ITP Grant Partner, As You Sow, is developing a project that includes planning the development of a media campaign that will dispel myths propagated by the fossil fuel industry that people need fossil fuels to thrive.

Our campaign will encourage individuals to reject the fossil fuel reliance myth and publicly ‘break up with fossil fuels.’ During our 'Pause', we learned and examined the importance of several themes that may be useful for the larger climate movement to consider going forward, one of which I will highlight here.

Message climate change with hope, opportunity, and profit. Very often, climate change is explained in terms that are negative, bearish, or forecast doomsday, for example with some version of “Things are so bad, we must act now before it’s too late!” or “It’s already too late, but we should still try to save the planet!”  This is easy to understand; most climate change news is bad to horrifying. So far climate change has only worsened. The 5 to 6 degree C climate scenarios are nightmarish, deeply depressing, and dystopian. However, working with a therapist underscored that while this is all true, it’s an unhelpful way to communicate about climate change or recruit an increased understanding of, or action on, climate change. In the face of any terrible thing, most people protect themselves from feeling pained, distressed and helpless about the overwhelming issues through the powerful coping mechanism of denial.

This is also true in relationships. When people are in denial about the toxicity or unhealthiness of relationships due to fear of the unknown or fear that no better options exist, leaving the relationship is nearly impossible. In contrast, when people focus on the likelihood of a better future and the certainty of better options, moving on is much easier.

A vision of a better outcome is much more likely to engender action than fear and doom. To escape the tunnel vision that climate change advocacy can easily engender, our mission is to demonstrate that, as important as fossil fuels have been, the end of the fossil fuel era has come, and cleaner, cheaper, healthier options are not only are possible, but are happening now. Our message will be a more attractive alternative that will empower people, motivate change, create new activists, and spur people to action.

In the case of climate change, the optimistic vision isn’t difficult to describe; in every case, climate change solutions lead to happier lives.

• Moving to electric vehicles keeps us from having to go to the gas station or spend money on gas.
• Driving less in general, because of improved transit systems or more efficient development, keeps us from wasting time in traffic while reducing emissions.
• Replacing fossil fuel with clean, renewable energy for electric power reduces cancer risk, and lengthens lives in many areas.
• Moving to clean energy for electric power also reduces smog and improves air quality, leading to less asthma, heart disease and lung cancer.
• Developing the sustainable infrastructure required to respond to climate change brings manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.
• Closing coal plants protects the health of the socioeconomically disadvantaged communities where they are located.
  
• Decarbonizing the economy leads to less economic volatility and stabilizes the economy.
  
• Reducing fossil fuel extraction preserves undeveloped public and private lands.
  

The list goes on, and on, and on.

Climate change presents an amazing opportunity to undo the negative, unforeseen outcomes of industrialization and globalization. Climate change presents the opportunity to help emerging economies not make the mistakes that created climate change in the first place. There are trillions of dollars waiting to be made in the low carbon economy. If we can keep the fear of failure from paralyzing us in the first place, climate change is the best opportunity for a ‘reset’ that humanity has ever had. As climate advocates, we invite people to envision the world on the other side of the work that has to be done to remedy climate change, a world we can make a reality in our lifetimes. That is part of what our project hopes to do.