March 27, 2014 presentation sponsored by the Science and Technology Studies Program, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, and the School of Journalism at the University of British Columbia. In this presentation, I review three distinct groups of prominent public intellectuals arguing for action on climate change. I discuss how these individuals establish and maintain their authority, how their ideas and arguments spread and diffuse by way of the media, and how they shape the assumptions of global networks of activists, philanthropists, journalists, and academics. Then, for each group, drawing on their main works, I describe how they define the social implications of climate change and the barriers to addressing the problem, their vision of a future society and their favored policy actions, their outlook on nature and technology, and their views on politics and social change. In the conclusion, I discuss the need for investment in media and public forums that strengthen our civic capacity to learn, debate, and collaborate in ways that take advantage of different discourses, ideas and voices.

1. DISRUPTIVE IDEAS
Public Intellectuals and their Arguments for Action on Climate Change
@MCNisbet
Science and Technology Studies Program
University of British Columbia 3.27.14
Matthew C. Nisbet
Associate Professor
School of Communication
American University
Washington D.C.

2. Analyzing the Nature and Impact of Public Intellectuals
@MCNisbet
o Describe how public intellectuals:
1) Contribute uniquely to public discourse.
2) Gain and maintain their authority.
3) Spread ideas and arguments through traditional and
online media.
4) Reflect/reinforce specific ―communities of assumptions‖
relative to complex problems.
o Analyze three distinct groups of public intellectuals:
1) Frame the social implications of climate change.
2) Define barriers to societal action.
3) Vision of ―good‖ society and favored policy actions.
4) Outlook on nature and technology.
5) Model of politics and social change.

3. Distinctive Traits of a Public Intellectual?
@MCNisbet
o Mix of academics, journalists, writers and essayists,
entrepreneurs and political leaders, often best known for their
books and writing.
o View world deductively, specific events or trends can be
explained by theory or grand narrative.
o Rather than straight description or punditry, they translate
complex subjects, specialize in immersion and synthesis,
often championing specific policy positions or causes.
o More than a translator of expert knowledge, but a ―social critic
rather than merely a social observer….they are at once
engaged and detached.” – Richard Posner

4. Personalities, Celebrities and Global Commodities
@MCNisbet
o Merge public and private selves by relating
complex ideas or problems to personal
anecdotes, “journeys,” “realizations.”
o Appearance, headshot, image, and dress are
likely to be consistent with the subject matter
they write about.
o Establish authenticity, commitment to a topic,
―walks the walk,” “practices what they preach”
or has acquired unique knowledge through
exceptional experiences.
o Most are commodities, in that their books,
writing, and speeches are bound up with a dense
web of promotion, selling, marketing, and
millions of dollars in transactions.

5. Public Intellectuals Online & Spirals of Attention
@MCNisbet
o Motivated “issue publics” deep dive into subject
content across outlets, creating a global following,
and making the writing of public intellectuals online
participatory and social.
o Articles become most popular, read, or emailed at
news sites…flagged, highlighted, contextualized,
and spread by way of comments, Facebook ―like‖
buttons, and indicators of how often a story has been
re-tweeted.
o Meta-commentary and reactions from bloggers and
journalists at other news sites turns article or book
into “pseudo-event.”

6. Discourses and Communities of Assumptions
@MCNisbet
o Public intellectuals help create discourses and ―communities of
assumptions‖ that define problems and policy options.
o By calling attention to specific disciplines and networks of experts,
they define which experts or views might be mainstream
versus what might be contrarian or out of bounds.
o Once assumptions and legitimate authorities are established, it
becomes ―costly in terms of human mental labor to re-examine
what has finally come to be taken for granted.‖
o Other public intellectuals are needed to “disturb the canonical
peace” and “defamiliarize the obvious” by identifying the
flaws in conventional wisdom and by offering alternative
renderings of a problem.

