Recently, Russell McLendon published a great article titled "How to Talk to your Uncle about Climate
Change." The article was handy enough that instead of jotting down talking points to prepare myself for the inevitable holiday dinner table discussion last month, I just emailed the article to any of my friends or relatives who I felt might fall into the same category as McLendon's uncle.
McLendon's article centers around a climate-change denying uncle who many of us may have, but in addition to speaking with climate-change denying relatives, the holidays often bring up conversations about the same topic with another segment of the population: those who do not deny climate change, who accept that it is a problem in need of solutions, yet still are generally apathetic towards it.
While polls still show that Canadians are concerned about climate change, the amount of people who express climate apathy still seem to make up a sizeable percentage of the population.
I decided to conduct a small poll amongst people I know who fall into this category about why climate change is not an issue they are too concerned with.
There were a few overwhelmingly common answers, one being: "It doesn't really affect me/I don't really think about it."
The average Canadian is not given a reason to think about climate change. While Canada is not immune from the direct impacts of climate change, we are far from being one of the most vulnerable countries, and it simply doesn't create consistent problems that cause it to be at the forefront of many Canadians' minds.
At COP 17 in Durban in South Africa last month, I had the chance to talk with numerous Africans about how climate change affects people in their communities. The conversation that followed was very different than the one you would normally have in Canada.
In Canada, the dialogue around climate change centers around questions related to jobs and the economy (as do most things these days), whereas in many parts of Africa, the questions asked are: How much draught and famine can we expect? How many populations will need to be displaced? How will subsistence farmers be able to support themselves?
If Canadians found themselves asking similar questions, and found themselves face-to-face with the direct impact of climate change on a regular basis, I think we would see Canada's climate apathy decrease.
Another common answer to the climate change dilemma is: "Technology will save us." A few people I know expressed a belief that new technological developments will solve everything. The most common answers to what advancements these would be were usually electric vehicles or renewable energy.
It's hard to argue this point, as advancements in fuel efficient vehicles and renewable energy is what is helping us transition away from fossil fuels. The question now becomes how fast will we further integrate these new technologies?
The answer to that question might depend on how much and how quickly our population demands this by either supporting them with our consumer dollars or supporting legislation that promotes them.
I've also heard: "Right now we have to choose the economy over the environment."
A commonly held belief is that we have to choose between the economy and the environment, and that if you want to curb pollution, you will also have to curb economic growth.
The truth is you cannot have a healthy economy without a stable environment. The National Round Table of the Environment and Economy estimates that climate change could cost Canada 5 billion a year by 2020. The economy depends on the planet's ability to provide resources and as climate change increasingly affects this in a negative way, it becomes more difficult for the economy to flourish.
Similarly when the economy is down it becomes increasingly difficult for individuals, industry, and government to create the policies and take the actions necessary to help move us towards development that is closer to being sustainable.
We can't choose between the environment and the economy; we need to choose both and find ways to harmonize the two.
Talking to your relatives or friends about climate change can be an uncomfortable situation. Everybody has the right to prioritize issues in their own lives, and nobody should feel talked down to by someone who is concerned about the climate apathy many Canadians feel.
On the other hand, many of us might feel if there were more people engaging in dialogue about climate change it would be harder for Canada to increasingly ignore the science of climate change and take actions like being the first country to sign, ratify, and then formally pull out of Kyoto.
Ultimately, we each get to decide whether or not we are comfortable bringing up the topic of climate change at the dinner table. And even while we endure the climate crisis, it is important to stop and be thankful for those people you care about.
If having a conversation about CO2 emissions prevents you from doing this, then perhaps the climate change discussion is best left to another time.
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What this debate needs is more actual arguments and less manipulation.
Generation gaps is an issue.
My 73 year old mother throws away her Spam cans. My 8 year old nephew asks "Why do we take home Styrofoam from restaurants?"
Otherwise if you're more like an engineer type talking to an artsy revert to Yogi Berra ""In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.""
Now pass the potatoes
Though we aren't all scientists who can quantify the impacts of our footprint, we are informed enough to understand that our world has become degraded, species are disappearing, etc through overuse and exploitation.
There is no excuse for waste or misuse of anything in our lives.
Gas guzzlers, ridiculously sized accommodations, animal products that support ancient cultural beliefs, etc, and generally taking more than we really need, have simply become synonymous with greed and poor taste.
You turn up the thermostat!
Also search for ocean acidification and fish stock collapse. Fish alone is a major food for humans. No fish means sudden population reductions.
Food is going to be a real problem.
Now, we do eat way more than we need, so reducing our meals would go a long way to keeping fed, but there's going to be a massive adjustment and it won't be pretty.
Also expect more diseases. In the north normally a cold winter prevents disease from moving northwards. This will no longer be the case. With a dwindling oil supply the pharmaceuticals required to fend them off will not be available or may benefit from resistant strains that exist already. Thus mortality will increase and life expectancy will drop.
All of this so that we can keep driving. It's beyond insane
We should all be ashamed.
The answer to the question posed is......."You don't".
Unless you are nuttier than a fruitcake.
And a colossal bore.
The true Global Warming believers treat it like a religion and wont even consider a skeptical view. I try not to even mention the junk science anymore, although there are certainly less true believers today than there were before the climategate emails
Many people need a religion, it Global Warming yours?