All Talk, and Some Action: Conversation Groups about Climate ... - Public News Service

All Talk and Some Action Conversation Groups about Climate Change / Public News Service

All talk, and some action say conversation groups about climate change; Trump spent more than $40 million on legal costs in the first half of 2023; reconnecting appalachia's disconnected workers with "Better" Jobs.

Vice President Harris encourages NAACP members to keep up the fight, U.S. military promotions remain at a standstill over one Republican senator's abortion protest, and Senate Democrats promote "Buy America" policies.

A North Carolina library has survived an LGBTQ book battle, experts say the success of agrivoltaics in rural America may depend on lead time, remote work is no longer just for city folks, and a Michigan town gears up for its annual Humongous Fungus Fest.

All Talk, and Some Action: Conversation Groups about Climate Change
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Conversation groups about climate change are part of a new strategy to motivate people to take action. (Mental Health America/Pexels)

The story, Tell Me How You Breathe, examines the intersection of eco-activism, social justice and public health, according to the Loom Ensemble. (Loom)

Flathead Lake's high water quality results from its watershed being mainly national park, wilderness and managed forest lands combined with having a relatively low human population. (Adobe Stock)

A pilot program is being developed for Virginia's Security Corridor with the American Forest Program to grow the Family Forest Carbon Program in the region. It would help provide capacity to private landowners to improve carbon sequestration of their forests. (Adobe Stock)
By Katherine Rapin for Nexus Media News. Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration

In 2020, artist Nicole Cooper was conducting research for a painting series when she stumbled upon a NASA chart showing temperature rise throughout history. “I had this realization of, ‘Look at how fast temperatures are rising — and what are we going to do about it?” she said.

Cooper experienced what she described as an existential crisis, feeling terrified of what would happen in her lifetime and worried that it may already be too late to act.

“I needed to be able to talk,” she said, “and express myself about the emotional reaction I was having.”

But talking about climate change is important. Researchers have found it can cause greater acceptance of climate science and, among those who already accept the science, inspire action. That, in turn, has been shown to decrease climate anxiety.

Like so many Americans, Cooper felt scared, stressed — and largely alone. “I was reading a lot of articles, listening to podcasts, but I had no real dialogue about it,” she said. Then she heard about the All We Can Save Circles, an initiative created by Katharine Wilkinson, who co-edited an anthology book of the same name. Launched when the book was published in 2020, the Circle is a decentralized, 10-course book club aimed at helping readers develop communities around climate solutions.

Cooper realized she could create a space for the conversations she wanted to have. Using her newsletter, word of mouth and social media, Cooper recruited a group of nine people — some climate activists, others, like her, newer to the conversation — to meet virtually. Over the next six months, they discussed ways they were experiencing the climate crisis and created a shared climate resource list, including ways they could take action in their own communities.

“Coming together with people who had all kinds of emotions and to see them still [taking] climate action — daily, weekly or monthly — that was really inspiring,” Cooper said.

Cooper is part of a growing movement of Americans who are seeking out solace – and power in numbers – in climate conversation groups. More than 3,000 people have formed All We Can Save Circles, according to the All We Can Save Project. The Good Grief Network, a nonprofit peer support network modeled on 12-step addiction programs, has more than 50 climate support groups nationwide. Climate Awakening, founded by climate psychologist Margaret Klein Salamon, convenes small group conversations online that anyone can join for free.

These are all aimed at reversing what researchers describe as the “spiral of silence” around climate change.

“We know that humans avoid uncomfortable emotions,” said Sarah Schwartz, associate professor of psychology at Suffolk University who researches climate anxiety. She explained that climate change is stressful in ways direct (not being able to breathe the air in your city, for example) and indirect (like constant worry about an uncertain future).

“But when we talk about grief processing [or] trauma — we need to turn towards rather than away from these hard emotions,” she added.

Schwartz co-authored a 2022 study that found that collective climate action may mitigate climate distress. But, she said, “If you just jump into action and don’t make any space for conversations, support and sitting with the uncomfortable emotions — that’s a recipe for burnout.”

Conversations, support and collective action all require building community, which is key in addressing challenges that seem insurmountable, Schwartz said. “The role of relationships and social support is huge in the difference between ‘we can do something’ and ‘let’s all just hunker down and isolate in our own anxiety and paralysis,’” she said.

According to an internal 2023 survey conducted by the All We Can Save Project, 89% of Circle participants reported feeling an increased sense of community and 90% said they took climate action, such as switching to climate-focused careers, after joining a conversation group.

For Inemesit Williams, former co-leader of the social justice working group at Climate Action Network for International Educators (CANIE), being part of a Circle inspired her to advocate for public transit funding and spread awareness about local bus routes. “I’ve never owned a car — I’ve always taken public transit, ridden my bicycle, walked, carpooled,” she said. “So that’s something I’m really passionate about: transit equity.”

Williams, who identifies as “a queer, Black American descendant of chattel slavery,” said she was the only participant in her Circle who identifies as Black. It’s a problem, she said, that is reflective of the broader lack of diversity among leadership at environmental organizations.