7. Telling Stories about Wicked Problems
@MCNisbet
o The more complex a problem like
climate change, the more equally
plausible discourses and
narratives exist about what should
be done.
o Climate change serves as an
opportunity for different groups to
mobilize on behalf of their values,
goals and vision for society.
o By analyzing discourses “we can at
least recognize that the sources of
our enduring disagreements…lie
within us, in our values and in our
sense of identity and purpose.‖–
Mike Hulme

8. Deep Ecologists:
Defining the Problem
@MCNisbet
o Apply metaphor of “overshoot and collapse,‖ in
which computer models predict that human population
growth, rising consumerism, technological
development, and resource depletion exceed the
carrying capacity of the planet.
o Question target of 450 ppm CO2 and a 2-degree
Celsius temperature rise, believe “safe” level to avoid
catastrophic climate change is 350 ppm.
o The goal therefore is to return the planet to an
earlier in “balance” state, even as they implicitly
accept that this goal may be impossible

9. Deep Ecologists:
View of Nature
@MCNisbet
o Nature has transcendental, spiritual essence frequently
―likened to Eden itself.‖– William Cronon
o What we call ―human progress‖ has corrupted pristine
nature, thereby putting the very idea of progress at risk.
o Nature viewed as sacred place, a place to turn to for
redemption, cleansing, and salvation, the one place
we can turn for escape from our “own too-muchness.‖
o Climate change means ―the end of Nature…‖ At risk of
disappearing, is a ―certain way of thinking about
God…We can no longer imagine that we are part of
something larger than ourselves…‖—Bill McKibben

10. Deep Ecologists:
Alternative Vision for Society
@MCNisbet
o Deprioritize economic growth, and instead focus on
quality of life indicators. Less work, more time for
family, community, nature.
o Idealize a Jeffersonian society comprised of self-reliant
communities; localized economies and currencies, food
systems and egalitarian decision-making.
o ―Real climate solutions…devolve power and control to
the community level, whether through community-
controlled renewable energy, local organic agriculture or
transit systems genuinely accountable to their users.‖–
Naomi Klein
o In the future, people would not travel and instead use the
Internet; grow much of their own food; share jobs and
resources, give wealth to developing countries.

11. Deep Ecologists:
View of Technology
@MCNisbet
o Prioritize technologies they view as having been
created through natural processes, that are in
harmony with nature, and that are local, smaller in
scale.
o Prefer “locally appropriate” soft technologies like
solar, wind, and geothermal sources of energy and
organic farming practices.
o Deeply suspicious of genetic-engineering, nuclear
power, natural gas, carbon capture and storage, and
geo-engineering which they view as too risky, too
costly, and/or too off in the future.
o Genetic engineering and ―hard‖ technologies allow our
moral failing and “addiction” to fossil fuels,
economic growth and consumerism to continue.

12. Deep Ecologists:
View of Social Change
@MCNisbet
o Societal transformation will require widespread
activism that challenges status quo assumptions
and practices, leads to fundamental political reforms.
o Climate change supercharges the ―case for virtually
every progressive demand on the books, binding them
into a coherent agenda based on a clear scientific
imperative…”– Naomi Klein
o ―The scientific reality of climate change must, for
progressives, occupy a central place in a coherent
narrative about the perils of unrestrained greed and
the need for real alternatives‖ – Naomi Klein

13. Smart Growth Reformers
Defining the Problem
@MCNisbet
Tom Friedman: The world is a “growth machine” that “no one
can turn off‖. The world is ―getting hot (global warming,) flat
(the rise of high-consuming middle classes), and crowded
(roughly a billion people every thirteen years.)‖
Al Gore: “Carbon dioxide….is largely invisible to market
calculation. And when something’s not recognized in the
marketplace, it’s much easier for government, business, and
all the rest of us to pretend that it doesn’t exist.‖
Jeffrey Sachs: Climate change tied to slowing world
population growth, reducing income inequality, and
alleviating extreme poverty. In balancing these goals, the
―main problem…is not the absence of reasonable and low-cost
solutions, but the difficulty of implementing global
cooperation to put those solutions in place.‖

14. Alternative Vision for Society
Creating the Next Industrial Revolution?
@MCNisbet
o Limits to growth can be stretched if the right market-based
policies & reforms are adopted. Combines a focus on a “soft
path” approach with a pricing mechanism on carbon.
o Climate change can be solved “not at a cost but at a profit.”
The ―menu of climate-protecting opportunities‖ is ―so large that
over time, they can overtake and even surpass the pace of
economic growth‖ – Hawkins, Lovins & Lovins
o U.S. needs a “Code Green” plan that would create “abundant,
cheap, clean, reliable electrons…America will have its
identity back…because it will again be leading the world…‖ –
Tom Friedman
o Once the power of the market is set in motion, ―We have at
our fingertips all of the tools we need to solve three or four
climate crises—and we only need to solve one‖ – Al Gore

