The Rev. Mitchell C

. Hescox

The Evangelical Environmental N

etwork

26%

24%

18.10%

1.70%

16.10%

13.80%

Am

ericas Religious

Landscape Evangelicals

Catholics

Mainline

Jewish

Unfiliated

Others

Pew Forum

on Religion and Public Life

20%

79%

2012 Presidential Elections Evangelical

Obam

a

Rom

ney

Pew Forum

on Religion and Public Life

40%

59%

2012 Presidential Elections W

hite Catholics

Obam

a

Rom

ney

Pew Forum

on Religion and Public Life

! To date the solutions for creating a sustainable planet and m

inimizing

the most severe clim

ate impacts

have focused on priories not consistent w

ith conservative A

merican values.

! Typical Messaging

◦ Future Threat ◦ Prove The Science ◦ Establish N

ational Policy

! Conservative A

merica holds

different values.

! Change requires understanding

existing values.

! Science is not a primary value.

! Governm

ent is not a primary value.

! Ongoing N

ational Study with a

leading evangelical group and m

ajor scientific body. ! C

limate change is not even a

scientific issue – it’s political

1 Myers, N

isbet, Maibach,

Leiserowitz, 2012

! Clim

ate change m

essaging using science and governm

ent policy fuels denial.

1 Myers, N

isbet, Maibach,

Leiserowitz, 2012

! Conservative Values/B

eliefs ◦ Faith ◦ Fam

ily ◦ Life (pro-life as w

hole life) ◦ C

hildren’s Health

◦ Elected conservative leaders

! “In an extremely partisan environm

ent, R

epublican votes against environm

ental bills legitimate public

opinion opposed to action on climate

change. When the R

epublicans increase voting support for

! environmental bills, it reduces

partisanship and increases public support for actions to address clim

ate change.”

Brulle, Carm

ichael, Jenkins, Clim

ate Change (2012)

George W

. Bush

2003 - President’s E

mergency P

lan for A

IDS

Relief (P

EP

FAR

)

Rich S

tearns P

resident of World Vision

! Vincent Moyo, M

alawi country

representative for Tearfund, went

so far as say, "climate change is

turning out to be more challenging

than HIV/A

IDS." N

early 1 million

Malaw

ians are infected with H

IV or A

IDS, but the entire population of

15 million suffers from

the sym

ptoms of clim

ate change.

! Transforming C

onservative A

merica

! Who

! Why

! What

! Hope

! Who is im

pacted ! H

ealth Impacts

1 ◦ C

hildren’s Health D

omestic

◦ Children’s H

ealth International

1 Myers, N

isbet, Maibach, Leiserow

itz, 2012

! My shoes sank

deep into the crystalline sand of w

hat used to be a river. A

n elderly m

an from

Fombe village,

Malaw

i

! told me that

water stream

ed here year round w

hen he was a

child. Banana

trees and other vegetation once flourished on its banks,

! … In A

merica,

climate change

is a matter of

debate, but in places like M

alawi, it’s a

matter of life and

death.

! Who is im

pacted ! H

ealth Impacts

1 ◦ C

urrent Children’s H

ealth D

omestic

◦ Children’s H

ealth International ◦ Extrem

e Weather as H

ealth C

oncern ◦ Future G

enerations 1 Yang and Kahlor, Science Com

munication 2012

! Why are our children hurting? ◦ Engage personal experience on their surroundings – share stories ◦ C

onversation on the science ! N

ot new, understood for over a

century ! A

nswer questions

! No hype – it’s bad enough

! What to do? ◦ Personal em

powerm

ent ! C

are For Our C

hildren – now &

future

! Stewardship

! Energy Prosperity

! What to do? ◦ A

merica’s “C

an Do Spirit”

! Requires: A

ll Am

erican Effort ! R

emem

ber: Overcom

ing Past A

dversity ! 5%

Efficiency/year in Carbon U

se1

! Following Lead of A

merican

Business

! Am

erican Ingenuity 1 Too Late For Tw

o Degrees,

PriceWaterhouse C

oopers, N

ovember 2012

! What to do? ◦ Policy Efforts

! Energy Efficiency ! Energy R

esearch ! Flood Insurance ! C

ost Effective Foreign Aid

! Market B

ased Price on Carbon

! Hope ◦ Faith – A

ll things are possible ◦ B

etter Future for our children ◦ B

ipartisan Effort – working

together

! A National C

onsensus For A

ddressing Clim

ate Change

will not happen w

ithout a m

essage consistent with

conservative values delivered by creditable m

essengers.

! Brulle, R

obert, Jason Carm

ichael, J. Craig Jenkins,

Shifting public opinion on clim

ate change: an empirical

assessment of factors influencing concern over clim

ate change in the U

.S., 2002–2010, C

limatic C

hange, S

eptember 2012, Volum

e 114, Issue 2, pp 169-188;

! Myers, Teresa A

., Matthew

C. N

isbet ,Edw

ard W.

Maibach &

Anthony A

. Leiserowitz, A

public health fram

e arouses hopeful emotions about clim

ate change, C

limate C

hange (2012), 113, 1105-1112;

! Too Late For Two D

egrees?, Low carbon econom

y index, P

ricewaterhouse C

ooper, UK

, Novem

ber 2012, w

ww

.pwc.uk.

! Yang, Z. Janet, LeeAnn K

ahlor, What M

e Worry? The

Role of A

ffect in Information S

eeking and Avoidance,

Science C

omm

unication (2013), 35, 189