The chapter explores the personal experiences of a journalist and historian impacted by the coal industry's effects on their family and region, leading to the launch of the Climate Narrative Project. It challenges the glorified American narrative of coal miners, sheds light on environmental and health consequences, and emphasizes the need for storytelling to bridge the gap between the climate crisis and everyday lives.
In the past decade, narratives of a dystopian climate future have helped connect people with heroes in worlds decimated by climate disruption and industrial expansion. In today’s real world, scientists are looking to geo-engineering and other human innovations to preserve the wellbeing of life on Earth. “What we’re missing is a way to galvanize people to support policies that are actually gonna change,” says Jeff Biggers, founder of The Climate Narrative Project.
So how can climate storytelling help us reckon with our changing environment? Do we need a new climate narrative to help us understand and solve the climate emergency?
Guests:
Jeff Biggers, Founder, The Climate Narrative Project
Elizabeth Kolbert, Staff Writer, The New Yorker
Kim Stanley Robinson, Science Fiction Author
Related Links:
Climate Narrative Project
Resistance: Reclaiming an American Tradition
The Ministry for the Future
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future
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