How To Reach More People And Save Lives In The Climate Crisis

“I think people care about human stories. I think that first of all, no matter where you are from, your story, other people can relate to it. They can relate to your resilience, they can relate to the environment where you live, and they can relate to, you know, losing a lot of things no matter what. And so for me, as an artist, a musician and filmmaker, I use my art to tell these human stories.” That’s how Inna Modja, United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, described how to build cultural bridges around the climate crisis.

Modja made this point in a session at The Earth Day Women’s Summit last week on how to communicate more effectively to mobilize more people to address the climate crisis, which I moderated. The panel included actor/producer Rachelle Begley, content producer/social influencer Hayden Begley and Chelsea Henderson, the Director of Content for RepublicEn.org (“conservatives for climate change”), who wrote the new book “Glacial: The inside story of climate politics.”

It’s a safety issue. One of the challenges in the polarized culture today, is literally keeping communities safe from extreme weather events that are being triggered by the climate crisis – including hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods and droughts. Because some people are only listening to or watching media outlets that do not take the climate crisis seriously, those people may not hear the warnings to prepare or even evacuate in time to stay out of harm’s way.

Mother Nature does not ask your political affiliation before she wipes out your house, business, school, hospital, or entire community in a hurricane, tornado, flood or wildfire. Just ask the people of Houston, Texas or North Carolina, or Los Angeles who lost everything in massive and unexpected hurricanes, floods and/or wildfires.

And the risks are increasing daily. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasts that these extreme weather events will become yet more ferocious, more frequent, more destructive and more costly. Insurance companies are pulling out of extreme weather-prone area like Florida and California, and/or raising their rates to unaffordable levels. The Trump administration recently cut critical NOAA and The National Weather Service staff and funding, which means that the life-saving, reliable data NOAA and NWS provide to local meteorologists across the country that helps them warn their residents in time to prepare and/or evacuate, may not reach people in time.

So, the need to reach a broader array of people with ways to stay safe and take action to avert the climate crisis is urgent.

Here are the top suggestions to do so from this panel discussion at The Earth Day Women’s Summit:

• “I don’t believe in your politics, but I like that rain barrel”: That’s what one viewer of “Living With Ed” told Rachelle Begley after seeing how the Begleys had built their modern, energy-efficient and -independent, environmentally-certified home. Henderson also gave an example from a pastor with a conservative congregation who is reaching people with cool solutions that make their lives better or save them money.

• Talk about something you believe in – and maybe have fun doing it: Rachelle Begley stressed the need for authenticity in talking about these solutions, and keeping them simple too. “We were having fun, we were using our art, our creativity and we were talking about something we believed in,” she added. “We got ‘em in with comedy.”

• Keep at it – and be a little provocative: “I think courage, we just have to keep at it and say what you believe, no matter what, where the chips may fall,” Rachelle Begley insisted. Hayden Begley did a series on public transit to keep the story going, for example, including taking the subway to the Oscars and posting it on TikTok to get attention.

• Tell “human stories”: Stories about the people affected by the climate crisis, and using art and/or music to do so, has a big impact, they all emphasized. For example, Modja said the people of the Sahel desert in Africa are migrating to European shores because their land became unlivable due to extreme heat caused by global warming. “They are climate refugees,” she said. “Films and storytelling and music or whatever form of art you use to tell the stories of humans, you can create a bridge between people instead of a divide. You can create empathy and understanding, and people starting to take action. Because shame doesn’t work,” Modja explained.

• Write your Senators and Members of Congress: It may sound old-fashioned, but Henderson, a former Capitol Hill staffer herself, implored the audience to contact their lawmakers often – with both praise and demands. Thank them when they do something you like (“thanks for signing on to this letter” or for their floor speech or vote on an issue, e.g.). Encourage them to support legislation you want, such as for wind or solar, and talk about the jobs it’ll create. She also suggested writing a 400-600 word Op-Ed in your local newspaper and mentioning the lawmaker’s name, so their staff will highlight it for them.
• “Be inquisitive, be open-minded and you really have to listen”: Henderson reminded us to ask people about their lives and needs and really listen to what they say – and don’t say. That’s how you understand where their lives are affected by the climate crisis, and how to reach them.

And, importantly:

Get out of your own silo: We can’t understand other people if we only listen to people who agree with us, so Henderson added that, “We can’t depolarize if we just sit in our own echo chambers.” She explained that, “There’s going to be a friend who’s going to say, you know what? I’m really impressed with the way you’re walking the talk and you might influence them.”

The Earth Day Women’s Summit, produced by Electric Ladies Podcast and Global Green, was one day of the five-day EarthX2025 Congress of Conferences in Dallas, Texas on April 21-25, 2025.