Introducing the Climate Emergency Movement
Updated: May 2019 By Margaret Klein Salamon, PhD Founding Director, The Climate Mobilization. Originally Published: April 2016.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE
Imagine there is a fire in your house.
What do you do?
What do you think about?
You do whatever you can to try to put out the fire or exit the house. You make a plan of action.
Your senses are heightened, you are focused like a laser, and you put your entire self into your actions. You enter emergency mode.
The climate crisis is an unprecedented emergency. It is the top national security threat, public health threat, and moral emergency. Humanity is careening towards the deaths of billions of people, millions of species, and the collapse of organized civilization. States under severe climate stress, such as Syria, are already starting to fail, bringing chaos, violence, and misery to the region. The world order itself is crumbling, in significant part due to climatic and resource pressures. The
climate crisis acts as a “threat multiplier” making not only severe storms, but also war, nuclear exchange, and epidemics more likely. Britain is leaving the European Union, and America’s political system, undermined for decades by corruption and bad faith, is in dire peril.
How we react to the climate crisis will shape centuries and millennia to come. Given the stakes, and the extremely short timetable, it is imperative that we strive to maximize the efficacy of our actions — from ourselves as individuals, from our nation, from the global community of nations, and from the organizations that are trying to avert this catastrophe.
In this paper, I will introduce the psychological concept of “emergency mode” which is how individuals and groups function optimally during an existential or moral crisis — often achieving great feats through intensely focused motivation. The goal of the climate movement must be to lead the public out of “normal” mode and into emergency mode. This has huge implications for the climate movement’s communication style, advocacy, and strategy. Because emergency mode is contagious, the best strategy is for climate activists and organizations to 1) go into emergency mode themselves, and 2) communicate truthfully and emotionally about a) the climate emergency, b) the need for emergency mobilization, and c) the fact that they are in emergency mode, as clearly and emphatically as possible.
The initial publication of Leading the Public into Emergency Mode in 2016 suggested this approach as a “New Strategy for the Climate Movement.” I am absolutely thrilled to report that in the 3 years since publication, this approach — both as a policy program and as a mode of campaigning and communicating, has been adopted by an extremely energized set of organizations. My claim that embracing the truth and campaigning for an
emergency response to the climate crisis would be highly effective is proving true. The climate emergency movement has exploded onto the US and global political scene, and is growing all the time. This updated and revised essay 1) explains the theory and practice of “emergency mode,” and 2) introduces the organizations and campaigns that comprise the Climate Emergency Movement, as humanity’s best hope.
The Climate Mobilization launched in 2014, telling the truth about the Climate Emergency — it is an acute and existential threat to us all — and advocating for a WWII Scale Climate Mobilization to eliminate emissions in 10 years or less, and initiate a massive drawdown program. For the first four years of existence our language, vision, and timelines were relatively marginal — though they inspired fierce devotion in our volunteers and supporters. Our strategy always centered around “inception” and “pollination” meaning that if we could “de-risk” our approach and prove its viability, then other larger groups would begin taking it on. At the end of 2018, the dam finally burst and the Climate Emergency Movement has emerged, finally, as a powerful force. This movement tells the truth about the scale of the crisis, and demands a “Green New Deal” or a WWII-scale climate mobilization — a 10 year transition to zero emissions plus drawdown. Led by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and the Justice Democrats in Congress, the Sunrise Movement, Zero Hour, School Strikers, and Extinction Rebellion in the streets, this movement has burst forth with tremendous force and momentum. As of the time of this writing, more than 500 cities in 4 countries have declared a “Climate Emergency,” and most of the major Democratic Presidential candidates have stated that they support the Green New Deal. The Climate Mobilization is proud to have made critical contributions to these breakthroughs, by developing, building,
and spreading the Climate Emergency Declaration campaign, through policy development such as the Victory Plan and more. (See our “impact page” for more about how we paved the way.) We have been able to achieve all of this because we have entered emergency mode! We are extraordinarily focused on and dedicated to the mission: spreading climate truth in order to commence WWII scale climate mobilization that eliminates emissions in 10 years, restores a safe climate, halts the 6th mass extinction of species, and creates a regenerative economy. This paper is based on a combination of theory and practice.
I have researched social movements, flow states, and more, to develop the concept of emergency mode, and these ideas have been developed and refined through my experience in running TCM, collaborating with other organizations, and attempting to communicate about the climate crisis to people from all walks of life. I will make specific suggestions for the climate movement in the second half of this paper. But first, we must understand
emergency mode.
Emergency Mode: Optimal Functioning in an Existential
(or Moral) Crisis
Most psychological and sociological writing about the climate crisis has warned climate “communicators” of the risks of triggering primitive and pathological responses to crisis: “fight or flight,” panic, and the devastation caused by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Because of these bleak portrayals, many political and organizational leaders have dared not convey the horrifying truth of the climate crisis, since they operate under the mistaken belief that the only response to emergencies is panicked chaos. But aside from panic, individuals and groups can also respond
to emergencies with reason, focus, dedication, and shocking success. Emergency mode is the mode of human psychological functioning that occurs when individuals or groups respond optimally to existential or moral emergencies. This mode of human functioning — markedly different from “normal” functioning — is characterized by an extreme focus of attention and resources on working productively to solve the emergency.
We are all, at times, confronted with emergency situations. Children, and adults who are overwhelmed by the situation for whatever reason, enter either panic mode, in which they act without thinking, or are paralyzed and unable to act. Children, for example, will often hide during house fires. However, healthy adults respond to emergencies by entering emergency mode.
Normal mode Emergency mode
- Priorities: Many balanced priorities v. Solving the crisis = One top priority
- Resources: Distributed across priorities and saved for future v. Huge allocation of resources towards solution
- Focus: Distributed across priorities v. Laser-like focus
- Self-esteem source: Individual accomplishment v. Contributing to the solution
Emergency mode occurs when an individual or group faces an existential threat, accepts that there is a life-threatening emergency and reorients by:
- Adjusting their hierarchy of priorities so that solving the emergency is the clear top priority
- Deploying a huge amount of resources toward solving the crisis
- Giving little priority to personal gratification and self-esteem enhancement for their own sake, and instead seeking them through engagement with the emergency. People seek to “do their part” to solve the crisis and build their skills to contribute more effectively.
Emergency mode is a fundamental departure from “normal” mode of functioning. In normal mode, the individual or group feels relatively safe and secure, does not recognize any immediate existential or major moral threats — either because
there is none, or because they are in denial — and therefore: - Maintains a portfolio of priorities
- Attempts to distribute focus and other resources wisely
among them - Gives considerable weight to personal gratification,
enjoyment, and achievement
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 9
Long Emergencies
Usually emergencies take hours or days to resolve, but people
can and do also enter long emergency modes that last for years.
These “long emergencies” include diseases like cancer, which
is life-threatening but not immediately curable, acute poverty, in
which the person struggles daily with the emergency of meeting
basic needs, and war. For these long emergencies, the business
of normal life must be integrated into the emergency response.
For doctors, nurses, paramedics, crisis counselors, hostage
negotiators, firefighters, police officers, soldiers, and (hopefully)
climate campaigners, emergency mode is a regular, on-going
experience.
There is also moral emergency mode, when an issue of grave
injustice becomes elevated to the status of an existential threat.
