Essay by Eric Worrall
A reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald has noticed that blocking roads and disrupting trains only makes people uncomfortable.
Climate ‘disruptive action’ spreads only to converted people
Rebecca Huntley
Researcher and author March 28, 2022 – 3:30 p.mTrue passion for a cause can lead to extreme behavior. But if the aim is to change hearts and minds, should protesters act decisively to see if their behavior attracts the interest and admiration of those who are still convinced. merely preaching to converts?
Last week, a climate activist group Blockade Australia conducted Demonstration In Sydney’s Botany Bay, cranes climb and disrupt rush hour traffic day in and day out. One was jailed for four months today. The group uses so-called “disruptive action” to try to disrupt the transportation infrastructure around the coal industry, if only for a moment. Burning coal and gas is the main cause of climate change and the main cause of our country’s emissions.
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But my research, and other studies on public attitudes to climate, show that the people the climate movement needs to win over are the kinds of people turned off by events like in Botany Bay. Survey data shows Australians who are worried about the climate – those who describe it as a crisis and are voting and care about the climate – are mostly progressive in their politics. Only a small percentage are conservative.
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We need to stop burning coal and gas if we are to have any hope of curbing the pollution that leads to dangerous climate change. But we need that message to come from the people that those who have not been warned about climate yet hear and believe – whether healthcare professionals, firefighters, farmers, business leaders, educators member, football player, local mayor, veterinarian or member of the armed forces. If politicians, climate scientists and “green people” are the only ones who can get the job done, we’re there.
Doctor Rebecca Huntley is a researcher, author of How to Talk about Climate Change in a Way that Makes a Difference, and Chair of the Parents Advisory Board on Climate Action. She is a member of the ALP and sits on the NSW executive board.
If you want to convince people like me, Dr. Huntley, to stop trying to mess with my emotions and come up with a plan that makes sense.
Technocrats like me are fed up with math-challenging politicians and activists who think insurmountable renewable energy engineering problems can be addressed by more public participation. But Australian politics is dominated by the humanities, the technically illegible, all easily swayed by the empty claims of renewable snake oil sellers, even if some their people are trying to be vigilant.
“They didn’t listen to me, I told them it wouldn’t work, they told me I was wrong. But this is my area of expertise.” – said a frustrated Australian federal politician, one of the few in Australian politics with a technical background, after I asked when they would let him dismantle all the wind turbines.
I have no problem with zero carbon source. I couldn’t care less about what’s on the other side of the wall outlet, as long as it’s reliable and affordable. What I have a problem with are proposals that waste my tax dollars, money that could be used to fund better schools or hospitals, or better national defense, for ideas about energy Whose numbers don’t add up?ideas can’t work.
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