Curtis Brainard at the Columbia Journalism Review writes:
The Price is Right, Energy Edition
Obama, journalists tie efficiency and environmental protection to the economy
Monday morning, President Barack Obama signed two executive orders to spur an economic recovery plan founded upon clean energy and environmental protection. It is a move that is sure to please the many journalists who long ago realized that the success of sustainability goals would ultimately depend on strong financial incentives.
A poll released last week by the Pew Research Center found that addressing the nation’s energy problems ranks sixth among a list of twenty voter concerns, with sixty percent of those polled agreeing that it should be a "top priority" for government. On the other hand, concern for protecting the environment and dealing with global warming has declined precipitously in the last few years, with those issues ranking seventeenth and dead last, respectively. The takeaway message for journalists is that those "stewardship" frames will not be sufficient in terms of galvanizing support for clean energy. In the pursuit of public engagement, the press would be better advised to link sustainability issues to economic growth and "green" jobs. |
Pew noted about its survey, published January 22:
The 15-point decline in the percentage calling environmental protection a top priority this year is steep, but not unprecedented given the broader shift in public priorities. Between January 2001 and January 2002, the proportion rating environmental protection as a top priority fell by a similar amount (from 63% to 44%); a number of domestic priorities declined in importance following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. By January 2003, just 39% called environmental protection a top priority – comparable to today’s 41% – before resurging as a priority from 2006 to 2008, only to fall again this year.
The decline in the percentage calling environmental protection a top priority crosses partisan and demographic lines. For instance, only about four-in-ten women (43%) and men (39%) now say that protecting the environment should be a top priority; last January, 57% of women and 55% of men rated environmental protection as a top priority. |
In a top-notch analysis of the Pew survey, Matthew C. Nisbet at the Framing Science blog wrote:
In the context of an economic recession and two wars, absent a shift in the polls and a surge in input from a diversity of constituents, it is unlikely over the next four years that a strong majority in Congress will make climate change a top agenda priority or be willing to take the political risk to pass major policy initiatives. ...
Put simply, the problem has little to do with science literacy, a lack of respect for science, poor reporting on the part of journalists, or a decline in the science beat at news organizations. Indeed, it's time to stop blaming the public, journalists, and the media.
The communication burden instead rests with political leaders, scientists, advocates, and policy experts. Only by "reframing" the relevance of climate change in ways that connect to the specific core values of key segments of the public - and repeatedly communicating these multiple meanings through a variety of trusted media sources and opinion leaders- can the Obama administration and allies generate the widespread public engagement needed to move major policy action forward. This shift in public outreach, however, will first take a re-examination of the assumptions that have traditionally informed climate change communication efforts.
It's time to turn the page on the "war on science," "inconvenient truths," and "denier" rhetoric that were battle cries for the Left during the Bush administration and 2008 election. These public accountability frame devices rally the base and appeal to emotions, but they are also likely to be re-interpreted among the wider public as just more elite rancor.
It's also time to stop focusing narrowly on remote polar impacts, looming environmental disaster, or symbols such as polar bears. These examplars are either not personally relevant enough to most audiences, are dismissed as remote and far off in the future, or easily re-framed as "alarmism" sending interpretations back into the mental box of lingering scientific uncertainty. ...
In order to generate widespread public support for meaningful policy action, the communication challenge is to figure out how to shift the climate change focus away from the traditional frames and devices towards a new perceptual context that resonates with the values and understanding of a specific intended audience. These new meanings for climate change are likely to be key drivers of public resolve and eventual policy action. |
Since the day "environmentalism" entered the English lexicon, a major disconnect has plagued our discourse on the subject. Environmental advocates (or, at least, too many of them) as well as opinion-makers who think eco-concerns are overblown seem to believe that the economy and the environment are separate entities. They aren't. But the fact that so many believe that they are has made it easy for politicians and pundits alike to push various versions of the economy-trumps-the-environment theme. This is especially true when the consequences of not doing anything to resolve an environmental problem won't be seen for years, decades or generations.
The Obama administration didn't originate the idea, but the point of view now coming from the White House goes part way toward remedying this old disconnectedness in the public's perception. We're hearing serious talk about green jobs. Indeed, this idea, which has been discussed mostly on the fringes for the past 20 years, is rapidly becoming conventional wisdom. If only the more difficult concept of "sustainability" can gain similar traction, perhaps Americans - including quite a number of progressives - won't in the future be so quick to place the environment and global warming at or near the bottom of their priorities list.
And, then, someday further in the future, perhaps it won't require a utilitarian argument to persuade people that, for instance, polar bears deserve a place on the planet, too.
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The Overnight News Digest is posted and includes the story KBR must be accountable for Iraq deaths: senators.