People in emergency mode are the driving force behind most,
if not all, successful social movements — whether it is moral
(fighting for principles, and the safety of others), existential
(fighting for your own safety, and the safety of others) or a
combination. These people have decided that nothing, not even
survival, is more important than the struggle. They dedicate
themselves to it fully and utilize all of their capabilities in the
service of victory.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 10
Emergency mode is a state of enhanced performance,
characterized by flow states. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the
psychologist who discovered flow and pioneered its study
calls it the “optimal state of consciousness,” it’s a state in
which “we feel our best and perform our best.” When people
are in emergency mode, they experience heightened focus,
perception, and abilities. A McKinsey study found that executives
who experienced flow states are five times more productive.
Csikszentmihalyi describes flow as:
Being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The
ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought
follows inevitably from the previous one…your whole being is
involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.
Skill level Challenge level
Apathy Boredom
Anxiety Arousal
Worry
Relaxation
Control
Flow
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 11
Flow is most likely to occur when the task is challenging, but
our level of skill is high. Flow can be triggered by facing danger,
though it is not a state of high anxiety. Steven Kotler wrote The
Rise of the Superhuman about flow in extreme sports. Kotler
argues that flow can be triggered by situations that involve
serious consequences and risks.
In all other activities, flow is the hallmark of high performance,
but in situations where the slightest error could be fatal, then
perfection is the only choice — and flow is the only guarantee
of perfection. Thus, flow is the only way to survive in the fluid,
life-threatening conditions of big waves, big rivers, and bigmountains…
Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. Or,
as Danny Way (professional skateboarder) explains: “It’s either
find the zone or suffer the consequences — there’s no other choice
available.”
– Kotler, Steven. The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of
Ultimate Human Performance (p. 22).
In short emergencies such as a fire, individuals stay in an
emergency flow state the entire time — they never take their
mind off the emergency. If the individual is in long emergency
mode, however, these emergency flow states are experienced
frequently, but other elements of life, such as rest, recreation, and
close relationships, are also maintained. Speaking personally,
I entered emergency mode 6 years ago — since my friend
challenged me to “actually try to solve the climate crisis,” and
have worked, sometimes struggled, to stay close with friends and
family, and to relax. Indeed, balancing one’s intensive work on
solving the emergency and all other activities can be one of the
most challenging elements of facing a long emergency.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 12
On the other hand, living in emergency mode can be extremely
rewarding. Flow states in general are sought after, and a key
indicator of psychological health. People enjoy being fully
engaged in activity — “in the zone” — utilizing their entire capacity,
whether they are playing sports, performing musically, studying
intensely, or responding to an emergency. As Csikszentmihalyi
described the rewards of flow:
The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive,
relaxing times…The best moments usually occur if a person’s
body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to
accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.
I have spoken with Emergency Room doctors, firefighters, and
climate campaigners who report being hooked on the sense of
purpose, feeling that they are useful, and the relief from selfinvolvement
that their immersive work provides.
People must feel competent to handle the emergency in order
to enter emergency mode. If you are overwhelmed, you may
panic. If you feel helpless, you cannot enter emergency mode,
regardless of how acute the moral or existential threat.
Bill McKibben reports that the question he is most often
asked is “What can I do?” This is accurate to my experience
as well — millions of Americans want to help fight the climate
crisis, but don’t know how to do so effectively. The more
the climate movement can provide structures for people’s
engagement — providing directions and support for people who
are ready to tackle the climate emergency — the more people
will go into emergency mode. Effective, transparent leadership
is also critical in enabling people to enter emergency mode.
Confidence that leaders and decision makers are competently
addressing questions of strategy and policy for the emergency
mobilization allows participants to focus on their contribution.
Essential to long emergencies is the human capacity for
dedication and commitment — the mind state that brings a
person back, over and over, to the emergency issue despite
inevitable interruptions and temptation to avoid the issue. It also
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 13
takes a good deal of courage, and ability to stay calm under
intense stress. The famous “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters
from wartime United Kingdom addressed this challenge. We
could translate them into this framework as meaning, “Don’t
Panic and Stay in Emergency Mode.”
DON’T
PANIC
AND
STAY IN
EMERGENCY
MODE
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 14
Groups in Emergency Mode
In emergency mode, members of groups — such as organizations,
or even whole countries — work productively together in a
coordinated way to solve a crisis. The vast majority of people
contribute their best effort and available resources. People fill
different roles and take on complementary projects in order to
ameliorate the crisis. While the profit motive and self-interested
behavior are not eliminated in a long emergency, working for
the common good to create solutions, rather than focusing on
their own comfort or advantage, becomes the norm. People
gain satisfaction and pride from helping the group or the wider
emergency project, and they feel motivated, even driven to do so.
Humans evolved in tribes, and group success was vital to
the survival of each individual. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt
describes human nature as “90% chimpanzee and 10% bee” to
illustrate our evolved, combination of social but self-interested
(chimpanzees) and group-oriented behavior (bees).
We are like bees in being ultra social creatures whose minds
were shaped by the relentless competition of groups with other
groups. We are descended from earlier humans whose groupish
minds helped them cohere, cooperate, and outcompete other
groups. That doesn’t mean that our ancestors were mindless or
unconditional team players; it means they were selective. Under
the right conditions, they were able to enter a mind-set of “one for
all, all for one” in which they were truly working for the good of the
group, and not just for their own advancement within the group.
By far the most powerful trigger for the “hive switch” is
a catastrophic event that clearly signals the arrival of an
emergency, particularly an external attack. The surprise attack
on Pearl Harbor led the United States to “flip the hive switch” and
enter emergency mode in an incredibly powerful, productive way.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 15
The United States in Emergency
Mode: WWII
After years of stubborn, isolationist denial of the threat and
clinging to “Normal Functioning” as Germany swept through
Europe, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor ended American
isolationism and initiated the example par excellence of America
in emergency mode: full-scale mobilization.
Economic mobilization is an emergency restructuring of a
modern industrial economy, accomplished at rapid speed. It
involves the vast majority of citizens, the utilization of a very
high proportion of available resources, and impacts all areas of
society. It is nothing less than a government-coordinated social
and industrial revolution. Mobilization is what happens when an
entire nation enters emergency mode, and the results can be
truly staggering.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 16
In Climate Code Red, David Spratt and Philip Sutton highlighted
the differences in normal political mode and emergency mode,
drawing heavily from WWII:
Normal political-paralysis mode Emergency mode
Crises are constrained within business-asusual
mode
Society engages productively with crises, but
not in panic mode
Spin, denial, and ‘politics as usual’ are
employed
The situation is assessed with brutal honesty
No urgent threat is perceived Immediate, or looming, threat to life, heatth,
property, or environment is perceived
Problem is not yet serious High probability of escalation beyond control if
immediate action is not taken
Time of response is not important Speed of response is crucial
The crisis is one of many issues The crisis is of the highest priority
A labor market is in place Emergency project teams are developed, and
labor planning is instituted
Budgetary ‘restraint’ is shown All available / necessary resources are
devoted to the emergency and, if necessary,
governments borrow heavily
Community and markets function as usual Non-essential functions and consumption may
be curtailed or rationed
A slow rate of change occurs because of
systemic intertia
Rapid transition and scaling up occurs
Market needs dominate response choices
and thinking
Planning, fostering innovation and research
take place
Targets and goals are determined by
political tradeoffs
Critical targets and goals are not compromised
There is a culture of compromise Failure is not an option
There is a lack of national leadership, and
politics is adversarial and incremental.
