The Climate Change Elevator Pitch

So you’re in an elevator, or at a party, or eating dinner with relatives, and someone says, “I don’t get what’s the big deal about climate change. What’s going on?”

What do you say?

That depends on who you are and what you know. What if you’re a climate scientist and you know a lot about this issue? How do you respond?

The great website Climate Denial Crock of the Week is putting together a series of videos asking climate scientists just this. What’s their “elevator pitch”?

The first video has just been released, featuring one of my favorite vocal advocates for action: Dr. Katharine Hayhoe. 

Hayhoe is a climate scientist at Texas Tech University, and also a Christian evangelical. I think her work as an advocate is critically important because, obviously, of the marriage between the Republican Party and the religious right.

It’s easy these days for the GOP to cast doubt on scientists to their base, when so many scientists are seen as lefty atheists. That makes Hayhoe one of the most important voices for climate change advocacy we have today. Out of anyone speaking about the issue today, she is the one most likely to get traction where it is most desperately needed.

I think this elevator pitch video series is a terrific idea, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of them soon!