Local opinion: What we have here is a failure to communicate

That’s the ominous threat to prisoner Paul Newman in the movie “Cool Hand Luke.” Luke becomes “cool hand” by going “all in” with a big bluff and wins the high stakes pot. Fifty years later we’re grappling with a much more dire communications mess — failure to broadcast the unfathomable truth about what climate change really means at the micro level of living our lives. The Earth is now “all in”; the stakes could not be higher: Life as we know it.

Where is the daily front page and online reporting about what unmitigated global warming will really mean for our lives? It’s pretty much nowhere to be found amidst the bleak warnings of tipping points and ice melts. Instead we see story after story about some tech solution, about some innovator or entrepreneur with a Save the Earth carbon reduction plan — bioengineering or glass beads in the ocean or whatever-accompanied by no real information we can use to make an informed judgement. But it all sounds pretty darn good. After all tech sort of got us here, only makes sense it’ll get us out.

Frustratingly, what we get from climate scientists is often difficult to reduce to the practical in our lives — predictions about ecological, geographical and atmospheric change — laced with such cautionary disclaimers of could be/might be that they’re easily drowned out, sidestepped and greenwashed by the booming voices of the well-oiled fossil fuel PR machines.

What’s worse is that we’re made to feel it’s our fault, that we individual consumers have to remedy it. Guilt is hard pressed upon us in the form of our so called “carbon footprint.” But folks that whole concept was just a PR stunt dreamed up decades ago by British Petroleum to deflect any close scrutiny into their climate busting business model. And it made its way into the collective conscience to become possibly the most effective ad campaign ever.

Jack Nicholson’s character in “A Few Good Men” famously says “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” Well we can’t handle what we’re not getting. And what we continue to get is this inordinate amount of coverage about “solutions” from unproven unscaled up technologies that are not worth the printing costs of their stock offering prospectus. The truth is the victim of the media’s “No more doom and gloom … Our readers don’t want to hear that.”

So once again cue the tech solutions, roll our even more coverage about those optimistic startups and talking heads. Show solutions dammit! Don’t worry it’ll be all right.

But it’s far from all right. It’s all wrong. Excessive demand for food, energy, gadgets and clothes are crushing the planet with disastrous consequences for mitigating climate change. Why don’t we hear about that? — with millions and millions of workers churning out this unsustainable excess. You think immigration is a problem now? Just wait.

If you have an hour of time contact the Environmental Voter Project. They get out the vote in critical elections nationwide by simply contacting people who prioritize the environment and reminding them to vote. it’s so easy to engage this way — you’re at home just using your phone.

If you have no time but can donate, give to Earth Justice and: Center For Biological Diversity. They have very good lawyers and a lot of them — it’s in the courtrooms and legislatures where climate policy will be made.

Join our local chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby. It’s singularly devoted to reducing carbon emissions and supported by hundreds of thousands of volunteers nationwide.

If you have no time or money to help, then cheer on from the sidelines but do vote for candidates who take decisive stands on climate issues.

Above all do something.