The majority of voters support US global engagement on climate change. Following the presidential election, researchers at Yale and George Mason Universities found that seven in ten (69%) of registered voters agree with US participation in the Paris agreement on reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, including just more than half (51%) of Republicans. In this talk, drawing on my social media research on discourse about the COP21 Paris climate talks, protest over the Dakota Access Pipeline and hydraulic fracturing, as well as the broader field of climate change communication, I’ll explore ways in which we can connect meaningfully on climate action and energy issues in an era marked by political polarization on the issues.

1. Jill
Hopke
DePaul
Alumni
University
April
8,
2017
Connec?ng
on
climate
and
energy:
Finding
common
ground
in
an
era
of
poli?cal
polariza?on

2. • What’s
at
stake
• Social
media
on
DAPL
and
Standing
Rock
• Comparing
presiden?al
rhetoric
on
climate
change
• Communica?ng
on
climate
change
Talk
Outline

3. What’s
at
Stake?

4.
NASA
[NASA].
(2017,
Jan.
18).
2016
is
the
third
year
in
a
row
to
set
a
new
record
for
global
average
surface
temperatures.
[Tweet].
Retrieved
from
hXps://twiXer.com/NASAClimate/status/821762849496186880

5.
Unsplash.
(2015,
Feb.
8).
[Person
walking
pipeline]
[Photograph].
Retrieved
from
hDps://pixabay.com/en/person-­‐walking-­‐pipeline-­‐tube-­‐steel-­‐731319/

6.
My
research
-­‐
Conflict
over
energy
development
and
climate
ac?on
on
social
media
2013
in
New
Brunswick,
Canada
and
2016/17
in
North
Dakota,
United
States

7.
TwiXer
post
volume,
April
1,
2016
to
March
30,
2017

8.
March
28:
President
Trump
rolls
back
Obama
era
climate
policies

9. Comparing
Past
Presiden?al
Rhetoric
on
Climate
Change

10. Origins
of
the
study
of
rhetoric
• Athens
origins
– Discovery
of
available
means
of
persuasion
in
any
specific
situa?on
– Socially
/
publically
oriented
and
contextual
• Tropes
– Turn
in
meaning
(metaphor,
irony)
• Metaphor
– Mother
Nature,
Spaceship
Earth

11. Spaceship
Earth
metaphor
Apollo
8:
Christmas
at
the
Moon
“Earthrise”
(Dec.
24,
1968)
Image
source:
hXps://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/apollo_8.html

12. 3
aspects
to
a
rhetorical
situa?on
• Exigency
– Set
of
condi?ons
making
up
a
“problem”
take
on
sense
of
urgency
• Audience
– People
addressed
and
THEIR
beliefs
/
worldviews
• Constraints
– Limita?ons
(cultural,
etc.)
and
context

13. Dominant
vs.
cri?cal
discourses
• Dominant
Discourse
– Recurring
paXern
of
speaking
about
something
that
has
“taken-­‐for-­‐granted”
status
(e.g.
economic
growth
is
good)
• Cri?cal
Discourse
– Recurring
ways
of
speaking
that
challenge
dominant
discourse

14. • George
H.
W.
Bush
– Spoke
to
Intergovernmental
Panel
on
Climate
Change
(IPCC)
in
1990
• Barack
Obama
– U.S.
leadership
at
COP21
2015
• Comparing
presiden?al
rhetoric
ac?vity
Some
history:
Presiden?al
ac?on
on
climate
Former
President
George
H.
W.
Bush
signing
the
UN
Framework
Conven?on
on
Climate
Change
in
1992
(Photo
credit:
UN
Photos)

15. Communica?ng
on
Climate
Science

16. Communica?ng
climate
science
Leiserowitz,
A.,
Maibach,
E.,
Roser-­‐Renouf,
C.,
Feinberg,
G.
&
Rosenthal,
S.
(2015)
Global
Warming’s
Six
Americas,
March
2015.
Yale
University
and
George
Mason
University.
New
Haven,
CT:
Yale
Program
on
Climate
Change
Communica?on.

17. • Peripheral
/
heuris?c
informa?on
processing
– Visuals,
humor,
credible
sources
• Posi?ve
social
norms
– Climate-­‐friendly
behaviors
are
common
• Show
rather
than
tell
• Show
localized
climate
impacts
• Use
storytelling
/
narra?ves
Tailoring
appeals
to
“disengaged”
publics

18. • Context
of
“disinforma?on
campaigns”
– Highly
poli?cized
issue
– False
memes,
inaccurate
mental
models
• “Vaccine”
against
false
claims
– Cultural
cogni?on
theory
–
a4tudinal
inocula?on
• Convey
consensus
of
climate
scien?sts
on
human-­‐caused
climate
change
– “97%
of
climate
scien?sts
have
concluded
that…”
Inocula?ng
against
misinforma?on
Source:
van
der
Linden,
S.,
Leiserowitz,
A.,
Rosenthal,
S.,
and
Maibach,
E.
Inocula?ng
the
Public
against
Misinforma?on
about
Climate
Change.
Global
Challenges:
Climate
Change.
2017.
DOI:
10.1002/gch2.201600008.
Retrieved
from
hXp://climatecommunica?on.yale.edu/publica?ons/inoculate-­‐public-­‐misinforma?on-­‐climate-­‐change/