Bipartisanship and effective leadership are the
norm
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 17
During WWII, the country joined together with a spirit of unity,
sacrifice, and common purpose. Young men sacrificed their
lives fighting for their country. Women surged into factories to
produce war materiel. Native American “code talkers” helped
transmit secret messages for the allies. Citizens invested their
available cash reserves in war bonds. The federal government
instituted a sweeping rationing program in order to ensure a
fair distribution of scarce resources on the home front — and to
share the sacrifice equitably. Gasoline, coffee, butter, tires, fuel
oil, shoes, meat, cheese, and sugar were rationed, and every
American received a fair share. “Pleasure driving” was banned,
the Indy 500 was shut down, and a national speed limit of 35
miles per hour was established. Comprehensive wage and price
controls were put in place to combat inflation.
Wealthy elites set aside their personal interests in favor of the
war effort. Conservative business titans joined labor leaders
and liberal bureaucrats — after years of bitter acrimony over
the New Deal — to focus America’s industrial might against the
Nazis and Imperial Japan. Factories were rapidly converted from
producing consumer goods to producing tanks, guns, bombs,
and planes — shattering all historical records for war production.
Taxes were also increased significantly, particularly on high
earners, who paid a steep “Victory Tax,” the most progressive
tax in American history. The top marginal income tax rate on the
highest earners reached 88% in 1942 and a record 94% in 1944.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 18
By entering emergency mode and mobilizing for total victory,
the United States accomplished truly staggering feats. By
1944 the United States had produced 229,600 planes — more
than three times the original, highly ambitious, goal set out
by President Roosevelt three years earlier. In response to a
cutoff of critical rubber supplies in Southeast Asia, the federal
government launched a crash program that scaled up synthetic
rubber production from under 1% to about 70% of total U.S.
production — a 100-foldincrease — in about four years. In 1943,
reclaimed rubber from citizen scrap drives provided about 50% of
domestic rubber production.
We also made huge advances in the sciences. The first
computer was invented, as were blood transfusion and radar
technology. The Manhattan Project successfully built the world’s
first atomic bomb in less than three years — a morally fraught
but nonetheless stupendous feat of planning, cooperation and
scientific ingenuity.
Despite all the resources that were diverted to the war effort
during this multi-year emergency, the United States also
managed to maintain — and in some cases expand — its basic
systems including infrastructure, education, health care, and
child-care, and in large measure made sure that the basic needs
of the civilian economy were met.
We need not have an overly rosy view of that time period to
appreciate its transformative effects, and the transformative
potential of mobilization, generally. One glaring problem were
racist policies and attitudes — the military itself and many of the
industrial mobilization jobs were segregated, and more than
100,000 Japanese Americans were interned. However, during the
Mobilization, major strides were made towards both racial and
sexual equality, as well as fair employment practices.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 19
Moving Towards Emergency
Mobilization
Emergency mobilization on this scale is precisely what we need
if we are to prevent a global cataclysm and restore a safe and
stable climate. We need to transition away from fossil fuels and
carbon-intensive agriculture as soon as possible, draw down all
the excess CO2 and cool the planet below present levels. This
will happen only with public planning coordinated by the federal
government, global cooperation, massive public investment,
forceful regulations and economic controls, and full societal
participation. The Climate Mobilization provides an in-depth look
at what such a mobilization would look like in our Victory Plan.
Factors That Prevent
Emergency Mode
Given the increasing public awareness of the existential risk
posed by climate change, why hasn’t the transition to emergency
mode happened by now? It turns out the threat posed by climate
change is fundamentally different from the one we faced
during World War II, making it more difficult for society to enter
emergency mode. We can still get there — indeed we must get
there to have any chance of bringing the climate crisis under
control — but it will take some planning and effort. To understand
what is needed, it will help to take a closer look at the psychology
of emergency mode.
The psychological capacity for both normal mode and
emergency mode arose over hundreds of thousands of years of
human evolution. Individuals and groups who usually manage
broad and diverse interests, but are able to snap into intense
focus when in danger, have the best overall survival prospects.
The challenge is when to enter emergency mode, when to
continue business as usual, and how to trigger a switch in mode.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 20
The factors that trigger an emergency response are also
products of evolution. Psychologist Daniel Gilbert argues that
humans are wired for a reflexive response to threats that are
“intentional, immoral, imminent, and instantaneous.” When
threats, such as terrorism, contain all of these characteristics it
can trigger significant over-reactions. But if a threat, such as the
climate crisis, does not contain these elements and is instead
unintended, caused by actions that are regarded as normal and
moral, with the worst impacts in the future and the disaster
unfolding over decades, then an emergency response will not
immediately be triggered and the risk of under-reacting is very
high.
We cannot count on people entering emergency mode
reflexively. Rather, we need to accomplish it through education,
organizing, and setting an example. Thus I argue that the role
of the climate movement should be to enter emergency mode
themselves and lead the public there.
Pluralistic Ignorance (ie Social Proof)
The way we respond to threats — by entering emergency mode
or by remaining in normal mode — is highly contagious. Imagine
the fire alarm goes off in an office building. How seriously should
you take it? How do you know if it is a drill or a real fire? Those
questions will be predominantly answered by the actions and
communications of the people around you, particularly people
designated as leaders. If they are chatting and taking their time
exiting the building, you will assume that this is a drill. If people
are moving with haste, faces stern and focused, communicating
with urgency and gravity, you will assume there is real danger
and exit as quickly as possible.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 21
Psychologist Robert Caladini describes the concept of pluralistic
ignorance:
Very often an emergency is not obviously an emergency…in times
of such uncertainty, the natural tendency is to look around at
the actions of others for clues. We can learn, from the way the
other witnesses are reacting, whether the event is or is not an
emergency. What is easy to forget, though, is that everybody else
observing the event is likely to be looking for social evidence, too.
Or as researchers Bibb Latané and John M. Darley put it, “Each
person decides that since nobody is concerned, nothing is
wrong. Meanwhile, the danger may be mounting to the point
where a single individual, uninfluenced by the seeming calm of
others, would react.”
This is a critical point, with grave implications for the climate
movement. To evaluate whether we are currently in a climate
crisis, the public will look to each other — and particularly to the
climate organizations, writers, and leaders. Are they calling it
an emergency? Does the tone of their writing and statements
convey alarm and a passionate desire for massive action to avert
imminent crisis? Are they demanding an emergency response?
Are they acting like it’s an emergency? Are they themselves in
emergency mode? If the answer to these questions is “no,” the
individual will conclude that there
must not be an emergency, or that
emergency action is hopeless
because the leaders are apparently
unwilling to coordinate emergency
action. This suggests the sad,
dangerous conclusion that NGOs
who communicate with euphemism
and advocate carbon gradualism are
actually preventing the public from
entering emergency mode.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 22
Gradualism
The mainstream environmental movement, and Democratic
Party, has been stuck in gradualism for decades, calling for a
multi-decade reduction of fossil fuel use through policies such
the Clean Power Plan and carbon pricing. Furthermore, virtually
no mainstream environmental groups call for actions to draw
down (or sequester) excess greenhouse gases, which must begin
now on a massive scale and are essential if we are to avoid a
climate catastrophe and restore a safe climate.
Gradualists use euphemistic assessments of the Climate
Emergency to make their policies seem appropriate, and advise
people to use “positive” language when communicating, and not
to “scare people.” Gradualists will go as far as to “tone police”
organizers, authors, or filmmakers who are telling the truth about
the Climate Emergency, criticizing them as fear-mongering or
hysterical.
