I did a short, small speaking tour a few lifetimes ago (that is, before COVID), talking with small groups about climate change, generally to liberal but older/elderly crowds. I went out prepared to wag my finger at them for not doing more or for discounting the problem. Instead everyone I met was acutely aware of the issue and seriously depressed about it. They weren't inactive because they hadn't heard they were in the song, to use Bowie's wording; they were inactive because they didn't know what to do. My copy of Drawdown became my most useful prop, and people were incredibly grateful just to be told that there were actually solutions out there.
Warning people without giving them the tools to do something about it just makes folks curl up in a ball crying -- or deflect by saying it's not really a problem. A lot of the folks who don't look like they know they're in the song really do know, but without something they can do, they're going with the "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die" approach. Can you blame them?
But fixes exist, and in fact some are already working.
Ironically the clock used to be much more optimistic - from left to right to the center, it showed the number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds that had passed in the year; from the center to the right it showed the number of seconds, minutes, hours, and days left until the new year.
The clock is so absurdly precise, showing even the number of seconds its creators say we have left (do they really believe it?) that it lacks credibility. Five years is only someone's estimate or guess. Nobody can accurately predict how many days, hours, seconds (dare I say years) are available to take action. Creating less pollution is one of the reasons I no longer drive. I stopped driving more than 7 years ago and rely heavily on electric transportation (trolleys and trains). I wonder whether the clock's creators are doing as much.
I did a short, small speaking tour a few lifetimes ago (that is, before COVID), talking with small groups about climate change, generally to liberal but older/elderly crowds. I went out prepared to wag my finger at them for not doing more or for discounting the problem. Instead everyone I met was acutely aware of the issue and seriously depressed about it. They weren't inactive because they hadn't heard they were in the song, to use Bowie's wording; they were inactive because they didn't know what to do. My copy of Drawdown became my most useful prop, and people were incredibly grateful just to be told that there were actually solutions out there.
Warning people without giving them the tools to do something about it just makes folks curl up in a ball crying -- or deflect by saying it's not really a problem. A lot of the folks who don't look like they know they're in the song really do know, but without something they can do, they're going with the "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die" approach. Can you blame them?
But fixes exist, and in fact some are already working.
To me it really feels like fear mongering. This doesn’t necessarily promote change or alter opinions, but only reaffirm what you already believe.
If you feel that way about it then you're in the cohort to whom the clock's urgent message is not directed.
Ironically the clock used to be much more optimistic - from left to right to the center, it showed the number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds that had passed in the year; from the center to the right it showed the number of seconds, minutes, hours, and days left until the new year.
The clock is so absurdly precise, showing even the number of seconds its creators say we have left (do they really believe it?) that it lacks credibility. Five years is only someone's estimate or guess. Nobody can accurately predict how many days, hours, seconds (dare I say years) are available to take action. Creating less pollution is one of the reasons I no longer drive. I stopped driving more than 7 years ago and rely heavily on electric transportation (trolleys and trains). I wonder whether the clock's creators are doing as much.