Changing Our Tactics: Fighting Back

The fact that Al Gore consumes a great deal while advocating reduced consumption is hypocritical. But so am I -- while I’m working toward improving my environmentally damaging lifestyle, I’m still relying on coal-produced power, the city water system, and a sewage treatment plant. It takes time and resources to transition to a sustainable lifestyle and both Gore and myself (and hopefully all of you!) are working toward the same goal. Yes, he still uses far more electricity than the typical resident, but he’s also installed far more renewable electricity sources than most residents. He is among the most affluent people in the world, which just means he has farther to fall and it could take him longer than the rest of us to transform the way he lives his life.

I take a certain satisfaction when I notice that our house is the only one on the street without a garbage can out on garbage pick-up days because I know that we are by far the greenest family in the neighborhood. Yet it also saddens me a bit because I know that since even we are a long ways from reaching sustainability, there is little hope of getting the rest of our neighbors to reach the same goal.

There was recently an interesting article at LiveScience on the human herd mentality and its relation to environmentalism. For instance, rather than encouraging hotel guests to conserve towels by stating “Please help the environment by hanging up your clean towels”, use the statement “Please join your fellow guests by hanging up your clean towels”. The results of the research on this effect are pretty startling.

Ordinarily I’m against exploiting psychological mechanisms of this type, as manipulating others’ illusions of free will is a dangerous game; but in the cases of global warming and Peak Oil, the consequences of failure are too dire. To put it in the context in which such tactics are typically used, we are in a total war.

Consider how the herd mechanism has been exploited over the past five years in the United States: “All patriots in this country support attacking Iraq…” “Americans understand that we must fight Islamic fascism…” “Every other true American is willing to live with the necessity of the Patriot Act…” Nearly every major news story or political press release has a hint of herding contained within.

During World War II, the government urged us to join our neighbors in supporting the war effort by growing Victory Gardens. It worked. At the peak of the movement, nearly a third of the United States’ vegetables came from backyard gardens. Emme at SimpleReduce has adopted a similar approach to Victory Gardens focused on the fight against global warming.

The question is how can we tailor our message on global warming and sustainability to get other people to change their behavior? The answer: by convincing them that everybody else is. It can be done by borrowing a page right from the neocon playbook. Consider the effects if the following story were published:

There is a growing movement across the country to support American troops overseas by developing personal self-sufficiency. Similar to the Victory Garden movement during World War II, the participants aim to ease the burden on the country’s resources in order make them available for the military to use.

“It’s the most patriotic thing you can do,” said participant Joe Citizen. “My house now runs completely on solar power, which frees up the electricity I would otherwise use for American service members. The same with gasoline –- when I bike to work, I’m reducing the demand on the petroleum resources our troops desperately need.”

Other supporters of the movement have taken to growing fruits and vegetables in their backyards, porches, even their roofs! “Believe it or not, it actually helps insulate the house, too,” declared Ellen Bushlover, who has plants growing on every inch of her yard and roof. “Plus, it means all those store-bought vegetables I would otherwise be eating can go straight to the troops instead,” Bushlover added.

According to expert Robert Pundit, chances are that most of your neighbors have already started doing their part. “I’ve heard reports from all over the country about people who grow all their own food, produce all their own power, and even raise chickens and goats in their suburban backyards,” Pundit said. “It’s quickly becoming unpatriotic to not grow your own food.”

Would such an article go against efforts to stop the wars in the Middle East? Yes. But is there any realistic hope that American troops will ever abandon the area while there is still uncertainty over our energy supplies? No. No matter which political party is in power, there are powerful people who will ensure that efforts to stop the war are in vain. Peak Oil will not make this reality any less true.

I would offer that as more people learned about the nature of growing food, producing power, and conserving energy, their politics would change. Those who joined the movement as patriotic conservatives might discover that there really is something to all this concern about mass-produced products. Or perhaps they would realize that the weird weather from global warming actually can directly affect their lives via their crop production.

In short, trying to convince people to change their behavior by laying out the facts of Peak Oil and global warming isn’t enough. The way you deliver the message is often more important than the message itself.