This attitude misleads the public and blocks Americans from
entering emergency mode. We cannot expect the public to
support policies that are more aggressive than what Greenpeace
or the World Wildlife Foundation is calling for. Organizations that
claim to be protecting the climate have a special duty to reckon
with climate truth, and advocate the only solution that could
actually protect humanity and the natural world: emergency
mobilization.
Helplessness
A sense of helplessness is preventing many people from entering
emergency mode in response to the climate crisis. Our political
system seems beyond repair, the culture in the thrall of denial,
and the scale of the crisis is staggering. Widespread feelings of
helplessness also represent the failure of leadership from official
climate movement leaders and politicians to offer an honest
assessment of the crisis, advocate for solutions that actually
stand a chance of working, and invite individuals to take part in
that solution. The advocacy of obviously inadequate solutions
worsens the despair and cynicism of the public.
Massive dissatisfaction, anger, despair, and fear lie beneath the
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 23
surface of the American electorate on the climate crisis. A recent
poll by Randle and Eckersley investigated how people from the
US, UK and Australia evaluate the current threats facing humanity
with some staggering results:
Overall, a majority (54%) rated the risk of our way of life ending
within the next 100 years at 50% or greater, and a quarter (24%)
rated the risk of humans being wiped out at 50% or greater. The
responses were relatively uniform across countries, age groups,
gender and education level, although statistically significant
differences exist. Almost 80% agreed “we need to transform our
worldview and way of life if we are to create a better future for
the world.”
A quarter of respondents think that humanity has a 50% chance
of near-term-extinction, and almost all respondents agreed that
transformative change is necessary — yet we are continuing
with business as usual and daily life as usual! This suggests a
paralyzing degree of helplessness across society.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 24
Rise of the Climate Emergency
Movement
It’s clear our mainstream politicians and climate organizations
are not up to the challenge of leading the public into emergency
mode, and are therefore not capable of mounting and adequate
response to the climate crisis. Fortunately, a new front is rapidly
emerging on the global stage that is geared toward doing just
that: The Climate Emergency Movement.
The Climate Mobilization was a pioneer in this movement,
spending years promoting maximal intensity mobilization in
relative obscurity. In fact, at the beginning of 2018, we were the
only national organization advocating for a 10-year transition
to zero emissions plus drawdown. Our “Move the Movement”
campaign focused on getting the broad climate movement to
accept the climate truth — the fact that we face an extinction-level
ecological breakdown and that we are massively behind schedule
to address it — as a core principle and to use truth-telling as tactic
for achieving the changes needed to restore a safe climate. We
approached this goal with a variety of tactics, including thorough
public and behind-the-scenes criticism of insufficient policy
proposals, as well as our general messaging focused on the
climate emergency.
Up until recently, standing for this position was unpopular and
made for a lonely reality, with the big nonprofits, foundations,
and so-called “Climate Communicators,” all of whom urged
organizations like TCM to avoid “fear tactics,” recommending
that we instead communicate optimism in order to avoid
scaring the public into paralysis or chaos. But today, the Climate
Emergency Movement has captured the public imagination and
is rapidly gaining power. As the reality of climate breakdown
sets in, the old paternalistic strategy is dying off. Along with it,
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 25
the fetishization of markets as some kind of mythic force that
must not be disturbed by government action is also starting
to dissolve. It is becoming clearer by the day that we must tell
the truth, that we must act boldly, and that we must do so at
incredible speed.
The shift away from incrementalist goals and toward a real fight
for the survival of our species has been so rapid that it is almost
hard to conceptualize the change in tone and seriousness. In
some assessments, it began in earnest in 2016 at Standing Rock,
where the Indigenous Water Protectors showed the country what
heroism looks like, as they withstood months of abuse from
police and private security forces, and continued their nonviolent,
highly spiritual direct action of blocking the Dakota Access
Pipeline.
Today, there is a militant movement of young people marching
in the streets and occupying the offices of elected officials,
embarrassing representatives who refuse to act with urgency.
The street theater and direct action tactics of Extinction
Rebellion have changed the consciousness of the United
Kingdom and have helped achieve declarations of Climate
Emergency in 53 local government jurisdictions, including
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 26
London, the biggest city to date to declare and commit to a
10-year transition to a zero-emissions economy. Overall, 500
local governments, representing over 50 million people around
the globe have joined the Climate Emergency Declaration
Campaign. In the United States, the Green New Deal is shaping
the Democratic Party platform around a 10-year national
mobilization to achieve a carbon-neutral economy.
The Climate Mobilization has played an integral role in
shaping and supporting these efforts, both directly, through our
organizing and influence network and our successful campaign
to inform the Democratic Party primary and platform in 2016,
and indirectly, through sector-leading publications like the Victory
Plan, which describe the necessary goals of a serious climate
movement.
Successful Social Movements
Utilize and Spread Emergency
Mode
Although The Climate Emergency Movement is relatively new,
it is part of a proud, extremely effective tradition of social
movements that have levered emergency mode to confront
existential threats, and its leaders can draw inspiration and
guidance from past movements that have achieved great
success using this approach. For example, In the 1980s, HIV, the
virus that causes AIDS, was decimating the gay communities
in New York, San Francisco and other large cities, and it was
spreading at a horrifying speed. The government was failing the
victims — giving them virtually no help, and failing to research
and treat this growing epidemic. The government’s failure to act
swiftly and effectively, or even acknowledge the epidemic, was
largely due to pervasive homophobia.
Larry Kramer — the now iconic AIDS activist — founded
ACT UP because existing AIDS groups had failed to enter
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 27
emergency mode and were continuing to seek solutions through
business-as-usual channels, such as holding meetings with
government officials and asking for help — strategies that were
not working. Kramer helped found and build the Gay Men’s
Health Alliance — but broke with them over disagreements about
strategy and tactics. Kramer criticized GMHA as wanting to
be “the Red Cross” because they were focused on appearing
mainstream and upstanding and “a morgue” because they
were helping people die rather than fighting “for the living to go
on living.”
Emergency Communication
Kramer knew that he was fighting for his own life and the
life of his friends. He had no interest in “business as usual.”
Kramer treated AIDS with deadly seriousness and encouraged
as much (realistic) fear as possible. He told crowds of gay men
that if they didn’t fight back, they would be dead in a few years.
He was inviting others, especially other gay men, to join him in
emergency mode, focused intensely on solving the crisis.
ACT UP’s slogan, “Silence=Death” referred not only to
governmental and media silence on AIDS, but the entire cultural
silence around homosexuality. Many gay people were closeted,
hoping to protect their careers and avoid discriminatory,
dehumanizing reactions from a homophobic culture. The
silence around gayness — with most people keeping their sexual
orientation at least partially private — posed huge problems for
the movement. Gay men, including gay doctors, were not able
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 28
to work together with maximum impact, or communicate the
emergency to the public, while still in the closet. Larry Kramer
wrote in his prescient, biting, landmark essay 1,112 and counting:
Why isn’t every gay man in this city so scared shitless that he
is screaming for action? Does every gay man in New York want
to die?… I am sick of closeted gay doctors who won’t come out
to help us…. I am sick of closeted gays. It’s 1983 already, guys,
when are you going to come out? … As more and more of my
friends die, I have less and less sympathy for men who are afraid
their mommies will find out or afraid their bosses will find out or
afraid their fellow doctors or professional associates will find out.
Unless we can generate, visibly, numbers, masses, we are going
to die.
The push to come out and live out of the shadows had a
profound impact as the public learned that people they loved and
respected were gay, and in danger.
