Guest columnist Joe Silverman: Climate in the court of public opinion

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Published: 01-03-2025 11:02 PM |
Despite a year with record-breaking heat waves, wildfires, storms and floods, President-elect Donald Trump promises to drill-baby-drill. These policies will bring us closer to a climate tipping point, which is a threshold that, when crossed, will cause large, accelerating and, possibly, irreversible changes in the Earth’s ecosystems.
Climate change was not on the ballot this year and mentioned only in passing, even by Democrats, but there are lessons from the election that point to a path forward. Trump effectively ran on a campaign of fear about immigration; however, scientists, and those who listen to them, know that climate change is a more serious threat to our physical and economic security, as well as a key contributor to mass migrations. Many Americans have experienced climate-fueled catastrophes but, even those not directly impacted by those, recognize that the weather is changing; although, many have not “connected the dots” between those changes and human-caused global warming nor do they recognize what those changes portend for the future.
I am convinced that the fate of the planet will be decided in the court of public opinion but, sadly, a compelling case for urgent action has not yet been made. Climate change has consistently been the top priority for about 4% of voters and just 28% of Americans regularly hear about it in the news. While many are appropriately alarmed, the messaging on climate has, to date, been mostly preaching-to-the-choir.
For decades, climate activists wondered whether the next extreme-weather disaster would finally turn the tide of public opinion but, instead, America stands out among all nations for the degree of polarization on this issue. Nevertheless, I believe that it could be the common enemy that unites us.
What’s needed is a public messaging campaign that rivals in scope the onslaught of advertising in the recent election; a campaign that educates the misinformed, engages the disengaged, convinces the skeptical, and motivates those who are concerned but passive. In addition to raising alarm about accelerating and intensifying catastrophes, this campaign would show the dangers that global warming poses to the people and places we love — our children, oceans and forests among them.
The facts are clear and the evidence in support of those facts are well-known. While it’s true that the Earth’s climate has always changed, the difference now is the rapid pace at which those are happening. Changes that occurred over tens of thousands of years are now transpiring within our lifetimes. Climate science is factual, not political, and that’s the first (of many) myths that needs to be discounted and dismissed.
Trump’s lies were accepted as true because they were repeated constantly and reinforced by right-wing and social media. An effective climate campaign would similarly flood social and traditional media across multiple platforms. Half-measures will not work. There is an army of environmentally committed and talented professionals and artists ready to be enlisted and to create impactful and engaging content.
When faced with an overwhelming problem about which the individual has no control, it’s human nature to dismiss the issue and move onto something else. A fire alarm in a building is not helpful unless the exits are clearly marked and accessible. If fear is elicited about the dangers, it’s necessary to also provide a range of reasonable and practical responses. This information is readily available in numerous sources.
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Insurance companies spend billions on advertising while they are withdrawing services in areas prone to climate disasters and home insurance rates are soaring. Philanthropic spending in the U.S. exceeds $500 billion a year but less than 2% of global philanthropy goes to climate change mitigation. Clearly, there is enough wealth to fund a large, public education, climate campaign.
The other takeaway from the election is that the sources of information for many Americans has shifted away from mainstream to alternative and social media. Connecting with that audience would be challenging and reaching them might only be possible with help from the Big Tech corporations and media giants that have access to nearly everyone’s devices. The algorithms that target ad placements for consumer spending could, instead, “sell” the public on the truth and urgency of climate change. A percentage of their advertising could be allocated for this purpose. In his commencement speech at Tulane University in 2019, Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, acknowledged to the graduates that his generation had failed theirs by not acting sooner to curb the devastating impacts of climate change, to which I say: Better late than never.
“Public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed.” Abraham Lincoln
Joe Silverman lives in Florence.