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by Gayathri Vaidyanathan and Brittany Patterson, E&E reporters
ClimateWire
July 5, 2016
How small must a climate scientist’s carbon footprint be? How about a celebrity who calls for environmental protection? Or a politician?
Champions of the environment say they try to practice what they preach. But they also argue that demanding proof of eco-purity is a smokescreen used by climate skeptics and irrelevant to the larger issue of creating a systemic change in how people use energy.
“We will not solve the climate problem by telling people they can’t have toast,” said Ken Caldeira, an atmospheric scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science. “We will solve it by making sure that the wire from the toaster is connected to a wind turbine or a solar panel and not a coal plant.”
From former Vice President Al Gore to “hockey stick” climate curve scientist Michael Mann, those who put themselves in the climate change limelight feel the heat. “Leonardo DiCaprio Takes Private Jet to Accept Environmental Award,” blared Us Weekly magazine after the Academy Award-winning actor was honored by a clean water advocacy group in May. The New York Post similarly slammed President Obama for taking Air Force One to Paris last year to join “jet-setting representatives” from nearly 200 other countries to sign a climate change accord.
Conservative magazine National Review took aim at actor and anti-fracking activist Mark Ruffalo. Citing the fame he’s won for the role of Dr. Bruce Banner/The Hulk in “The Avengers” movie series, the piece opined that “Perhaps playing a character with two different personas has taught him how to lead the double-standard life of a typical Hollywood environmental hypocrite; one day, you’re flying to award ceremonies and making energy-guzzling action movies, the next day you’re raging against the very industries and technologies that make your comfortable lifestyle possible.”
Even the pope is not immune to attack. After Pope Francis released his environmental encyclical calling for climate action, a piece in the National Catholic Reporter noted the “darling of environmentalists” was poised to depart on a high-carbon Latin America tour. “The pope’s journey from Rome to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay will inevitably involve a considerable amount of air travel, known to be a form of transportation that is incredibly damaging to the environment,” the piece said.
Increasingly, academics are entering the fray. A recent study published in the journal Climatic Change found people are more receptive to scientists they perceive as “green” (E&ENews PM, June 16).
Meanwhile, a growing body of scientific literature is trying to tease out what impact celebrities can have on public engagement around climate change. The latest is an upcoming special issue of Environmental Communication devoted to the growing prominence of media and celebrity in environmental policies and how they are shaping the way we think about climate solutions.
Max Boykoff, an associate professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a contributor to the upcoming special issue, said he has been intrigued by celebrities because of their power to inspire and to shape behavior change.
He said on the one hand, celebrities run the risk that their climate message is brushed off as a “fashion or fad” or that they are engaging in individual actions, which undermine larger societal momentum on climate change. But overall, he and others have concluded celebrities who take up the green megaphone create a net-positive by getting the public to think about climate change.
“U2 frontman Bono has commented, ‘Celebrity is a bit silly, but it is currency of a kind,'” Boykoff said. “This currency provides access to many people and places, from top leaders and everyday people to the podium at the U.N. and to people’s living room every evening.”
This power allows celebrities to reach an audience scientists may not. Media cover celebrities because people are curious and interested. It can also drive scrutiny when a celebrity preaches climate action but doesn’t follow through. Read more …