Williams was familiar with most of the members in her Circle and felt comfortable talking about the ways the climate crisis disproportionately impacts communities of color. “I already had a feeling of safety with this group,” she said, but added that her experience might be an exception. “You can’t really engage in that kind of space if you don’t feel like what you have to say is going to be welcome.”

Creating that safe space is why psychotherapist Taryn Crosby, who is also Black, co-organized We Outside, a climate conversation specifically for Black women and non-binary people.

“We want to create a space where our experiences are prioritized,” she said, adding that generations of trauma in nature due to slavery and lynchings, segregated state and national parks and economic oppression have pushed and excluded many Black Americans from the outdoors.

She said she hopes We Outside helps attendees understand and value their own connections to nature, and prepares them to take part in broader conversations and influence greater climate action.

“Because we haven’t felt necessarily welcomed or invited into other climate conversations, we kind of need this to build that muscle,” she said. “And that can equip us to have these conversations before mixed company.”

Leaders from the All We Can Save Project and Good Grief Network, two of the largest climate conversation networks, acknowledged that the majority of participants are white and said they were currently taking steps — including partnering with Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC)-led organizations and aiming to train more BIPOC facilitators — to diversify their ranks.

“As we think about plans for addressing diversity and inclusion in Circles — across the Project and climate movement broadly — we think partnerships, intentional outreach and relationship-building are vital,” said Amy Curtis, learning and community lead of the All We Can Save Project.

Crosby said she hopes initiatives like We Outside will be a starting point for more inclusive conversations about climate change. The goal, she said, is to hold space “where people can be open and curious about the way that they are affected by their environment and nature, and [also] how they affect their environment and nature—ultimately encouraging them to move that into action.”

The performance isn't just a spectator sport - according to Sacks - who explained audiences will not only be asked to "lean into" the often uncomfortable subjects of climate change and racial justice, but to participate in the performance as well.

"The show is woven throughout with gentle invitations to participate," said Sacks, "to learn the songs that are being sung onstage, and to stand up out of your seat and move if you feel inspired."

Sacks said through playful storytelling, dance and music, the audience is allowed a space to grieve for the climate.

As a young parent himself, he said, one role in the performance is a parent imagining the future his daughter will inherit. But he adds audiences will find joy throughout the work as well.

As crippling heat sears Western states, drought is creeping into Montana where Indigenous tribes are seeing historic waterways at record lows.

Below-normal moisture and above-average heat remain in the forecast at least through the weekend, and forecasts show no end in sight for the drought. The warmest global temperatures in decades are clearly reflected in northwest Montana's lakes, rivers and streams, and the areas affected by drought are increasing.

Brian Lipscomb, CEO of Energy Keepers, an organization monitoring water levels on behalf of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said people are feeling the effect of last winter's snowpack, which was only 70% of normal.

"Down 30%, that's really not normal for us," Lipscomb pointed out. "That water supply coming into the lake is the lowest in the 74-year record."

Lipscomb added an unusually cold winter added to the dry conditions in northwest Montana because the lack of snow reduced snowmelt and runoff into the river basin, which set the stage for even drier conditions now.

While much of the focus has been on the record heat in western states, Lipscomb noted the worst effects of drought do not happen in one year, or even in five or 10, but multiply and accumulate.

"You have to see drought in western Montana over the course of time," Lipscomb contended. "It's snowpack, it's when is our winter due, it's what is happening with rainfall. It's what's our soil moisture content. It's what's the water supplies in the rivers."

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the snowpack in Montana melted faster than it has in 30 years.

Virginia is the 12th state to join the nationwide Sentinel Landscape Partnership, which has goals of strengthening military readiness while advancing climate-change programs.

Some 3 million acres, comprising 10 military installations, are included in the state's designated sentinel landscapes. Norfolk, home to one of the largest naval bases in the nation, is experiencing record high levels of sea rise.

Edwin Martinez Martinez, state conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service Agency, noted the program will have sweeping impacts for the state.

"This initiative will have a positive impact on our state climate goals," Martinez Martinez asserted. "And will open up opportunities for education, outreach, building staffing capacity, training and, most importantly, implementation of conservation practices in these critical areas."

The next stage includes education and outreach, which Martinez Martinez said will go across numerous state conservation groups. The program is one part of the Defense Department's Climate Adaptation Plan. Other elements include supply chain initiatives and climate-informed decision-making.

While the program is still relatively new, officials are working on projects for it. The program will allocate several million dollars to projects within this program.

Zachary Greenberg, U.S. conservation project officer for the Pew Charitable Trusts, described what it could look like.

"In Virginia, that can look like projects that preserve or restore salt marsh, which buffer our coast and our military installations against storms," Greenberg explained. "It can also look like increased canopy cover in cities to address excessive heat."

Other potential projects include keeping Virginia forests intact, since they provide flood-control protection and can improve water quality.

Disclosure: The Pew Charitable Trusts Environmental Group contributes to our fund for reporting on Endangered Species & Wildlife, Environment, and Public Lands/Wilderness. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.