Communicating With Conservatives

This training demonstrates how solutions-focused climate change communicators can convey their message more effectively to conservative audiences.

This training is also part of the Core Volunteer Training series.

Breadcrumb

/topics/communicating-across-the-aisle

TOC and Guide Section

Background

In the “Watch” tab Jim Tolbert, CCL’s Conservative Outreach Director, explains how to discuss climate change policy referring to values that conservatives hold. To effectively communicate, it is important to consciously project and frame our message our audiences values onto the material being discussed.

Jonathan Haidt’s Moral Foundations Theory

Jonathan Haidt provides a framework to understand values that conservatives may hold as they evaluate what is an appropriate response to climate change. Understanding these values can help us create effective messages and engage in a meaningful dialogue. People who are liberal or progressive tend to rely on two moral values when deciding what is acceptable behavior:

Harm vs. care
Fairness vs. cheating

People who are more conservative, typically rely on those two values, but less than more liberal people; and they also bring in a combination of four other values when considering what is acceptable behavior:

Loyalty vs. betrayal
Authority vs. subversion
Purity and sanctity vs. degradation
Liberty vs. oppression

When we talk on climate change to conservatives, it is important for us to bring in this broader range of values - and to avoid some common pitfalls that these values can help us understand. Let's briefly review how each of the four values that conservatives tend to prioritize can relate to conversations on climate change:

Loyalty vs. betrayal

Speak about local impacts (Highlight Your Local Climate Impacts training)
Speak about your local economy & local jobs
If you live in an agricultural area – speak to the special provision that the policy makes for local farmers
Use Conservative Quotes (See Conservative Caucus action page for more resources)
Do not make the issue about correcting President Trump or Republicans
Do not use references or graphics that show loyalty to more progressive sources (like Climate Reality branded slides or quotes from President Obama)

Authority vs. subversion

Show that you support free markets and capitalism - show that you are not trying to overthrow the US economy.
Present the values of capitalism and of fossil fuel use before talking about the secondary impacts of our emissions from using fossil fuels.
Use quotes from conservatives leaders (See Conservative Caucus action page)

Purity and sanctity vs. degradation

Reference groups that speak to sacred aspects of conservatives' lives:
If you share a faith tradition with a conservative, quote your tradition:
- Recent Citizens Climate Radio on the Bible
- (ex: Genesis 1:28 or 1:28-31 or 2:15)
Show respect for items and traditions others consider sacred
Show respect for American symbols like the United States flag

Liberty vs. oppression

Frame a carbon price around preserving peoples' choice on how they respond to a price signal.
Stress that this path assures that government does not try to pick what the solution is - markets and individuals are much better at creatively evaluating new technology and innovations.
The reason people with lower incomes get back more cash in the dividend than they see in increased costs - stress that this is due to the choices people make - people at the lower end of the income scale typically get on air planes less frequently, own smaller houses, and cause less emissions.
Our preferred policy is all about giving people freedom to respond to the price signal and living with their decisions.

Length

Press play to start the video (35m 59s)

https://vimeo.com/album/5967594

Video Outline

To skip ahead to a specific section go to the time indicated in parenthesis.

Intro & Agenda
(from beginning)

Moral Foundations Theory
(2:56)

In-Group Loyalty & Betrayal
(8:53)

Authority vs. Subversion
(15:06)

Purity vs. Sanctity
(17:00)

Conservative Messaging on the Energy Innovation Act
(21:13)

Resources on Community
(33:22)