Education and Advocacy
Because the government was failing to provide answers and
effective treatment, ACT UP took on significant educational
work as well. The Treatment + Data Committee took on the
task of becoming experts in the biology of HIV/AIDS — seeking
to understand the virus and various treatment options. A
glossary of AIDS treatment terms was created and passed out at
meetings. ACT UP also produced and advocated A National AIDS
Treatment Research Agenda, which laid out ACT UP’s specific
demands for what drugs should be developed and how the
process should unfold.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 29
Protest
By demonstrating their courage and tenacity, ACT UP grew in
size and power, drawing more people into emergency mode.
New members contributed their skills, resources, and networks
to the cause. By keeping their protests non-violent, ACT UP
invited participation from a larger group. Erica Chenoweth has
demonstrated that non-violent campaigns are much more
likely to be successful at involving significant portions of the
population, and more successful at accomplishing their overall
goals.
(Partial) Success!
With its combination of public protest, private acts of courage,
and education & advocacy, ACT UP accomplished many of its
aims. AIDS patients won the right to participate in every phase
of the drug development process. They won major funding
for research, which led to the discovery and deployment of
antiretrovirals, a class of drugs that is very successful in
treating HIV, potentially keeping the disease from ever becoming
AIDS. ACT UP’s success laid the groundwork for mainstream
acceptance of homosexuality, as well as the continuing struggles
for gay rights and equality. It also forever changed the way
pharmaceutical drugs are researched and developed.
ACT UP’s work has not been completed, however. AIDS has
become a global epidemic, with more than 36 million people
currently infected, and 1 million people dying from AIDS every
year. There is still no cure and no vaccine, something that Larry
Kramer and many others continue to work on. But what ACT UP
did accomplish was to get people and institutions, especially
the Federal Government, and also local governments, hospitals,
universities and more — to treat HIV/AIDS like the crisis it was.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 30
Implications for the Climate
Movement: Lead the Public into
Emergency Mode
Like ACT UP, the climate movement is responding to a direct
existential threat. Understanding that emergency mode allows
individuals and groups to function in an enhanced, optimal way,
delivering their peak performance, has critical implications for
the climate movement.
People who understand the climate emergency must exit
normal mode and abandon the gradual policy advocacies and
enervated emotional states that accompany it. Instead, we
must seek to restore a safe climate at emergency speed. To
accomplish this, the climate movement must lead the public
into emergency mode. First we must go into emergency mode
ourselves, and then communicate about the climate emergency
and need for mobilization with clarity, dedication, and escalating
assertiveness.
Those of us who have entered emergency mode — who
understand the mobilization imperative — need to get talkative
and loud. We need to spread our message as far and wide as
possible. We must not stay “closeted” and appear that we believe
everything is fine, or that the the Democratic Party are well on
their way to containing the crisis, once the Republicans and the
Supreme Court get out of the way. Rather we need to “come out”
as being in emergency mode and in favor of a WWII-scale climate
mobilization that rapidly sweeps away business-as-usual — to our
friends, family, neighbors, fellow climate activists, and the public.
Like ACT UP we need to spread our message as clearly, loudly
and in the most attention-grabbing ways we can.
Big Green, with their hundreds of millions of dollars of funding,
and other gradualist organizations, should follow the lead of
Sunrise, Extinction Rebellion, and the School Strikers, or they will
find themselves facing a different type of existential threat: total
irrelevancy.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 31
Seeking Consensus
While we must seek to learn as much as we can from ACT UP
and other successful social movements, we must also recognize
that the climate crisis poses a challenge unlike anything
humanity has ever faced. Full-scale emergency mobilization
requires a higher degree of participation and consensus
than treating AIDS, implementing civil rights legislation, or
even toppling a dictator. In order to initiate the WWII Scale
Climate Mobilization that we need, I believe we need a national
consensus that we are directly threatened by the climate
emergency.
ACT UP didn’t bring the entire public into emergency mode,
but because they entered emergency mode themselves they
were able to apply pressure very strategically. ACT UP could
be something of a gadfly — alienating many and still achieving
their agenda. They were an oppressed minority that needed to
move huge bureaucracies, and they did. The climate movement
faces a larger task. We must effect change throughout our entire
society. We want to “wake America up” to the scale of the threat,
and the need for mobilization, as America woke up to the need
to mobilize for WWII immediately following the attacks on Pearl
Harbor.
Thus we must seek to be as inclusive as possible, while
unwaveringly demanding WWII-scale climate mobilization.
Our tone must balance emergency-mode, steadfastness,
assertiveness, and inclusiveness. Pope Francis calls for people
to have an “ecological conversion,” and we must adopt the
attitude of understanding and forgiveness for individuals past
denial or climate-damaging activity.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 32
Addressing Helplessness
Many people who understand the scope of the climate crisis are
paralyzed by fear and helplessness. Empowerment, the solution
to helplessness, is a key element of all social movements.
In the case of the climate crisis, we must educate, or remind
people that: - Social movements can cause immense, rapid change,
and the Climate Emergency Movement has tremendous
momentum. - During WWII, America mobilized and achieved a transition
more rapid and complete than anyone thought possible. - We as citizens have the power to change the direction of
this country, and if we successfully build political will for
full-scale climate mobilization, the results will be staggering.
The best thing that we can do to confront the pervasive sense
of helplessness and despair is to rapidly build an effective and
public Climate Emergency Movement.
Truth Based Communication
After decades of politicians and environmental organizations
downplaying and soft-pedaling the threat, The Climate
Mobilization and the Climate Emergency Movement proposes a
corrective: tell the truth. Yes, it’s scary. Yes, the challenge before
us is immense. But as James Baldwin wrote, “Not everything that
is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is
faced.”
While considered “too hot to handle” by gradualists, the truth
is actually our movement’s greatest strategic asset. The truth
is that no human endeavor can succeed on a planet beset
by catastrophic climate change. None of our values, joys, or
relationships can prosper on an overheated planet. There will be
no “winners” in a business-as-usual scenario: Even wealthy elites
are reliant on stable ecosystems, agriculture, and a functioning
global civilization. For that reason, among others, solving the
climate crisis has the potential to be the most unifying endeavor
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 33
in human history. I explore this concept in depth in my essay The
Transformative Power of Climate Truth, and my forthcoming
book Transform Yourself with Climate Truth will help readers
emotionally process climate truth, and integrate it into their
identities.
Indeed, Having candid conversations with our friends and
family is something that everyone can and should do. If we
are silent, our understanding does not become power. 2018
Polling from Yale’s Climate Communication Center found that
only 9% of Americans hear people they know talk about climate
change at least once a week, and only 17% once a month! 74% of
Americans hear about climate change from someone they know
“several times a year” or less. And yet the same study shows that
29% of Americans are “very worried” about climate change!
Disrupt pluralistic ignorance! Break the silence! Come out of the
“Climate closet” and let your friends and family know how you
feel about the climate emergency. Many people worry about the
social awkwardness of bringing up the climate emergency — but
keep in mind, many of your friends and family are also worried,
and will be relieved and appreciative when you do bring it up,
especially if you can offer them support and guidance. Be
personal, be emotional, be authentic and empathetic. Hear
people out and make them feel listened to. Talk about the climate
emergency and need for climate mobilization every day, multiple
times a day if possible. Consider wearing T shirts, pins, etc from
Climate Emergency organizations so that you can communicate
your affiliation with the movement without saying anything.
You can communicate climate truth in other ways, depending
on your skills and networks. Everyone can and should talk about
the climate emergency and need for mobilization on social
media, and, depending on your access, I also encourage you to
do so on email lists, on blogs, or in mainstream publications. If
you make art, or music, you can incorporate these messages.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 34
Emergency Threat.
