This week, federal Environment Commissioner Scott Vaughan released a disheartening report, slamming the Harper government for having no plan to meet is own 2020 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets (targets that are already completely inadequate). It’s not surprising news, but adds to the feelings of desperation harbored by many.
Those of us concerned about climate change, and anxious to mobilize public support for bold action, walk a difficult line. We have to be respectful of the psychology of this time, in which the public understandably wrestles with feelings of despair and searches for hope, even as many refuse to accept what the science is telling us. Facing the realities of climate change is scary for many, and fear-based messages alone can be paralyzing. The answer is not to gloss over the seriousness of the situation, however. Rather, the answer is to engage in what our communications director Shannon Daub calls “responsible truth-telling”. (For an excellent discussion of the balance between fear and hope in climate communication, see David Roberts’ excellent essay here.)
Understanding people’s need for hope is why our Climate Justice Project has sought to communicate that policy and technological solutions are plentiful and at hand. We have also endeavored to communicate that the task before us can be accomplished in stages.
In engagements with young people in particular, I like to introduce the notion that, “We are the U-turn Generation.” The concept is this: all of us who have the courage to look the science of global warming full-on wrestle with despair. A clear understanding of what the scientific studies are telling us is that wealthy industrialized societies must be carbon-zero by 2050. Even then, we will still face the challenge of pulling accumulated GHGs out of the atmosphere, in order to get global CO2 parts per million (PPM) down to 350, if devastating ecological and social upheaval and harm is to be avoided. We are forced to live with the uncertainty of whether this Herculean global task can be accomplished. But for now, the task of this generation is the U-turn – to change the direction of the path we are on – to see global emissions slow, and over the next 30-40 years, drop to zero.
An alternative analogy sometimes invoked when explaining global warming is that of a bathtub; GHG emissions are the water coming out of the faucet, while the accumulated water in the tub represents PPM of CO2 that has built up in the atmosphere. While most of our policy attention tends to focus on turning down the tap, it is the PPM accumulated in our atmospheric tub that is truly at the root of the problem with respect to climate change. Our task for now, however, is to turn off the tap; while it will fall to the next generation to figure out how to drain the bathtub. We can do no more, but we are obliged to do no less. Will it be enough? We do not know. It is the fate of this generation to live with this ambiguity. All we can do is rally to the task at hand, knowing that time is of the essence.
This week’s sorry report is another reminder that, for now at least, necessary bold action is not occurring. Even those leaders who understand the severity of the climate crisis currently deem needed action as politically unsellable. But perhaps only for a time. If this past year — marked by the Arab Spring and the fall arrival of the Occupy movement — has taught us anything, it is that we never know when historic moments come. And when they do, that which seemed politically impossible is suddenly in play. As the science of climate change becomes more evident and destructive weather events more apparent, the public demand for change will shift, and we may well see dramatic policy change at a pace that we cannot quite imagine today.
The urgent task is to prepare for these tipping points. To lay the policy groundwork. To seed the public discourse with bold ideas, in anticipation of these moments – and they are coming – when the seemingly impossible is suddenly inescapable. There will be a transformation – a response to the climate crisis – and whether it occurs in a manner that is just and fair or unjust and repressive remains an open question. Past industrial revolutions have cast aside whole populations on the scrapheap of history. Another is coming. Our challenge is to ensure this one unfolds differently.
(This post is derived from a speech I gave at the annual meeting of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, which is viewable here.)
yvonne // May 22, 2012 at 12:35 pm
As individual citizens, we can do our best by doing things like recycling, reducing our comsumption, buying local, supporting small farmers, eating less meat, taking transit etc., but when I think about the corporations and industry and gov’t loop holes, my efforts and the efforts of other individuals seem miniscule in the big picture. We need to VOTE for change.
Alvin // May 22, 2012 at 8:28 pm
Yvonne
I have a question. Your thoughts echo what many would like to do. This is all good. Im curious who ( not names nessasarily ) are the corporations, and which govt loopholes need to be plugged. Im guessing that there are “some ” corporations that need to be challenged. Ive been in agriculture a significant part of my life.
If we are to vote for change , what kind of change do you want ? what will it look like ?
curious
Elizabeth // May 20, 2012 at 9:25 pm
If you want to convince people to jump into the freezing cold water, you have to make them believe the platform is on fire.
Hap Stephen, Stonecrest Capital Inc. In Globe & Mail Nov. 6/06 p. B9
Dan Kingsbury // May 18, 2012 at 11:57 am
It’s personal.
