1. Engaging the Public & Policymakers on Climate Change
New Models and Approaches
Matthew C. Nisbet
Associate Professor
School of
Communication
American University
Washington D.C.
Goucher College
4.18.13
@MCNisbet

2. Polarized Politics and Divided Views
See 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. @MCNisbet

3. Polarized Politics and Divided Views
@MCNisbet

4. Polarized Politics and Divided Views
Guber 2013. American Behavioral Scientist @MCNisbet

5. The Economy and Our Limited Pool of Worry
Nisbet, 2011; Scruggs & Benegal, 2012; Brulle et al, 2012 @MCNisbet

6. 350.org and Grassroots Mobilization
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
@MCNisbet

7. Telling Stories about Wicked Problems
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.”
@MCNisbet

8. Climate Change as Cultural Debate
@MCNisbet

9. Scientists & Environmentalists as Cultural Tribe
@MCNisbet

10. McKibben as American Romantic
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
@MCNisbet

11. McKibben as Deep Ecologist
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.
@MCNisbet

12. Tom Friedman and the Green Growth Perspective
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.”
@MCNisbet

13. Culturally Consistent Strategy & Investments
Design to Win Foundations, 2008 to 2010
Nisbet, 2011 @MCNisbet

14. The Green Prometheans
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.
@MCNisbet

15. 1. Expert Institutions as Honest Brokers
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.
@MCNisbet

16. 2. Networks and Trust Matter
Social Trust, credibility, alienati
relationships, networ on relative to science- The uptake
ks, and identities related institutions and
influence of
“expert”
science-
related
knowledge
Practical
reason, localized
knowledge
Bryan Wynne
@MCNisbet

17. Common Criteria Used to Judge Expert Advice
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?
@MCNisbet

18. 3. Multiple Publics Matter
@MCNisbet

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. Maine‟s Energy Future:
Supply or Innovation Problem?

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

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

24. 4. Rebuild Our Civic Infrastructure
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
@MCNisbet

25. Civic Capacity and Resilience
**
** 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.
Berkeley Building Resilient Regions @MCNisbet

26. Overall Resilience Capacity Index
Berkeley Building Resilient Regions @MCNisbet

27. Community Connectivity Index
Berkeley Building Resilient Regions @MCNisbet

28. Land Grant Universities as Engagement Hubs
Berkeley Building Resilient Regions @MCNisbet

29. Public Radio Stations
* 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.
@MCNisbet

30. www.ClimateShiftProject.org
@MCNisbet