activism

Climate Questions: Coming up with questions to start climate conversations

Eugene Bible

27 Oct 2022 — 4 min read

Climate Questions

As regular readers might know, I've been thinking a lot about how to have more and better climate change conversations, and as I thought more and more about how to do that, the sage words of Josh Spodek, host of the This Sustainable Life podcast came back to me:

Stop thinking about how you're going to do it, and just do more of it.

(I've heard this so often from Josh I can hear his voice saying it in my head).

So I started to think, 'Okay, I need to just have some more climate conversations.'

On top of that, I've also been toying with fun ideas for a YouTube channel.

This has lead me to a thought: maybe I could just combine those ideas and kill two proverbial birds with one proverbial stone.

Getting a climate message across is challenging, but one of the best things you can do to stop climate change is just *talk* about it more.

Climate Conversations with Verdant Growth

What I'd like to do, is have free-form climate change conversations with ordinary people: friends, family, people on the street, coworkers…Whoever. The object is not to have famous people, scientists, or any specific demographic…The goal is just to have climate conversations with everyday people. And as I go, I'll film them and post them to YouTube, with the guest's permission, of course.

Interviewing people on the street would be challenging, but fun!

The idea behind this series would be that I get to have lots of unscripted climate conversations with a lot of different people, and those conversations will be online where others can watch, listen in, and experience normal people talking about their experiences and thoughts about climate change. And hopefully, a few people out there will be inspired to have more climate conversations of their own.

Maybe something like the climate change version of Earthling Ed's vegan talks: I've always loved how well Ed is able to connect and have respectful conversations about a topic that can so often turn vitriolic. If you haven't watched an Earthling Ed video, I highly recommend it, even if you're not interested in veganism. He is an expert at respectful conversation and has some really good ones with some hard-core meat lovers that almost always end with a appreciative "Thank you, I really enjoyed that conversation" and a handshake.

Here's a typical video from Earthling Ed: respectful, engaging conversations with everyday people.

BONUS: Here's a video where he takes on InfoWars. Yikes.

So here's what I need from you

To do this, I've started to make myself a list of climate change questions to ask people, and I was hoping you, dear reader, would be willing to help me with my list! I'll write down my list, and I invite you to comment down below and tell me which ones you like or don't like, tell me some new questions you would be interested to hear other people answer, or any suggestions to make this idea even better. Please note, even though I'm calling this "climate conversations", some of the questions may be more geared towards general environmental pollution, since I'm sure I will encounter people who don't believe in climate change and will need to switch gears to fit my guest.

What question could this sign ask to engage people on climate?

The Climate Question List

What is climate change?
Do you have a crazy weather story?
Do you think climate change will impact you directly?
Is technology helping or hurting our relationship with nature?
Do humans have a responsibility to protect other living things?
What do you think humanity's future on earth looks like?
What emotions do you feel when you think about humanity's prospects on earth?
Do you ever feel guilty about doing things that are bad for the environment?
Do you think climate change impacts everyone equally? Who is more/less vulnerable?
Have you ever taken any actions to be better for the environment?
Who do you think has the responsibility to deal with climate change?
What are some dangers of current technology to the environment?
Do you think climate change is important?
How does climate affect non-human living things?
What's your favorite thing about nature?
What kind of environmental damage have you seen before?

I feel like this list is a pretty good all-around list that would lead to some interesting conversations and unique experiences and opinions. Do you agree? Is there more I'm missing? Are there one's I shouldn't ask? Why? Let me know in the comments below! I think this would be a little side project I'd really enjoy doing and would love your help!

Thanks for reading and commenting everyone!