@WiedenhoferD @jasonhickel @DrSimEvans That's a very good & important question.
I'm concerned about & oppose telling people that solving climate change requires them to reduce their consumption because the evidence is that it alienates people & generates political blowback, making it *harder* to get climate action.
I'm concerned about & oppose telling people that solving climate change requires them to reduce their consumption because the evidence is that it alienates people & generates political blowback, making it *harder* to get climate action.
@WiedenhoferD @jasonhickel @DrSimEvans There is evidence from numerous studies & the real world that messages that tie climate action to a requirement to reduce consumption have the effect of:
1. Reducing belief that climate change is human-caused and/or serious.
2. Pushing moderates and "less concerned" away. 2/n
1. Reducing belief that climate change is human-caused and/or serious.
2. Pushing moderates and "less concerned" away. 2/n
@WiedenhoferD @jasonhickel @DrSimEvans On the flip side, messages *and* policies that focus on scaling clean solutions and on innovation to make clean technologies better:
1. Test far better in lab studies.
2. On the policy side, have been far more likely to be passed. 3/n
1. Test far better in lab studies.
2. On the policy side, have been far more likely to be passed. 3/n
@WiedenhoferD @jasonhickel @DrSimEvans In essence, I believe de-growth messages and messages that people must reduce emissions are counter-productive to enacting climate policy, and overall slow down climate action.
Those messages do fire up the left & climate committed. But the necessary demographic is the middle.
Those messages do fire up the left & climate committed. But the necessary demographic is the middle.
@WiedenhoferD @jasonhickel @DrSimEvans For some evidence on this, see, for instance "solution aversion" and how focusing on de-growth type solutions alienates conservatives.
This Chris Mooney article is good: washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2…
This Chris Mooney article is good: washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2…
@WiedenhoferD @jasonhickel @DrSimEvans Another good read on solution aversion and how messages that we must reduce consumption to solve climate change *backfire* and hurt climate action is this piece by @Revkin dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/how…
@WiedenhoferD @jasonhickel @DrSimEvans @Revkin Finally, I show evidence that policies that are *pro* clean energy are wildly more popular than policies that focus on reducing consumption (and far more likely to have been passed) in the US in the second half of this article.
Search for "bipartisan". techcrunch.com/2019/02/15/how…
Search for "bipartisan". techcrunch.com/2019/02/15/how…
