden: Nobel Foundation.

3. Judgments and Decisions Are Context Dependent

Maine‟s Energy Future:

Supply or Innovation Problem?

Nisbet, Maibach, & Leiserowitz (2011). American Journal of Public Health.

Nisbet, Maibach, & Leiserowitz (2011). American Journal of Public Health.

4. Rebuild Our Civic Infrastructure

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o “The idea here is not just to highlight points of

communality and sites for compromise, but also to

provide possibilities for contestation and the

reflection it can induce.”– John Dryzek

o “There is no kumbaya moment. You never get everyone

on the same page,” and you never reach consensus.

“What‟s possible is a world where different stakeholders

„get‟ that the world looks different to people who hold

different stakes.”– Jay Rosen

o “Bringing an end to our ideological arms race will

ultimately require that we force partisans out of their

comfort zone by redefining those problems in ways to

which partisans do not already know the answers.”–

Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus

Civic Capacity and Resilience

@MCNisbetBerkeley Building Resilient Regions

** Civic organizations per 10,000 people includes voluntary health organizations, social advocacy

organizations, social organizations, business associations and professional organizations, labor

unions and political groups but not churches.

**

Overall Resilience Capacity Index

@MCNisbetBerkeley Building Resilient Regions

Community Connectivity Index

@MCNisbetBerkeley Building Resilient Regions

Land Grant Universities as Engagement Hubs

@MCNisbetBerkeley Building Resilient Regions

Public Radio Stations

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* About 93 percent of the U.S. population is within the listening

area of one or more of the 975 stations that carry NPR

programming.

www.ClimateShiftProject.org

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