19. • How
to
counter-­‐act
false
claiming
on
climate
science?
– Pre-­‐emp?vely
highlight
misinforma?on
and
refute
counter-­‐arguments
– “Inocula>on
messages”
help,
effec?ve
across
poli?cal
ideology
affilia?ons
Inocula?ng
against
misinforma?on
Source:
van
der
Linden,
S.,
Leiserowitz,
A.,
Rosenthal,
S.,
and
Maibach,
E.
Inocula?ng
the
Public
against
Misinforma?on
about
Climate
Change.
Global
Challenges:
Climate
Change.
2017.
DOI:
10.1002/gch2.201600008.
Retrieved
from
hXp://climatecommunica?on.yale.edu/publica?ons/inoculate-­‐public-­‐misinforma?on-­‐climate-­‐change/

20. • Moral
framing
new
for
most
people
in
US
• “Six
Americas”
views:
– Fairly
high
on
religiosity
/
spirituality
– Similar
levels
of
empathy
for
others
– Similar
levels
of
consumerist
values
– Caring
for
poor,
environment
and
future
genera?ons
important,
higher
with
“concerned”
Moral
framing
and
religious
beliefs
Source:
Roser-­‐Renouf,
C.,
Maibach,
E.,
Leiserowitz,
A.,
Feinberg,
G.,
&
Rosenthal,
S
(2016).
Faith,
Morality
and
the
Environment:
Portraits
of
Global
Warming's
Six
Americas.
Yale
University
and
George
Mason
University.
New
Haven,
CT:
Yale
Program
on
Climate
Change
Communica?on.

21. "The
climate
is
a
common
good,
belonging
to
all
and
meant
for
all.”
"Never
have
we
so
hurt
and
mistreated
our
common
home
as
we
have
in
the
last
200
years.”
"We
need
to
strengthen
the
convic?on
that
we
are
one
single
human
family."
~
Pope
Francis;
Excerpts
from
Laudato
Si’
(2015)

22. Visualizing
Climate
Change

23. Climate
change
as
a
distant,
far-­‐off
problem?

24. • Climate
change
is
hard
to
visualize
– Intangible
and
abstract,
large-­‐scale
global
problem
• Problem
with
polar
bears
– Gives
impression
the
problem
is
far
off
and
distant
• Study
of
how
people
respond
to
climate
visuals
– 2015:
Discussion
groups
in
London
(2)
and
Berlin
(2)
– Interna?onal
online
survey
(n=3,014)
Going
beyond
polar
bears
Source:
Corner,
A.,
Webster,
R.
&
Teriete,
C.
(2015).
Climate
Visuals:
Seven
principles
for
visual
climate
change
communica>on
(based
on
interna>onal
social
research).
Oxford:
Climate
Outreach.

25. • Show
real
people
– Don’t
stage!
• Tell
new
stories
– “Classic”
images
=
fa?gue
– Go
for
less
familiar,
thought-­‐provoking
Climate
visuals:
Key
findings
“Kids
Plan?ng
Flowers
Our
research
found
that
images
of
children
engaging
in
climate-­‐related
ac?ons
generated
posi?ve
emo?onal
responses.”
Source:
hXp://www.climatevisuals.org/galleries/new-­‐stories/#gallery/
gallery-­‐images-­‐that-­‐tell-­‐a-­‐new-­‐story/127

26. • Show
causes
at
scale
– People
don’t
understand
links
to
daily
life
• Climate
impacts
=
emo?on
/
overwhelming
– Put
with
ac?ons
people
can
take
Climate
visuals:
Key
findings
“Traffic
Jam
USA
Our
research
found
that
people
oyen
had
difficulty
linking
individual
behaviours
to
climate
change
-­‐
so
showing
personal
behaviours
'at
scale'
is
more
effec?ve.”
Source:
hXps://www.flickr.com/photos/florian_the_great/5325929187

27. • Show
localized
impacts
– Balance
with
bigger
picture
• Be
careful
with
protest
imagery
– Most
people
don’t
iden?fy
with
Climate
visuals:
Key
findings
Image
source:
hXp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/21/peoples-­‐climate-­‐
march_n_5857902.html

28. • Lastly
but
important!
Understand
your
audience.
– For
people
on
poli?cal
right,
“distant”
climate
impacts
=
flaXer
emo?onal
response
– Images
showing
climate
solu?ons
=
mostly
posi?ve
emo?ons
for
individuals
across
poli?cal
ideology
Climate
visuals:
Key
findings

29. Ques?ons?
Jill
Hopke,
Ph.D.
jhopke@depaul.edu