The climate movement must fully adopt the language of
immediate crisis and existential danger. We must talk about
climate change as threatening to cause the collapse of
civilization, killing billions of people, and causing the extinction
of millions of species. These horrific outcomes await us during
this century, possibly even in the first half of it if things truly slip
out of control. This is not a matter of “protecting the planet for
future generations” but protecting our own lives and those of the
people we care about. We are in danger now and in coming years
and decades. The climate crisis is, far and away, our top national
security threat, top public health threat, and top threat to the
global economy.
Emergency Solution
In order to lead people into emergency mode, and avoid panic
mode, it is critical that the emergency threat is paired with an
emergency solution.
Climate groups must match their emergency rhetoric with an
emergency advocacy. Suppose that someone told you, “Help!
The house is on fire! Can you please pour a glass of water on
it? One glass is all it needs!” You would be confused. If we are
really dealing with a house on fire, how could a solution be so
simple and easy? You would suspect that there was no crisis,
just exaggeration. Likewise, when the scale of the necessary
response to the climate crisis is minimized, it prevents people
from entering emergency mode. We need to “come out” as being
in emergency mode — climate “alarmists,” as horrified by the
crisis, and as ready to make major changes in our life and the
economy, for the duration of the emergency.
I have had the disconcerting experience of advocating that a
climate event adopt the ambitious “zero in ten years” timeline,
to be told by others on the planning committee, “We agree with
you! We totally agree that is what needs to happen. But we can’t
say that — it will turn people off!” As the popularity of the Green
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 35
New Deal shows, and the momentum it is generating, advocating
a massive response to the Climate Emergency does not “turn
people off.”
We cannot be silent about the fact that emergency mobilization
can only be coordinated by a “big” government that is granted
the power to ban ecologically destructive practices and
spend without limit to save as much life as possible. We must
acknowledge that gradual approaches that prioritize political
expediency and the alleged wisdom of the “free market” over the
common good are doomed to failure.
We need to eliminate net greenhouse gas emissions in years,
not decades, and remove excess greenhouse gases from the
atmosphere until a safe climate is restored. This will take a
whole-society, all-out effort.
Let go of False Narratives
Representing the truth, and moving the public into emergency
mode means letting go of false or misleading narratives that
shield the public (and ourselves) from the frightening truth.
Instead, we must fully accept and communicate the truth no
matter how difficult it may be. Popular narratives that must
be refuted include the idea that we have a significant carbon
budget remaining, that 2°C or even 1.5°C of warming above preindustrial
levels represent “safe limits”, or that climate change
will be a problem only in other places or for future generations.
We must replace these narratives with the truth that dangerous
climate change is already here and presents an existential threat
for all of us. However, we must be careful not to encourage an
unwarranted sense of hopelessness. We still have an opportunity
to change course on climate, though urgent action is needed in
all sectors of human activity, including transportation, industry,
agriculture and land use. We can and must transform our society,
and each of us can help lead the change process. See more
overcoming false narratives at the end of this essay.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 36
Overcome Affect Phobia and Welcome all Emotions
Communicating with the required level of honesty will require
an emotional shift in the climate movement. For decades the
climate movement has emphasized facts and avoided feelings.
This is probably in part because scientists report the unfolding
climate crisis to us in their objective, often emotionally detached
style. Also, because the emotions that the climate crisis inspires
are so intense, the climate movement, it seems, has tried to avoid
them as much as possible.
My forthcoming book, Transform Yourself with Climate Truth
is a radical self-help book for people struggling to come to
terms and cope with the climate emergency. Yes, the feelings
are intense and overwhelming, but we can use those feelings as
fuel to create rapid and dramatic change. They are part of the
solution.
Affect phobia is often official. For example, Columbia
University’s popular CRED Guide to Climate Communications
contains a section, “Beware the Overuse of Emotional Appeals,”
in which they caution presenters to avoid telling the whole
truth about the climate crisis, as this would cause “emotional
numbing.” So presenters are given strategies including choosing
a specific “portfolio of risk” to communicate — such as the link
between climate and disease — rather than the whole, frightening
truth.
Affect phobia can also be found in almost any discussion
within the gradualist climate movement about what to say or
what to advocate. “Fear doesn’t work as a motivator” so we
shouldn’t “make” people afraid as it might “turn them off.”
While it is accurate that climate truth overwhelms some
people, the climate movement should be focused on turning
people on — getting more people to enter emergency mode as
activists. Further, some people will be “turned off” by climate
truth temporarily, but will process it over time and then enter
emergency mode later. With the truth, we give people the
opportunity to face the facts and their feelings, and move
forward productively. Without the truth, we deny them this
chance.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 37
Another critical reason for organizations and leaders to
overcome affect phobia is to provide a safe space to discuss the
crisis in the fellowship of others who understand. People who
understand the climate crisis are often alienated, feeling that
they must act “as if” things are OK in order to get along. Climate
advocacy organizations should create a place where people
can process the reality and implications of the climate crisis,
together. This kind of supportive, generative atmosphere can only
occur when the truth is embraced, and we are able to tolerate
the emotions that the truth inspires. If the organizational culture
is to stay perpetually cheerful and stay away from the horrifying
truth of our situation, people will not feel free to express their true
feelings.
If you feel the urge to say, “But people can’t handle the truth,”
question whether you may be reacting to your own anxiety and
your own difficulty processing the climate crisis. Of course
it’s difficult! Of course people will feel afraid, angry, and griefstricken.
Those are rational, healthy reactions to the surreal and
nightmarish reality we find ourselves in. The climate movement
should encourage people to acknowledge these feelings and
learn to see them as a call to action.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 38
State of The Climate Emergency
Movement Ecosystem: May,
2019
The Climate Emergency Movement has gained so much
momentum in the first few months of 2019 that it’s hard to
keep up. Here are a few of the recent developments and the
organizations behind them, though by the time this essay is
published the list is sure to be out of date.
The Green New Deal.
In February, 2019, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed
Markey introduced a House Resolution 109, Recognizing the Duty
of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal calling for
a 10-year “National, social, industrial, and economic mobilization
on a scale not seen since World War II and the New Deal” that
achieves zero emissions, 100% renewables, full employment, a
just transition for workers and frontline communities. As of May,
2019, 104 house representatives and 12 Senators co-sponsored
this resolution, including most of the top Democrats contending
for the presidency in 2020.
While Ocasio-Cortez was a candidate, she signed The Climate
Mobilization’s “Pledge to Mobilize”, committing to organize
with others to spread the truth of the climate crisis and build
the power necessary to start maximal intensity mobilization.
Ocasio-Cortez has subsequently called for trillions of dollars in
investments for that Green New Deal so that it can mobilize on
the scale of WWII. Since their inception, The Justice Democrats,
who recruited and supported Ocasio-Cortez’s election, have
been interested in a 10 year mobilization to transform our
energy sector. The Climate Mobilization and myself have been
dialoguing about this program — which became the Green New
Deal — for years. It contains many elements of our Victory Plan.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 39
The Justice Democrats
The Justice Democrats is a grassroots Political Action Group
that recruits and supports candidates who run a unified platform,
featuring the Green New Deal. Current Justice Democrats in
Congress include Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ro
Khanna, and Pramila Jayapal. The Justice Democrats are
recruiting their 2020 candidates, many of whom will primary
corporate, gradualist democrats.