Yet, climate reality isn’t, until it is – and that’s key to this conversation. Everyone has their point of view that informs them until death or extinction of Homo Toxicus; do us part.
Let’s make it personal, we are sick, or soon going to be and the sea around us is sick too!
We unknowingly, are “softly” killing ourselves with cosmetics, personal care products and home cleansers, (in addition to impersonal CO2), and at the same time down the drains, go the manufactured toxins and carcinogens that continue to “softly” kill in our oceans as we fail to imagine a future different than our “status quo”. We remain in mass-delusion separate from natural world, until it becomes personal… until we see ourselves as past of the sea within us, a symbiotic world where human cells are outnumbered 10:1, per person.
This is more than climate reality, it is an identity check; who are we not to know what we are doing?
Homo Toxicus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdmsSwUZTLk 44:49 minutes
Cheers,
Dan
Christina Mader // May 18, 2012 at 9:34 am
We have to turn off the tap. The next generation’ll have to drain the bathtub.
A sound-byte. But what a helpful image to tackle global warming.
Alvin // May 18, 2012 at 12:53 am
I’m curious as to what will our world look like presuming we turn a corner and do what you are asking. Is the sky falling ? Maybe it is , but maybe other normal earthly cycles are the reason we are experiencing climate change. As a average person who trusts the scientist to tell me what is truth , I’m skeptical on their motivation. We don’t trust our political leaders. And maybe for good reason. If we turn back the clock to the early 80′s we had our then Prime Minister tell us we had a energy crisis. Hmm…. well , all it was was a new tax grab and forced higher prices because we all drank the coolaid. Quite frankly, I think we all need to do our part to be better stewards of our resources and how we use them. I think many industries have stood up to the challenge. Being in construction , I’ve personally seen the changes. What I find frustrating with the climate change extremists is the message that we are somehow bad for not doing ” enough” and the enough is by , whose standard? The debate is healthy. Our earth is constantly shifting and it seems to be shifting more then we paid attention to in the past. Maybe, just maybe the earth is shifting the way its designed to , to keep itself sustaining inspite of how we are using resources. Maybe, just maybe, we are the lucky ones who get to see first hand how the earth goes through its own radical cycle on self preservation.
My rambling thoughts
Cheers
Seth Klein // May 18, 2012 at 12:28 pm
We’ll have to simply disagree.
Elizabeth // May 20, 2012 at 9:21 pm
You can figure out how much is enough by observing effects.
Jean R. Macintyre // May 17, 2012 at 9:34 pm
Thank you for those comforting words, Seth.
I think the worst aspect of our current situation is that there are no statesmen or -women on the horizon – only politicians – some of whom I must say are doing their best. I don’t envy them the fights they must have each day in the various Question Periods.
Art Fredeen // May 17, 2012 at 4:52 pm
Thanks for this Seth,
I always take heart in knowing that others are also out there doing what they can to help us make the ‘u’-turn – an analogy I really like by the way.
Keep up the great work!
Art.
Neale Adams // May 17, 2012 at 4:45 pm
Great comments. We will do what we can do. We can do no more.
Susan Millar // May 17, 2012 at 4:29 pm
Hi Seth,
I think you strike just the right balance – facing the truth of the situation and where hope lies.
Cheers, Susan
Mark Haddock // May 17, 2012 at 2:46 pm
Wise words Seth. Much appreciated.
F Harris // May 17, 2012 at 2:41 pm
I have too many friends and acquaintances, some very well educated, who deny the science. When the heat comes home to bake, it will be too late to say “I told you so.” I do hope we can find some way to U turn.
Eradicating Ecocide in Canada - Overcoming climate despair: We are the U-turn generation // May 14, 2012 at 9:50 am
[...] Seth Klein Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives [...]
Beth // May 17, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Joanna Macy calls this type of dispair “Pain for Earth”. This is what it feels like to me – a physical heaviness and pain in my chest. And yes, it can be debilitating. Especially concerning is the point you raise towards the end of your post. Will our transition/U-turn be equitable and fair or repressive? While in grad school, a wise woman asked me, “How will your life be part of the solution?” She said this very ‘matter-of-fact’, similar to how others asked what I would do when I graduated. I realized that no matter what life I choose, I can be part of the solution – in work, in advocacy, in my home, and in social circles. I will admit that I avoid climate change talks these days. I’ve heard the science and it terrifies me. Rather, I think we need to ask ourselves how we will be part of the solution. Each of us has abilities, talents, skills and knowledge that we can use to bring about the “U-turn” required.