Climate change is attracting much public attention. Book clubs and community groups are discussing it. 16-year-old Greta Thunberg is making powerful speeches. Young people are striking. Scientific reports about rising temperatures and declining food harvests are shared on social media. All this attention is good. We need more of it. Climate challenges are real and significant.
But, instead of being delighted by hearing more about climate, I’m frustrated by the message: blame. Politicians are blamed for not acting. News outlets are blamed for promoting fake news. Energy companies are blamed for being selfish. Climate deniers are blamed for being ignorant or in the pocket of energy companies.
We need to stop blaming and figure out how to collaborate on solutions that solve our climate challenges while also increasing prosperity, health, equity, and innovation. That is, we need to translate all the talk into action. Blaming and complaining help, but only to a point.
Most people are ambivalent about climate action not because they are ignorant or evil but because they worry that the cure is worse than the disease. The Green New Deal, carbon tax, cap-and-trade, meatless Mondays, and the like could slow economic growth, delay life-saving innovations, condemn millions to poverty, weaken national defense, harm democracy, and otherwise make things worse.
Many people believe, with good reason, that we can grow our way out of this problem. If we keep growing the economy and advancing technology, then we could obtain the wealth and capacity needed to adapt to any future that climate change creates. Whereas if we stifle innovation with too much regulation or dismantle motivations that underlie capitalism, then we risk becoming weaker, poorer, less healthy, less educated, and less able to adapt, not just to climate change, but to other challenges we cannot yet imagine.
What society needs–what the climate action community needs to promote–is the ability to collaboratively identify and implement solutions that satisfy those of us who fear climate change as an existential risk as well as satisfy those of us who fear dismantling the engines of progress. That will require the hard work of trust-building, collaborative innovation, and leadership by people in every sector: business, government, and civil society. At some point, blaming our collaborators becomes counterproductive.