Happy Earth Month!
DON’T TAKE THE BAIT
Happy Earth Month! As we transition seasons and celebrate the beauty of our state, we wanted to share the best guidance and tips for discussing climate change and the need for climate justice without invoking fear or hopelessness. Please use this month’s newsletter to guide conversations with your community. Thanks to our friends at We Make the Future for researching and compiling much of this guidance.
Messaging Guidance
Frame the conversation in terms of lived experience and creation of something good (e.g., the air we breathe, the water we drink, the energy that powers our homes) instead of starting with talking about removing or mitigating the bad things (environmental hazards, parts per million, long-term effects of sea level rise).
Why?
We understand the instinct to emphasize the harms and horrors, and we know from years of research that focusing on doom and gloom demoralizes and demobilizes most people, causing them to turn away from the problem or seek only individualized solutions (such as purchasing air filters, altering daily routines) rather than take collective action.
Use the active voice, naming culprits and providing an origin story for the climate crisis. When people do NOT hear about clear, human/corporate intent behind problems, they struggle to see how deliberately constructed policy shifts could be the solution.
Why?
We must provide a clear origin story for present conditions so people do not fall back on blaming natural causes or pointing the finger at one another. It’s imperative that we name the handful of culprits behind climate change instead of naming climate change itself as an agent. People can’t go to the climate's doorstep or petition the planet for change, but there are very clear villains who pollute our environment in this story that we can target.
Combat cynicism by highlighting past and recent victories we’ve achieved by coming together.
Why?
In addition to contending with our opposition's false claims and attacks, cynicism is one of the greatest barriers to getting more people, including those who already care about the climate crisis, to take sustained action. We must cite ways we’ve taken collective action and achieved positive change recently or in past generations. This is especially critical for overcoming the understandable skepticism and despair young audiences feel to activate them in the immediate and the long term.
Make our desired destination clear by connecting action in the present with our vision for the future.
Why?
We must close with the vision of a beautiful, safe, and healthy future we want and a clear and concrete call to action connected to that destination. Who will be or should be in charge of working to repair the damage and protect our families? Rather than just diminishing some harms, we must point to the desirable outcomes (economic well-being, clean air and water, safe and thriving families) we achieve by joining together to inspire durable collective action.
More Do’s and don’ts from WMTF here.
Full Narrative
No matter what we look like or where we come from, we want our families to have the freedom to drink clean water, breathe safe air, and live in healthy communities.
For too long, fossil fuel CEOs and the politicians they pay for have spread lies about the possibility of change while they hike up our rates and pollute our surroundings, targeting the communities they think can’t fight back. But we’ve shown that the many can defeat the money by winning clean energy legislation and defeating kickbacks for polluters.
By unleashing our power in our communities, workplaces, and polling booths, we will make wealthy corporations pay what they owe and rewrite the rules so that we, the people, own the clean energy our families need.
Together, we’ll demand our leaders ensure that all in Wisconsin have the freedom to breathe easier, drink cleaner, and thrive.
Take Action
Thanks to federal climate investments, you can easily be part of the climate solution and save money. In 2022, Congress and the Biden Administration passed the largest investment in clean energy in United States history.
Visit the Wisconsin Conservation Voters' website to learn more about the benefits available to installing energy-efficient appliances and solar panels, reducing your home's energy usage, buying electric vehicles, and much more.
Climate action often starts at the local level. If you want to get involved in climate resiliency projects in your community, check out WCV's Earth Week events here or reach out to your local organizer.
Social Media
Please share and use the framework in our evergreen climate video!
We’ve compiled a playlist of our favorite songs to celebrate Earth Day, give it a listen here.
And finally, because we are All in Wisconsin and we all deserve the freedom to enjoy all the beauty and nature of our state, we wanted to share some of our favorite Wisconsin places to enjoy the outdoors. Let us know what else we should add!
Havenwoods State Forest
Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve
Cornucopia
Rock Island
Kettle Moraine
Cave of the Mounds
Chequamegon Forest
Urban Ecology Centers
Milwaukee County Domes
Wisconsin Dells Scenic River Walk
The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
EVERGREEN GUIDANCE
LEAD with shared values — such as community, safety, prosperity, equity, justice, or fairness — in a way that names race and class while bringing people together.
FOCUS on the creation of good — delivering jobs and healthcare, funding schools and communities, creating a process where every Wisconsinite can safely and freely cast our ballot, etc. — tangible positive outcomes, rather than the amelioration of harm (e.g., “provide for every child so they can achieve their dreams” instead of “fix our broken system”)
CAST ‘we the people,’ everyday Wisconsinites, as protagonists: Only by acting together can we move Wisconsin forward — in contrast to how our opposition is trying to hold us back. We turned out in record numbers to elect leaders to care for us and act in our interests. We pulled together throughout this pandemic, to deliver meals, support neighborhood businesses, support our kids and care for loved ones. That’s why it’s so important that we bring our neighbors and communities into the story, as its main actors and as active agents who can and will change the outcome.
CHARACTERIZE the opposition: Who is violating our values? How are they doing it? What is their motivation? What role does race play? These are all questions we need to answer clearly (without jargon!) in our messaging.
DEFINE + DELIVER: define this moment as a pivotal crossroads, and deliver a positive, inspirational vision for the future we will create together for a Wisconsin where we all can thrive. We believe that we will win.
AVOID the opposition frame (e.g. CRT, parental control) and PIVOT to our frames of freedom, safety, community, etc.
DO NOT REPEAT accusations, even to refute. (e.g. do not say “critical race theory is not....”)
AVOID THE ‘RECIPE’: as always, say the brownie, not the recipe. The freedom to vote, rather than the abstraction of democracy. The ability to see a doctor when we need, rather than simply saying expand healthcare.
