On September 16th, 2019, Duluth’s AICHO hosted a community forum to discuss the way climate and climate change are covered in the media. The impetus for this forum was, in part, Columbia Journalism Review’s Covering Climate Now initiative, an ongoing project to track and critique the quality of coverage climate stories receive.
I joined ten other citizen activists as part of a panel discussion. Though none of us are journalists, all of us — and all 60+ attendees — have a tremendous investment in how our news sources report on climate issues.
Below is an abbreviated version of my opening remarks for the event.
Climate>Duluth Forum Remarks
I’m not a climate scientist or a reporter. Most of my career has been spent in design and architecture, and I’ve learned a lot about how buildings impact and are impacted by energy consumption and climate change. I am pretty comfortable talking about what we need to do with our buildings to participate in the mitigation of climate change. I’m now learning to be comfortable talking about everything else we need to do to participate in the mitigation of climate change.
A year ago I made a shift in both my profession and my personal life and it was triggered by the compounding crises of climate change and systemic inequities in our society. I think I was able to do this because of the ongoing access I’ve had to accurate information about climate change and injustice, and the time I’ve had to devote myself to learning about it. I recognize that I come from a position of privilege, and I want to acknowledge that as I share my answers to the two questions put to us tonight.
Why is news and information about climate change important to the City of Duluth and its citizens?
Because climate change isn’t something located far away, and in the future. It’s right here and right now. Climate change is impacting us now, and we only have a short window of time to make radical changes if we have any hope of avoiding unimaginable devastation. If the news and information that we acquire is timely, consistent and accurate, then we can begin to understand three critical aspects of climate change and its importance to us:
what is happening: how climate change works, so to speak;
what the impacts and effects of climate change are right now, and what they may well be in the future; and
what solutions are needed and available, being researched, tested, working (or not).
A number of years ago I read a book called “Merchants of Doubt” by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway. The book tells the true stories of how a pretty small number of people in power used that power to mislead the public, the news media and our elected officials about issues critical to the health of our society. They did this largely for their own short-term financial gain and that of specific industries. This included the truth about climate change. The repercussions of that campaign of misinformation (some would call lies) still reverberate today, and can be felt in the continued coverage and questions about the science, costs, and effects of global warming.
The book changed my approach to the news and information I consume, and spurred me to look more critically and deeply for credible information and reporting, about climate change and most other things.
Accurate reporting gives us the information we urgently need, as climate change has reached crisis proportions. Current information about changing circumstances is a critical component of understanding the issues, preparing for and responding to them, and creating policy and action on a scale commensurate with the crisis.
“… pretty much every aspect of our economy would have to change if we were to decide to take climate change seriously, and there are many powerful interests that like things as they are. Not least the fossil fuel corporations, which have funded a decades-long machine of disinformation, obfuscation and straight-up lies about the reality of climate change.”
-Naomi Klein, Sept. 14, 2019, The Star (Toronto)
Since so much “information” put forth still comes from the industries that benefit from maintaining the status quo, credible and unbiased reporting is needed more than ever. With that in mind, I want to say thank you to the news organizations and reporters participating in the Covering Climate Now project, and to the reporters covering our event tonight. I hope your reporting is accurate, relevant and inclusive, and that you are paid fairly for your work.
How can we use this news and information to create a more resilient, sustainable and environmentally just city?
The news can help people see their connection to each other and the greater society, and feel more engaged and less isolated. When citizens come to view their neighbors as themselves (meaning: we’re all in this together), I think that more equitable solutions - for anything - are supported.
When we come to understand the universality and intertwined nature of the climate crisis and systemic injustices, we begin to recognize that the most effective solutions—some argue the only effective solutions—will come from addressing the inequities within our communities. If our policies and programs reduce or eliminate barriers to participation, and focus efforts proportionally on those with the most need, then the transition we all need can be faster, more widespread, and more resilient.
We can use news and information to learn from others’ successes and their mistakes. We can find viable models relevant to our own communities; we don’t need to invent all the solutions ourselves.
For example, most people in Duluth heat their homes with fossil fuels (natural gas, liquid propane, or, to a lesser extent, fuel oil). The city has a tremendous amount of infrastructure around natural gas, and needs a plan to drastically reduce our reliance on this nonrenewable resource. On August 28, Miguel Otarola wrote an excellent article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about Minneapolis’ similar reliance on natural gas and its negative impact on the city’s CO2 emissions. He provides a good analysis of the issue, and references the work of the Minneapolis sustainability coordinator, the city council and the St. Paul-based non-profit Fresh Energy.
All natural gas used in Minnesota is imported. A transition away from natural gas can also be a transition toward using more energy produced in Minnesota. Minnesota and other places reliant on fossil fuels for space and water heating need to disrupt this embedded system and move toward replacing the use of natural gas with electricity, an approach that is only now becoming viable with the massive shift toward renewably-generated electricity coupled with improving building efficiency.
Using the news and information is not a static activity. Every day there are more events that are direct or indirect effects of climate change. These include storms, temperature extremes, droughts, floods, crop losses, and refugee migrations. And thankfully, every day solutions are being investigated, created, legislated, and implemented.
As we seek out news and information, and seek to use information, I think we need two important tools. The first is critical thinking, to determine what information is accurate, relevant and applicable. The second is community. I believe that only through our collective voices and actions will we create and implement the solutions we need.
Trevor Noah recently interviewed activist Greta Thunberg. He asked her what people should be doing about climate change. She said that if she were to choose one thing right now that everyone should do it would be “to inform yourselves, to try to understand the situation.” She then added that we should use our voices and the power of democracy to “try to push for a political movement that doesn’t exist, because the politics needed to ‘fix this’ (don’t) exist today.”
I want to close by echoing Greta and asking all of us here to do two things: first, to continue to inform ourselves, to try to understand the situation. And second, to use this information and understanding to push for local legislation and local actions appropriate for this crisis and this community.