How Do We Fight Climate Denial? (w/ Dr. Genevieve Guenther)

This episode originally aired on February 6, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!

Dr. Genevieve Guenther, the founding director of End Climate Silence, thinks a lot about one of the most important questions of our time: How we can combat climate change denial and actually bring about the transformations to our energy systems that will halt runaway climate catastrophe. She has written a book, The Language of Climate Politics: Fossil Fuel Propaganda and How to Fight It, that looks at how climate change is discussed in the media and how we can talk about it more effectively in ways that actually show people what the problem is and give them actionable solutions to fight for. She stresses the importance of avoiding "doomerism" and maintaining hope through action. She joins us today for a NON-doomerist conversation on the present state of the climate movement and what we should be doing right now.

"It's so hard to think about the future in America right now, and that's in part because the future is going to be a future with climate change in it. And either the future is going to involve resolving the climate crisis and creating a new system and a new form of human flourishing, or it's going to be death by a thousand cuts. [So] when you start thinking about this stuff, if you start to have feelings of grief or terror or depression or hopelessness, just know that that comes with the territory. It's normal. You're not the only one. But it doesn't mean that it's hopeless. You're taking on these feelings because you have courage. It's a sign of your bravery. But don't think about the stuff you can't control. Don't think about the scientific impacts that feel overwhelming or somehow too scary and depressing to deal with. Take your attention and focus it on the people who are preventing us from halting the climate crisis." — Genevieve Guenther