Monday
Oct122009
Getting the green message across to skeptics
Monday, October 12, 2009 at 12:51PM 
Skepticism is a healthy attitude, especially when it comes to government interventions, but not when it means leaving a severely damaged planet to our children. If you're trying to sway skeptics about climate change, you're not likely to do it with facts. It's likely that their skepticism is grounded more in attitudes and beliefs. With that in mind, I try to focus more on the energy independence and economic benefits of going green, which often appeal more directly to the skeptics' sensibilities.But it helps to know the facts too, so I encourage you to read the FAQs by the Union of Concerned Scientists, an alliance of more than 250,000 citizens and scientists. To get a sense of the urgent action needed to avert the potentially catastrophic results of global climate change, Wake up, Freak Out is an effective, if awkwardly titled, video. A colleague of mine calls it, "a very well presented 12 minute video of interest to designers - a very clear graphic basis for communicating the complexities of global warming; positive feedback loops, scale of time, hidden factors influencing GHG release, etc."
As for immediate action, one thing we can all do right now to green our city is demand green building standards that reduce energy consumption and save money. According to the EPA, buildings are responsible for 70 percent of our country's electricity consumption, and the Government Services Administration reports that implementing simple green building strategies like replacing air filters and installing energy efficient windows in their own buildings would save over 500 million kilowatt hours per year - enough electricity to power more than half a million homes for an entire year.
And to learn more about what our nation's greenest cities are doing today to ensure they're healthy places to live tomorrow, see our post on Energy Star cities.
Reader Comments (3)
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Your topic Green Technology Forum " Blog Archive " Getting the green ... was interesting, it's quite an important topic and I find your insights extremely relevant, I have taken them to heart and will make some serious changes in my life....
but anyway to address the global concerns about green house emissions it's a big problem and even though a lot of companies try to go green it will have to be a global effort not just a once in a while some company decides to go green we are running out of time every human being has to take part in his or her own small way and slowly we might just have a better future for our children. you can visit my site to learn more about the ways my team and i are working on making all cars become green and emitt less carbon emissions. we already have a few products that any one can buy and install in their cars.
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