Why It's Important To Have Climate Conversations

When we're having conversations about climate change, the best place to start is with what we have in common, rather than what we disagree on. I still remember the very first time I was invited to speak to a Rotary Club in West Texas. I walked into the lunch and there, right in front of the room, was a giant four-foot banner of the four-way test, which encapsulates Rotarian values. And I looked at it, I thought, this is the perfect test for climate change. The impact was so profound on the people who were listening as Rotarians, that it underscored to me the incredible power of beginning with what we have in common and speaking to our hearts, rather than our heads. What that means is, whoever we are, wherever we live, whatever it is that matters to us, we are the perfect person to care about this issue and to use our voice to call for action. So, having solar panels or eating a plant-based meal or taking public transportation or even switching out your light bulbs, it all eliminates a little bit of those heat-trapping gases that would otherwise be building up in the atmosphere, wrapping an extra blanket around the plant. Now, if you go to my Instagram account, you'll see pinned to the very top of my Instagram account and my Blue Sky account, a list of the actions that individuals can take based on the social science that make the biggest difference. Number one is to have a conversation about why it matters and what we can do. I think of it as the head-to-heart-to-hands conversation. Not just polar bears and ice sheets, but what's happening in my life and to the people and places and things I love, and then what I can do and what we can do. The number one most effective, most trusted messengers are people we know. So, friends and family, we are the best messengers to people we know.