Over the coming weeks and months, both Liberal MPs and grassroots Liberals will need to work to persuade Canadians of the justness, necessity, and benefits of the green shift plan. Here are some suggestions that we ought to keep in mind while working to raise the Liberal profile and our environmental plan.
1. We need to know the plan thoroughly prior to promoting it. It is important that all Liberals possess a solid grasp prior to promoting it. This is not a simple plan and we will look like fools if we don't understand it properly or are unable to adequately answer questions on it.
2. Don't waste time debating the issue with Conservatives - they will never come round to the green shift and every minute we spend railing against their ignorance is a minute we should have focused on persuading someone who had not had a prior opinion on the subject.
3. Remember that people are selfish. Although many of us are willing to do our part for the environment because it is the good thing to do, it is a sad reality that many people prefer their luxuries than thinking about the air quality that will be inflicted upon their great-grand kids. WE must emphasize the financial benefits of our plan and not focus solely on the environmental arguments.
4. We must not look like hypocrites on the issue and that means that we must not promote the green shift in anyway that requires the production of a large quantity of greenhouse gas emissions. We will present much more credibly if we personally adopt green shift techniques prior to promoting it.
5. Never give up hope. If we despair or give credence to our opponents' attacks, we will never win. If we turn on one another, we will lose. If we don't try, the environment will have no champions left. The stakes are too important for us not to succeed.
What other suggestions do you have that we could use to sell our plan to Canadians and, especially, voters?
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In addition to discussing this on blogs and with friends, family, coworkers, neighbours, when the opportunity arises, I suggest writing letters to the editor when articles appear in newspapers (whether the article is positive, negative or neutral). Many articles are not well-informed, and your letters can clear up misconceptions or they can simply reinforce good points.
In addition to discussing the tax cuts and credits, one can suggest many ways we can reduce our carbon footprints and save further.
It helps to be familiar with carbon pricing more generally, including comparing cap and trade and carbon taxes. I find the archives of the US site www.climatepolicy.org to be useful because it is non-partisan and weighs the pros and cons of different approaches.
One thing that helps me with the discussions of climate change and I come across strong sceptics, I focus on what if they are wrong in their assumptions. Then I relate that to what people thought twenty years ago regarding smoking, if someone was wise enough to stop smoking then they had less of a chance in developing health problems, however if someone disregarded the science of damages caused by smoking and continued to smoke ... well. Everyone knows smoking is bad for you, even the smokers, just as everyone knows deep down carbon emissions are bad for the planet even the polluters. When someone is seriously stubborn in their Conservative theology, I try to stretch the conversation over several days, ask a question like how many kids or grand kids they have? then I change the subject to something else anything else. I then follow up the next day and ask another question like If your wrong about climate change what do you think your kids or grand kids will think? then I change the subject again (talking about the price of oil and how much money the oil companies have helps). Then the next day I might ask how they think their kids or grand kids will be heating their houses twenty years from now? or what kind of car they will drive? or what kind of industry they think they might be working in? The bottom line for me that has been helpful is never try to change someone's mind, let them do it for themselves, and people would rather talk than listen so you ask the questions and LISTEN! Anyways I have change some very strong Conservative into considering alternatives and one of those alternatives is supporting the Liberal "Green Shift Plan". This is a great blog because we do need to change how people think in this country we need to change how people act as well. I also agree about keeping up with the local newspapers and writing as much as possible to get the message out and correct any misinformation as quickly as possible.
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