The good folks at Georgia Forest Watch wonder what you think about this poster. They’ve got it on display at Patagonia in Atlanta, where they’re competing for a nice $4,000 grant. I don’t know what the other groups have on display, so we’ll have to evaluate this one on its own merits. So weigh in — would you vote for them? If not, why not?
Thanks to Lori, the group’s outreach director, for volunteering her work!
Here’s a video sure to get your blood boiling. Matt Chancey is running for Public Service Commission in the state of Alabama, and he’s running on a pro-nuke anti-enviro platform. Watch this video and check out all the unkind things he has to say about you:
Most of my relatives live in Alabama, and I’m sure they will all vote for Matt and take great pleasure in telling me about it at the next wedding or funeral. So it goes. But as a general matter, social research suggests that if Alabama conservationists play their cards right, Matt’s accusations won’t do lasting damage to their reputation. Here are some tips:
Don’ts
Chancey has called you “radical.” Don’t deny it! The more you deny it, the more some voters will believe Chancey. You should response by saying “we exercise our freedom of speech to protect the health of Alabama families.”
Chancey has called you the “liberal elite.” That’s a charge that might stick, so watch yourself. It’s not a great time to throw around a bunch of elite vocabulary like “watershed,” “riparian,” “biodiversity,” etc… you’ll only prove his point if you do. (It’s never a great time to throw around elite vocabulary in front of everyday citizens)
Do
Post comments on Chancey’s YouTube video accusing him of being a shill for corporations that want to build dangerous and polluting nuclear power plants that threaten the health and safety of Alabama families (assuming you sincerely believe that to be the case, of course).
Point out that the corporations Chancey is shilling for are accountable to anonymous shareholders rather than local citizens.
Do point out that the responsible way for the state to help residents save money is by investing in conservation and clean, renewable energy, not by giving handouts to wealthy corporations.
Thanks to Katie at the Alabama Rivers Alliance for the great tip on this video.
Check out these ads, which reveal a great deal about different attitudes that polluters and conservationists bring to the task of persuading the public.
Social research consistently find that corporations, especially those in the fossil fuel business, have a serious credibility gap with the public. So what do they do? They work hard to put the best face possible on their business — your face. Polluters create ads that use pictures and words to tell heartwarming stories that link their business to everyday citizens’ families and children. And then they get feedback from everyday citizens before they run them, just to make sure they got it right. Check out the faces in these two examples:
Source: EnergyTomorrow Coalition
Social research consistently finds that nature protection and pollution control experts enjoy pretty good credibility with everyday citizens on our business. So what do we do? We create cryptic, sterile ads that portray the environment as remote and impersonal. We skip the step of getting feedback everyday citizens and run the ads after our peers approve them. And then we wonder why ads like the one below don’t seem to make much difference in a public policy debate:
Bottom line here: Polluters do it better because they try harder. And that’s one of the reasons they can overcome their credibility gap and beat us on vital policy matters.
It was my great pleasure to return to the Water Resources Education Network to present Water Words That Work. The presentation has evolved and changed a great deal since the first time I gave it, hasn’t it?
Click here to download the file to your computer.