The Sunrise Movement
The Sunrise Movement is a US based grassroots movement
group led by millennials and targeting young people. It seeks
to stop the climate crisis and create millions of new jobs in the
process. Since the introduction of the Green New Deal, Sunrise
has exploded in interest and popularity, and the organization is
now shaping up to coordinate the grassroots social movement
for comprehensive emergency and maximal climate mobilization
in the United States. They are a major new political force and
are poised to continue growing in size and influence. They have
already succeeded in bringing the climate, and Green New Deal,
to the forefront of the 2020 Presidential primaries.
Extinction Rebellion
Extinction Rebellion (XR for short), emerged in November 2018
as a major force on “Rebellion Day One”, when thousands of
rebels occupied five bridges in London. XR encourages its
members and the broader public to accept the hard truths of
the climate crisis, and this approach is proving to be remarkably
successful. In the last six months XR has expanded globally,
especially in Europe, and as of April 2019, it has initiated 2 weeks
of rebellion. The nonviolent, open-affiliation group demands
that the government “tell the truth about the climate and wider
ecological emergency,” that the government “enact legally
binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero
by 2025 and to reduce consumption levels,” and that a national
citizen’s assembly is convened “to oversee the changes, as part
of creating a democracy fit for purpose.”
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 40
The principle of Climate Truth has been central to XR’s
approach from the start. One of their slogans is, “Tell the truth
and act like that truth is real.” XR emphasizes civil disobedience
as its key tactic, and way of expressing that they are in
Emergency Mode.
XR also recognizes the importance of grief and mourning.
Another slogan is “We welcome everyone and all parts of
everyone.” Your fear, grief, anger, and despair are all welcome.
XR supports organizers in acknowledging and responding to
the climate crisis and offer seminars on brokenheartedness and
grief. Their standard 1-hour talk, “Headed for Extinction and What
to do about it” contains several breaks for silent grief.
One important piece of this social movement history is that
both Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion were trained
by the same person and organization — Carlos Saavedra, the
founder of the Anyi Institute. Anyi teaches movements to
“frontload their DNA” for rapid growth. In other words, to develop
a clear set of goals, demands, and way of operating that can be
picked up by anyone. If you want to organize an XR or a Sunrise
movement event — you are empowered to do so, and do not
need permission, as long as you act within the group’s stated
guidelines and values.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 41
School Strikes
The school strikes are a prime example of how transformative
climate truth can be, as well as the power of 1 individual to wield
it with maximum efficacy. Greta Thunberg, Swedish Teenager,
began striking her school every Friday, going instead to Swedish
parliament to stand on the stairs and demand an emergency
response on climate. Greta has spoken at UN climate gatherings,
at Davos, and at other official meetings, offering scorching
rebukes and calls to arms, such as telling Business leaders at the
World Economic Forum in Davos:
At places like Davos, people like to tell success stories. But their
financial success has come with an unthinkable price tag. And
on climate change, we have to acknowledge we have failed. All
political movements in their present form have done so, and the
media has failed to create broad public awareness…Adults keep
saying, “We owe it to the young people to give them hope.” But I
don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to
panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want
you to act.
Greta’s fiercely truthful approach has proven enormously
successful, spreading globally. In Belgium, after more than
30,000 students struck, their environmental minister resigned
in February, 2019. On March 15, 2019, 1.4 million students left
schools around the world demanding, among other things, a
Declaration of Climate Emergency and an emergency speed
transition to zero emissions.
Greta is firmly committed to spreading climate truth:
I often talk to people who say, ‘No, we have to be hopeful and to
inspire each other, and we can’t tell [people] too many negative
things’ . . . But, no — we have to tell it like it is. Because if there
are no positive things to tell, then what should we do, should we
spread false hope? We can’t do that, we have to tell the truth.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 42
Indeed, Greta’s approach to communication is so aligned with
my own, in terms of bluntly conveying the truth of the emergency
and demanding transformative change, that certain conspiracyminded
bloggers have claimed that I am somehow one of Greta’s
puppet masters. I have never had a one-on-one conversation with
Greta (tho I was on a panel with her over Skype, once), and, while
I would be immensely honored if my writing has influenced her, I
have no evidence that that is the case.
The School Strikes have taken on much of the character of their
truth telling initiator. The student-founded organization Youth
Climate Strike US, which has brought the strikes to the United
States, demands, among other things: a Green New Deal and a
just transition to 100% clean energy by 2030, an immediate halt
to new fossil fuel infrastructure, and a Declaration of Climate
Emergency at the national level.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 43
Climate Emergency Declarations
Climate Emergency Declarations are a powerful tool for
spreading Climate Truth and leading the public, and the
institutions of government, into emergency mode. The Climate
Emergency Declaration Campaign officially started in the city
of Darebin, Australia — whose city government passed the first
declaration of climate emergency in December 2016. Because
of our local Climate Mobilization chapter, Hoboken New Jersey
became the first U.S. city to declare a Climate Emergency in
November, 2017.
Working in coalition with international allies and on-theground
leaders, The Climate Mobilization has helped to spread
this campaign to 500 local governments around the world,
representing over 50 million people; it is now growing at a
compounding rate. Because of Extinction Rebellion’s impact, as
well as the work of the British Green Party, more than 50 UK cities
have declared climate emergency and commit to emergency
speed decarbonization. London declared a climate emergency in
mid-December, committing to transform its economy to carbonneutral
by 2030. Non-governmental organizations have also
declared Climate Emergency. University of Bristol became the
first university to declare a Climate Emergency. The XR-affiliated
campaign Culture Declares a Climate Emergency has supported
hundreds of British cultural institutions and artists in declaring
a climate emergency. The Climate Mobilization plans to help
spread this into the US as well.
As of May 2019, The campaign is moving to higher levels of
government: the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
have all declared a Climate Emergency. The Climate Mobilization
plans to continue supporting Climate Emergency Declarations on
every level of government, looking to get one introduced into the
House of Representatives in coming weeks.
After a city has declared a Climate Emergency, we advise
councilors to not just enact local policy but to become
champions for Climate Mobilization — educating the public,
working with other local governments to spread the campaign
and collaborate on climate approaches, and pushing higher
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 44
levels of government to declare Climate Emergency and commit
to rapid decarbonization. Often, new government bodies must be
created in order to complete that work.
Local Chapters of National Groups and Local Climate Justice
Organizations
Local and state level chapters of some big green national
organizations have joined the Climate Emergency Movement,
through pursuing the Climate Emergency Declaration campaign,
joining with the School Strikers, or in other ways.
Further, many climate and environmental justice organizations
that have been defending their neighborhoods, cities, and
rural areas from fracking, oil extraction, mountaintop removal,
and other toxic activities, are realizing that the larger climate
emergency fight is aligned with their local fights. The LA Leap
coalition is an example of how these groups achieve huge wins
when they work together in the Climate Emergency frame.
The Climate Mobilization was founded 5 years ago, on the
principle of telling the truth and demanding a response that could
protect humanity and the natural world: WWII scale mobilization.
We have three major programs: Climate Emergency, Climate
Truth, and Climate Mobilization.
Our Climate Emergency campaign was described above — we
support local TCM chapters, and partner organizations such as
chapters of 350.org and the Sierra Club — in winning Declarations
of Climate Emergency and making them as effective as possible.
Our Climate Truth campaign is based around my psychological
work. My forthcoming book, Transform Yourself with Climate
Truth is about helping people work through the emotional and
psychological blockers to entering emergency mode personally,
turning their terror and grief into action, and joining the
movement. I am piloting small group conversation formats with
the goal of welcoming pain and turning it into action.
