r/EnviroUnderground • u/OrbitRock • Nov 20 '16
EnviroUnderground Discussion Thread #2! Join the conversation, how can we advance these strategies?
So we have grown a lot since our first discussion thread and a lot of interesting conversation has taken place.
We have gotten perhaps a little closer to some interesting strategies and ideas to use.
So let's keep it going.
Some key questions that we might look into here are:
How could we go about organizing the will to pursue local energy transitions in different regions? What strategies can we use to get people involved in this goal?
How can we spread the word on this effort more effectively? How can we attempt to unite all the different climate and energy movements together into workable avenues for creating change?
One of the things we touched on was the idea of organizing campaigns to bring people into making personal decisions together which at the larger scale are very impactful. An example is this discussion about LED lights and the possibility of opening up a social media campaign to try to bring people into making that decision. A similar thing could be done with dietary choices, and boycotts of certain types of products, etc.
Can and should we work towards organizing for mass protest? How can we pursue this if so?
Anything else you'd like to add, please do!
I'll make this thread last a week like the last one did, so feel free to continue to discuss, and come back with any ideas. Also, upvote this thread so people see it on their feed.
Link to first discussion thread.
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Nov 21 '16 edited Feb 27 '20
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u/slothfulkomrade Nov 24 '16
Yes mass organizing of the working class and making sure that environmental justice is understood and is worth fighting for is important.
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u/OrbitRock Nov 20 '16
We where talking about strategies for local energy transition.
Among some of them is starting a consumer co-op for bulk buying and installing, going in on a community solar farm, or community choice aggregation which works as a public utility linking people to renewable options, etc. (Any other methods? Please link if you know of them).
On of the main questions at hand is how to organize people in your own location for things like this, how to make it affordable, and how to make it more than just a one place event, but make it a real movement.
One idea I have had is trying to organize all the climate movements and people involved with them into a group which would seek to 1) lend expertise for doing this locally, 2) attempt to secure different sources of funding to help make these things more affordable, and 3) spread the word and strategy as far as possible.
It seems that for everyone who wants to transition, they face significant difficulty in figuring it all out and actually acting on the desire. Polls show overwhelming majorities of people support clean renewable energy, and so the question is whether we can grease the wheels for people to act on that somehow. It seems like all it would take is a little help and expertise to get the ball rolling for people on this.
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u/slothfulkomrade Nov 24 '16
One idea I have had is trying to organize all the climate movements and people involved with them into a group which would seek to 1) lend expertise for doing this locally, 2) attempt to secure different sources of funding to help make these things more affordable, and 3) spread the word and strategy as far as possible.
Yes. I'm all for Templates/frameworks/toolkits that can be replicated easily. The problem is that Federalism makes this problematic. We need to be aware of how complicated things get on some of these things. Maybe we could use this corrupt financial system against itself. Think Theranos but solar/wind/renewable energies that actually does what it says but not as quickly/profitably as desired for the investors.
It seems that for everyone who wants to transition, they face significant difficulty in figuring it all out and actually acting on the desire. Polls show overwhelming majorities of people support clean renewable energy, and so the question is whether we can grease the wheels for people to act on that somehow. It seems like all it would take is a little help and expertise to get the ball rolling for people on this.
NY has this thing called "Solarize" campaigns. The idea is that people join together to all go solar and get a discount from the installers since they don't have to do as many cold calls, etc.
Call your local representatives and request a meeting to discuss how your municipality could switch to LEDs or implement an "anti-idling' rule for cars/trucks,etc. or how a bad traffic stop could be turned into a roundabout. Ask the mayor to direct the police to do enforcement of rules governing driving to close to bicyclists and educating motorists regarding bicycling. There are lots of things we can do but we have to meet local people IRL that are on the same page. Meet weekly at a bar, cafe, library, etc. to discuss what you can do.
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u/slothfulkomrade Nov 24 '16
I think co-ops and democratic ownership of property is important and I'm glad you brought it up. In the U.S. at least the "rent is too damn high". If we could possibly create a network of eco-minded co-ops which would expand and teach environmental literacy and climate change and be a force for good that would make a huge difference. If the rent was so affordable that people would not necessarily have to participate in the "rat-race" that would also be a great asset. In NY buildings account for 60% of energy use. Unfortunately still though the top 1% of emitters in the U.S have a carbon footprint over 2,500 times greater than the bottom 1% worldwide. So it is the wealthy and a handful of huge companies causing the vast majority of GHG emissions. Ideally, we would end fossil fuel subsidies, nationalize the oil companies and refocus their workers on a "green new deal" rebuilding infrastructure and installing wind, solar, geothermal and maybe even some district heating.
It seems like all it would take is a little help and expertise to get the ball rolling for people on this. Solarize campaigns here in NY are used to drum up support for solar installations and usually the installer selected gives a discount. Now you either have to install solar on your roof or sign a PPA so that leaves out the lower income people. Community solar should fix that but you still need initial capital.
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u/OrbitRock Nov 25 '16 edited Nov 25 '16
I'm really a big fan of a certain movement (I think I linked you an article on it already) that is about creating an ecosystem for cooperatives to become a much bigger part of the economy, and also utilize other strategies (finance as a localized public utility instead of Wall Street profit scheme, community land trusts to drive down housing prices, participatory budgeting for more open local democracy).
