ESI's Laur Hesse Fisher wrote the following op-ed on September 18, 2020. The image is satellite imagery of West Coast wildfires, with Portland, Eureka, Eugene, San Francisco, and Sacramento blanked by smoke, by the European Space Agency, Sept 12, 2020.
As program director on climate change communications at MIT, I frequently have people ask me what they can do about climate change.
Today, I have a new answer: talk straight about climate change.
The California press conference on September 14 provides us with a new classic case of the importance of straight talk on climate change.
In the meeting with President Trump, California Governor Gavin Newsom attempted to link forest fires with climate change. “I’d be negligent — and this is not — and we’ve known each other too long — and, as you suggest, the working relationship, I value. We obviously feel very strongly that the hots are getting hotter, the dries are getting drier. … But, please, respect — and I know you do — the difference of opinion out here, as it relates to this fundamental issue on the issue of climate change.”
The president replied, “Absolutely.” And that was the end of the conversation. It was non-committal, it didn’t reveal anything, it didn’t change anything.
Several minutes later, the California Secretary for Natural Resources, Wade Crowfoot, took a different approach.
“We want to work with you to really recognize the changing climate and what it means to our forests, and actually work together with that science; that science is going to be key. Because if we ignore that science and sort of put our head in the sand and think it’s all about vegetation management, we’re not going to succeed together protecting Californians.”
What followed is President Trump’s now famous reply, “It’ll start getting cooler.” Crowfoot retorted, “I wish science agreed with you,” to which the President replied, “Well, I don’t think science knows, actually.”
That was not the end of the conversation. Newspapers, social media, late night talk shows blew up with commentary.
By talking straight about climate change, Mr. Crowfoot revealed the President’s position on the issue, on which he hasn’t commented in many months.
Talking straight about climate change is something everyone can do. Yet -- we don’t.
Most Americans rarely or never discuss global warming with family and friends. The estimated percentage of American adults who discuss it at least occasionally is the same as it was in 2010 -- even though the percentage of Americans who say they are "very worried" about climate change has more than doubled.
Maybe it’s because we consistently underestimate how concerned other Americans are about climate change. Even in Pennsylvania, over 70% of residents believe that it’s happening. And more than half say that a Presidential candidate's views on global warming are important to their vote.
Talking straight on climate change is something I can do, too:
- The California climate -- and the planet on average -- is getting warmer because of the amount of greenhouse gases that humans have emitted. There is no scientific evidence that suggests that the climate will start getting cooler. In fact, even if we stopped all greenhouse gas emissions today, the planet will continue to warm for some time, given how long these gases stay in our atmosphere and given the extra heat that has been taken up by the oceans.
- The science knows this. There is a consensus among scientists that human-caused global warming is happening. And there is overwhelming evidence that global warming will make it hotter and drier in California -- and other parts of the West and Midwest -- making these areas more prone to extreme drought and wildfires.
I want our President to understand the growing threats of climate change, to talk straight about those threats and work to protect Americans from them.
If you want to be able to talk straight about climate change, check the MIT Climate Primer, a Webby award winning website on the science behind the causes, risks and solutions of climate change. Want to know about how climate change impacts the U.S.? See the Fourth U.S. National Climate Assessment – vetted by 13 U.S. Federal Agencies -- which goes through the country region by region.
Laur Hesse Fisher is program director at the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, and works remotely from her home in Philadelphia, PA. She works on cross partisan climate change communication and engagement.