15. Smarth Growth Reformers:
View of Technology
@MCNisbet
o Strong emphasis on “soft” renewables and
skepticism of nuclear energy, natural gas, and
carbon capture.
o Gore, for example, argues that in solar, wind, and
efficiency we have all the technologies we need to
solve the climate crisis.
o But Sachs emphasizes needed for carbon capture: ―If
we are forced to scale back sharply on our use of
fossil fuels, the economic consequences could be very
high...we have no choice but to try to live
effectively with advanced technologies…and try to
ensure that they serve broad human purposes‖

16. The Design to Win Strategy
A Technocratic Approach to Social Change
@MCNisbet
o ―A cap on carbon output—and an accompanying
market for emissions permits—will prompt a sea
change that washes over the entire global economy.‖ –
Design to Win report
o ―The good news is that we already have the technology
and know-how to achieve these carbon reductions—
often at a cost savings.‖ – Design to Win report
o ―Climate change, unlike a lot of large-scale problems, is
actually one that is solvable. It is also one where we
know what we need to do. We have the best data in the
world on how to prevent climate change. Everything
was ranked by magnitude, location and sector. It’s a
systematic approach to problem solving.‖ – Hal Harvey,
NY Times interview

17. A Technocratic View of Social Change
Design to Win Foundations, 2008 to 2010
@MCNisbetNisbet, 2011

18. Shifting View of Social Change:
More Similar to Deep Ecologists
@MCNisbet
o ―Grassroots activism is essential to building a base of
support strong enough to overcome well-funded
opposition...‖ – Al Gore
o Need a ―radical center‖ third party that would replace
―begrudging compromise between the two hostile
ideologies with a creative synthesis‖ – Tom Friedman
o ―We will need…to achieve a new mindfulness regarding
our needs as individuals and as a society, to find a more
solid path to well-being…‖ – Jeffrey Sachs
o Political change will require a third party movement to
remove money from politics and to break up a right-of-
center two party system.

19. The Climate Pragmatists
Defining the problem
@MCNisbet
o Climate change misdiagnosed as pollution problem akin to
acid rain that requires regulation & price on emissions to
solve.
o Environmentalists have isolated themselves politically by
focusing on “politics of limits,” rather than emphasizing
“politics of possibility.‖
o Environmentalists discount problem of global development
and energy poverty. Criticize ―abundant, cheap energy‖ and
emphasize low consumption, ―appropriate technologies.‖
o But this strategy runs up against Pielke’s “Iron Law of
Climate Policy,” political leaders and publics say they favor
change, but unwilling to bear actual costs.

20. The Climate Pragmatists
Alternative Vision for the Anthropocene
@MCNisbet
o "Nature no longer runs the Earth. We do. It is our choice
what happens here.‖ – Mark Lynas
o Focus is on human possibility in a world of cheap,
abundant, cleaner energy.
o “9 Billion People + 1 Planet = ?” Climate change
subset of larger sustainability challenge. ――If I had to
choose one of two bumper stickers for our car —
CLIMATE CRISIS or ENERGY QUEST — I’d choose the
latter.‖– Andrew Revkin
o Conservation is not about walling off a fragile nature from
man; but integrating a resilient nature into man-made
landscapes and cities.

21. The Climate Pragmatists
Technology, Disagreement and Social Change
@MCNisbet
o Need portfolio of clumsy solutions across sectors
including focus on adaptation and resilience and stronger
emphasis on role of government in technological
innovation.
o Diversifying policy and technology options increases
opportunity for political action.
o Asserting scientific or expert consensus in the service
of a specific policy approach risks trust in scientific
advice; leads to ―groupthink,‖ and to attacks on legitimate
alternative perspectives.
o Instead need forums and opportunities to critically reflect,
debate, assess assumptions, arguments and options.

22. The Dot Earth Blog
Revkin as Explainer, Informed Critic and Convenor
@MCNisbet

23. The Dot Earth Blog
Revkin as Explainer, Informed Critic and Convenor
@MCNisbet

24. www.ClimateShiftProject.org
@MCNisbet