Act NOW to fight Climate Change
It sometimes seems like there isn’t much we can do as individuals to fight climate change. BUT here’s one thing you can do starting now: Take the Effective Climate Conversations class from THIS! Is What We Did. Why is this an important thing to do? Read on.
THIS! finished our 10th Effective Climate Conversations class this month. Our focus here is on helping to grow an intergenerational climate movement strong enough to break the power of the fossil fuel industry.
Getting more people talking about climate change can help get BIG climate action into the Overton Window. The Overton Window is a conceptual space that determines what issues get media coverage and governmental action.
If an issue is in the Overton Window, the media covers it and government tries to deal with it. If a policy issue is outside the Overton Window, it doesn’t matter how important it is, it gets neither media attention nor governmental action.
One example of this is the $15 minimum wage. This policy was not popular in the South when it was first introduced, but it was dragged into the Overton Window by progressives like Bernie Sanders, who made it a key issue in media appearances and campaigns. In 2020, this progressive policy passed in Florida, in large part because of the consistent media coverage and government attention.
In the same way, getting people talking about climate change can help position big climate action for media attention and government action.
Effective Climate Conversations Class Gets Rave Reviews
More than 70 people have taken our Effective Climate Conversations training and had numerous conversations about climate with people in their networks. Here are some of the things they have said about the class and the capability they gained from it:
“I thought I would be intimidated about having climate conversations. But we’re taught to focus on making connections rather than conversions. This greatly reduced my anxiety and I now look to have conversations with lots of people and I enjoy them.”
“The THIS! mission mentions compelling educational experiences, a welcoming community and easy-access on-ramps to effective action. This class provides all three: the educational material is great, I feel very welcome in it and having conversations has become easy.”
“I used the skills I learned in the Effective Climate Conversations class to talk with my account manager at Chase and I was shocked at how well it went! She was really shaken by what I told her about what Chase was doing. I was a bit nervous, but I fell back on my ECC skills to help guide the conversation. I asked questions and listened. And now I have a relationship with a bank manager who actually wants to learn more about how Chase is financing climate destruction.”
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