David Sirota: How to Reach the Last 20 Percent

[marmar]

from truthdig:


How to Reach the Last 20 Percent

Posted on Jan 11, 2013
By David Sirota


There’s a big reason climate change differs from so many public policy challenges: unlike other crises, addressing the planet’s major environmental crisis truly requires mass consensus. Indeed, because fixing the problem involves so many different societal changes—reducing carbon emissions, conserving energy, retrofitting infrastructure, altering a meat-centric diet, to name a few—we all need to at least agree on the basic fact that we are facing an emergency. This is especially the case in a nation where, thanks to the U.S. Senate filibuster, lawmakers representing just 11 percent of the population can kill almost any national legislation.

That’s why as encouraging as it is to see a new Associated Press-GfK poll showing that 4 in 5 Americans now see climate change as a serious problem, it is also not so encouraging to see that after the hottest year on record, 1 in 5 still somehow do not acknowledge the crisis. Unfortunately, that 1 in 5 may be enough to prevent us from forging the all-hands-on-deck attitude necessary to halt a planetary disaster.

What, if anything, can be done? Short of eliminating the filibuster so that lawmakers representing this 20 percent don’t retain veto power over climate change legislation, America desperately needs a serious public education campaign.

The good news is that with such education, many of those who don’t yet believe climate change is a serious problem can, in fact, be reached—and convinced to accept obvious reality. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/how_to_reach_the_last_20_percent_20130111/?ln

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt

[CanonRay]

2. Sorry David, you can't fix stupid

and that last 20%, the birther/religious wacko/black helicopter crowd are just too stupid to bother with. Ask anything on a poll e.g., "Is the moon made of green cheese?", and that 20% will stand out like a sore thumb with a resounding "Yes!". Or, "Was Adolph Hitler the 33rd President of the U.S.?" "Yes!" say the 20%ers. Education campaigns won't make a dent on this bunch.