There is Hope

A practical approach to avoiding climate doom and gloom

? 2022 Mick Dalrymple

Is it make or break time for humanity and the climate? Or does climate action represent real opportunity to spur new innovation, save money, grow green jobs and create new industries?

The debate over communicating the climate situation from angles of fear or hope has been going on for decades, expanding as scientists anxiously realized that educating policymakers and the public with facts was not moving the needle on policy or personal behavior in the United States. The arrival of Don’t Look Up! has elevated this debate to a fevered pitch. “You don’t change anyone’s mind through fear. People tune out or feel overwhelmed and then freeze.” This applies to some people, sure. But political campaigns overwhelmingly resort to fear and negativity in their advertising strategies, as it has delivered quite a successful track record.

Science indicates that optimism is associated with better outcomes in life than pessimism. It appears to lead to greater engagement in the pursuit of goals.[1] This makes intuitive sense. Hope can spur creativity, ambition, cooperation, and problem-solving as people imagine AND work towards visions that excite them. Indeed, people can break through otherwise formidable barriers when they harbor hope and exercise determination. The Cinderella basketball teams that shatter expectations in almost every March Madness come to mind. But hope alone is not a strategy and unrealistic optimism can lead to trouble.

So, is hope or fear the appropriate tone for discussing and responding to the climate crisis? Which is the best motivator to action? Unfortunately, our culture seeks simple, binary answers even though we know life is complex and that many answers start with “it depends.” Maybe there is a more nuanced approach that could prove productive.

Working in higher education, I am very aware that many of our youth feel overwhelmed by the crushing weight of a bleak climate future and powerless to change it. Adding to the fear is not motivational. I understand this. As a youth, I read and watched more news than the average kid. My perception of the world was dominated by the Cold War and the knowledge that life on earth could end at any moment. The Berlin Wall was the ultimate symbol of this impending doom. I vividly remember watching the end of a national evening news broadcast when the anchor reported that three out of four scientists predicted the world would likely end in nuclear holocaust before the end of the decade (the 1980’s). I never invested much time in seriously thinking about what career I would undertake because, well, what was the point?

Instead of deciding between fear messaging and hope messaging, let’s take a non-binary approach to a non-binary problem. For satirical, storytelling purposes, Don’t Look Up! presented the all-or-nothing scenario of an earth saved from or an earth destroyed by an asteroid. In contrast, climate change is about degrees, literally; degrees of temperature rise and degrees of resulting change to earth’s life support systems . This grayscale situation actually has similarities to a challenge with which students are very familiar: securing good grades and a good education. ?

In life, our youth don’t either get an education or not get one, and the consequences are not all or nothing, either. A better education generally leads to better outcomes for the future. More opportunities, more options, higher economic success. And education is impacted both by circumstances that students can’t control and by behaviors and actions they can control. Access to pre-K, to quality teachers and adequate facilities and materials, to support networks and role models, to a family that values education, to study space and time for homework, to after-school programs, and to sufficient nutrition that aids in cognitive development are just some of the factors that support better educational outcomes and are largely NOT within students’ control.

Actions more under students’ control include reading course materials, completing homework assignments, preparing for quizzes and tests, participating in class, engaging in group work, utilizing office hours, getting involved in activities outside of class, engaging in applied projects, learning from mentors, questioning what they are being taught, and deciding how they are going to use what they have learned. Importantly from a climate analogy standpoint, education is CUMULATIVE. It is about the long game. Studying and completing assignments early in the semester relieves pressure on the final exam. Good study habits and mastering core skills early during K-12 grades provides a stronger foundation and more opportunity for a better education later.

So it is with climate change: The more solutions we implement and the earlier we tackle them, the greater number of positive outcomes and options we will enjoy in the future. Our culture is currently handicapped by a political climate, social media, and ubiquitous marketing and entertainment that tell us everything is all or nothing and immediate gratification equals success. There is no silver bullet to climate (or happiness) and the results are not binary or immediate. But plenty is known about what we need to do. The broad portfolio of solutions exists. The more we practice those solutions at an individual and societal level, the better we will become at them and the more we will improve upon them. And our future will be that much brighter for our efforts.

In 1990, after we wrapped film production on Sleeping with the Enemy in South Carolina, I acted on a longtime goal to backpack around Europe. I was still stunned that the Berlin Wall had been torn down months earlier and so Germany was on my meandering itinerary. Pink Floyd was performing The Wall in concert there, but I was going to miss it by a week or so. Traveling by train from Prague, I had planned to sleep in the train station in East Berlin because it would be too late to get into a youth hostel. When I arrived, the train station looked a bit too sketchy, so I pulled out a map and started walking towards West Berlin. Though I did not read or speak German, it became clear by deciphering street signs that I had, at some point, crossed into West Berlin. I did not recall passing through the Wall, so I began to retrace my steps.

I eventually reached what looked like a large, leveled construction site, lit by moonlight. I realized that I was standing alone at 2 a.m. in what had for twenty-eight years been the dead man’s zone - the empty space between the two sides of the Wall where soldiers would shoot down anyone who had made it over the first side. The street I was standing on was newly paved across the dead man’s zone. The map showed that the underground metro had already been re-connected. The Wall was nowhere to be found. New life was being built where doom and fear of death had dominated for so long.

I made the decision that night on that new road leading to West Berlin to never let fear determine my future again. And I decided that the career I would craft would be to make the world a better place in some way so other youth did not grow up under a cloud of doom as I had. That decision, as part of another cumulative effort, has served me well.

The fall of the Berlin Wall seemed like an asteroid moment at the time but it was actually the culmination of decades of complex actions, policies, failed actions, failed policies, hope, fear, effort, and determination. So, while it can be useful to explore binary communication strategies of fear or hope and binary all-or-nothing consequences, it’s most productive if that discussion does not distract from getting the little things and the big things done. I choose to value and support and enjoy what is good, prepare for and try to minimize the bad, and put one foot in front of the other to do the work that is going to cumulatively lead to a better future. And I strive to surround myself with people who are doing the same. Their action provides my hope.

[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661314000333?casa_token=utQ51m0c36AAAAAA:D0yFlVJXiA8DLE_g3q3RUOiak4ifVJVddiZ5CkZaSYXjo8TcLrLL04OzPZWua31HHiMYNopKMwc