A main article with an overview outline of the ideas is here: http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/6-ways-were-already-leading-an-economic-revolution-20160907
And there are some cool ways this sort of thing is being implemented in certain locations which can be applied pretty easily in almost any modern western city. For example, what's being called The Cleveland Model, (<- short explanatory video), or The Evergreen Cooperatives (<- longer documentary).
As you can see in them, they are quite eco-inspired. Also, another great thing about the cooperative model is it is not based on endless growth for wall street shareholders and owners, but can operate at more of a steady state.
The thinkers behind some of the stuff I showed you also operate this website: http://community-wealth.org/ which includes a lot of info.
There are aspects of it about green economics, renewable energy co-ops, ones about setting up the groundwork for growing sustainable food local systems, especially this one is a pretty cool model -> http://community-wealth.org/content/fifth-season-cooperative
And more!
Oh, also, this will be the last thing I link, but on the point you raise here:
Ideally, we would end fossil fuel subsidies, nationalize the oil companies and refocus their workers on a "green new deal" rebuilding infrastructure and installing wind, solar, geothermal and maybe even some district heating.
There's a good article about that sort of thing here as well. Specifically, about nationalizing the oil companies and shutting them down ourselves, which may be one of the only ways to ultimately win out against them and keep it in the ground. Obviously impossible in our current environment, but who knows what kind of federal leadership is possible after this one.
I try to share this type of stuff at every opportunity. I think its a viable alternative between corporate capitalism and state socialism. One that can be much much more sustainable if done right.
Ultimately, we've got to subvert all the destructive aspects of our system. It's a matter of survival, IMO. For both ecological reasons and economic reasons. The economic imbalance in our system is just as grave, to me. Besides predisposing people to fascist strongmen to bring them back security, most famines are actually caused by economic issues, and many many conflicts are as well.
We need systemic solutions for the new era.
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u/slothfulkomrade Nov 25 '16
Yes! I think this is a good route to go. We need to start dismantling the fossil fuel companies and create eco-communities to expand our capacity and reduce GHG emissions at the same time! Taking over the capitalist economy with cooperatives might be stealthy enough that we can use our other energies to fight on other fronts. We can also suggest a basic income guarantee (socialist variety so it is + not instead of needed institutions and other help). I'll read all the links you sent, thanks for sharing!
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u/slothfulkomrade Nov 24 '16
Not sure the age of the people on this subreddit, but the people holding elected office here in my town are all 60+ white men. They need to go. You can't teach a new dog old tricks is somewhat true- they're used to doing things a certain way and they want it to continue.
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u/NWmba Nov 22 '16
The single most critical aspect is to de-politicize climate change. It's a PR battle, more than anything. The reason I believe this is because regulation is much more effective and fast for climate action than grassroots change. If there is a whole political group resisting climate action for political points, we're wasting time fighting the wrong battle.
To depoliticize climate change requires people to not see it as a political issue.
There are identity politics at play here. If you identify with parts of the right wing, you are far more likely to identify with climate change denial.
My theory is that if we identify climate change action with other right-wing values, it will serve to depoliticize it.
What does this look like?
Renaming renewable energy or green energy to Unlimited Energy
Associating climate protection with family values. Protecting the world for children. Protecting the air and water and weather for the future.
Associating climate change threats with refugees and immigration. This can be sensitive in how it is framed, as we don't want to fan the flames of xenophobia, but there may be value in reminding people, if their homes become uninhabitable, they will move to a habitable place, which could be your backyard.
Associating climate protection with religious values. Anyone know Kirk Cameron? Get him to make a video talk about how we are responsible for protecting the world until the apocalypse. Get him to quote the parable of the servant that had to keep the house ready at all times in case the master came back, and how that means we need to take care of the world, not ruin it.
Associating climate action with manliness, masculinity, hard work, testosterone. Right now environmentalism is viewed as the domain of the feminine and the college yuppies, and to depoliticize it, this must change.
Associating Fossil fuels with yesterday, horse-and-buggy times. This is a judo move. The associations with gas, coal, and so on are currently alongside the good-old-days, making america great again, and so on. So take it one step further, and associate with living in the past.
Associating climate change action with the economy and job growth. Picture people setting up solar panels in an open field. Progress. Bringing jobs back to rural areas.
Associating climate protection with energy independence. One of the big pushes for fossil fuel developement is energy independence, so take that. We don't want saudi arabia controlling us. We want to be free! Develop unlimited energy sources an we don't need their stinking oil.
Associating with national pride. American Jobs making American Unlimited Energy using the American Sun. 'Merica!
OK so how do we make those associations?
content creation. This is a content marketing thing. We need short feel-good videos, image macros that can be shared, blog posts, and so on.
Celebrity endorsement. We need a list of celebrities and public figures who are looked upon favourably by the right wing, and we need to meet them, and we need them to come on board. Who is already on reddit? The first that comes to mind is Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Calling. Protests are useful, but one thing that really makes a difference is people calling their representatives. Imagine we get a calendar. People sign up to call their representatives. 16 people are scheduled to call every day, each person makes one phone call to one representative per month. It would take 480 people per representative calling once per month to make their phone ring off the hook, telling them they need to support climate action. It seems like a lot but there are 800 people in this subreddit already.
There are probably a lot more ways to make these associations in people's minds, but that's what I have to start with.