Our Climate Mobilization thought leadership team focuses on
intellectual production for the Climate Emergency Movement.
This work ranges from political and economic analysis to
determine optimal pathways to a fully renewable energy system;
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 45
policy development designed to move governments of any
size into an emergency mode of response to climate change;
and research into the industrial strategy development and
bureaucratic restructuring required to fully mobilize America’s
economy as we entered World War II. At times this work felt like
a thought experiment; it has recently become an essential and
influential body of knowledge. We now have an opportunity to
directly support serious candidates and influence climate policy
at the highest levels.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 46
Join the Movement to
Protect Humanity and All
Life
I hope that this essay has convinced you that: 1) the
Climate Movement’s job is to lead the public into
emergency mode 2) that the Climate Emergency
Movement is doing that by entering emergency mode
themselves and that 3) This young movement has
tremendous momentum and is growing all the time.
However, relative to the epic nature of the challenge,
the Climate Emergency Movement is still small, and
broke. We need all the support we can get. We need
you.
The forces arrayed against us are mighty. But on our
side is the extremely potent truth — what science tells
us and is becoming more apparent all the time — as
well as the human desire to survive and protect other
people and species. Another important strategic
advantage is the WWII experience with the home front
economic and social mobilization, which provides a
recent historical example of extraordinary, improbable
American success through mobilization. It’s hard for
most people to imagine how we could possibly tackle
the climate crisis because of the scale and urgency of
what must be done, but the WWII-scale mobilization
concept makes it much easier.
We are now in a time of tremendous consequence.
Incredibly, the choices we make now and in the near
future matter a great deal to the future of humanity
and all life on earth. It’s time to leave gradualism,
business as usual, and normal mode behind until we
have solved the climate problem. The time has come
to enter emergency mode, both as a society and as
individuals. The stakes could not be higher.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 47
Next Steps - Volunteer with a Climate Emergency Organization! Extinction
Rebellion, Sunrise, the Justice Democrats, the School Strikers, or The
Climate Mobilization. Or work to bring your current organization into
“Emergency Mode” - Have frank conversations with people you care about and respect
about the climate emergency. - Support The Climate Mobilization’s work with a Donation.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 48
About the Author
Margaret Klein Salamon, PhD
Margaret is the Founder and Director of The Climate
Mobilization. She was born and raised in Ann Arbor,
Michigan and she lives with her husband in Park Slope,
Brooklyn. She earned her BA in Social Anthropology from
Harvard and her PhD in clinical psychology from Adelphi
University. Her life plan was to be a psychoanalyst
in private practice, a writer, and have a family. Those
plans began to feel less appealing as the reality of the
climate crisis increasingly broke through her defenses.
She entered emergency mode, and began writing about
psychology and climate change on her blog The Climate
Psychologist. From that writing, she found Ezra Silk and
others, and the rest is history! Margaret’s forthcoming
book, Transform Yourself with Climate Truth is available
on Kickstarter.
Thank you to Jim Streit for editing this version of Leading
the Public into Emergency Mode.
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 49
False narrative Truth
2°C or 1.5°C of warming above pre-industrial levels
represent “safe limits” to global warming
1°C of warming is already dangerous. The climate is warmer
now than at any time since human civilization began, and
life threatening effects are already here
Our grandchildren may be in a “climate emergency”
sometime in the future if we don’t change
We are in a climate emergency right now
We still have a sizable global “carbon budget” left to
safely burn before things really get out of control
There is no carbon budget left to guarantee a high
probability of remaining below 1.5°C, a level of warming
that would itself cause devastating impacts
The transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions can
be a multi-decade effort (i.e., we can continue emitting
greenhouse gases for decades longer!)
There is no carbon budget left. We must stop emission as
quickly as possible and begin drawing down greenhouse
gasses from the atmosphere in order to ensure the survival
of human civilization
Climate justice and other social justice objectives are
compatible with carbon gradualism
The world’s poor are already suffering climate change
impacts such as displacement and food insecurity, and
it will get much, much worse if we allow emissions to
continue
It’s not worth solving the climate crisis and saving
billions of lives unless we simultaneously create a
utopian society
There is no hope of achieving a better society if human
civilization fails. Survival is the top priority
Ending emissions will be “cheap,” “easy” or “painless”
and can be accomplished smoothly but slowly via
market-based policy instruments alone (such as an
emissions trading system or a carbon tax)
It is too late for a gradual, free-market approach.
Sufficiently rapid transition can only be achieved with
government coordination
If we only reduce the fossil fuel industry’s stranglehold
on politicians, the problem will solve itself
Our entire society must mobilize to implement a solution
The climate crisis is only a dirty energy or electricity
issue that can be solved without massive ecosystem
restoration, the transformation of industrial and animal
agriculture, and a revolution in land use and soil
management
Agriculture and land use are responsible for a large fraction
of global greenhouse gas emissions. These sectors must
be transformed to draw down excess carbon from the
atmosphere
Overcoming False Narratives
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 50
False narrative Truth
A zero emissions-only strategy (without drawdown and
possible cooling) is all that is needed to protect us from
climate catastrophe
Current atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gasses
are already unsafe and must be reduced
Carbon drawdown approaches and solar radiation
management should not be discussed as legitimate
options or studied since they will only distract from
emissions reduction and societal transformation
All solutions must be considered, including temporary
measures such as solar radiation management that can
serve as a bridge to a sustainably safe climate
The broader overshoot, sustainability, and mass
extinction emergencies relating to over-consumption and
economic growth are not worth mentioning or factoring
into our policies as we respond to the climate crisis
since they are overwhelming, not widely accepted by the
public, and seem far away
The effects of climate and environmental breakdown are
already being felt globally. The public largely recognizes
this, and is beginning to demand transformative change
We are”fucked”—absolutely nothing we can do will help
the situation. Science shows humanity will definitely go
extinct by 2030 and all those calling for actions to avert
catastrophe are spreading delusional “hopium.”
The vast majority of scientists believe there is still a
window of opportunity to address the crisis, but we must
act as quickly as humanly possible
Overcoming False Narratives (continued)
LEADING THE PUBLIC INTO EMERGENCY MODE 51
Social Movements
This is an Uprising
by Mark and Paul Engler
The Power of the Powerless
by Vaclav Havel
From Dictatorship to Democracy
by Gene Sharp
ACT UP and Larry Kramer
1,112 and Counting, Larry Kramer
Films
How to Survive a Plague
Larry Kramer: In Love and Anger.
The Normal Heart
(This is a play that Kramer wrote
about his break from the Gay
Men’s Health Alliance, recently,
adapted into a film.)
Flow States
Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Flow Genome Project
The Rise of Superman: Decoding
the Science of Ultimate Human
Performance
by Kotler, Steven.
Further Reading
The Climate Crisis
Climate Reality Check and Recount
by David Spratt
The Uninhabitable Earth by David
Wallace Wells
WWII Homefront mobilization
No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns
Goodwin
Freedom’s Forge by Arthur Herman
WWII Scale Climate Mobilization
The Case for Climate Mobilization
by Ezra Silk and Margaret Klein
Salamon
Unprecedented by David Griffin
The Great Disruption by Paul Gilding
Striking Targets, Philip Sutton
Climate Emergency
Road to Cop 21 and Beyond: the Missing
Lessons of Paris by Michael Hoexter
Climate Code Red
by Philip Sutton and David Spratt
