Bummer: Hotcoldwetdry Isn’t On The Thanksgiving Menu For Most

Yes, it is that time of the year when we start getting the articles on discussing ‘climate change’ at the Thanksgiving gathering (which will soon be about discussing it at Christmas parties and Christmas dinner)

Climate Talk Isn’t on the Thanksgiving Menu for Most People

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, which for many Americans means food, family and uncomfortable political conversations that could involve climate change for some adults this year.

While only about 1 in 5 adults expect to have a climate change discussion this holiday, 42 percent said in a new Morning Consult poll that they are now more likely to start a conversation with friends or family compared to a year ago. And almost half of adults (48 percent) said they have started a conversation about the issue with friends or family in the past year, according to the Nov. 6-8 poll of 2,187 U.S. adults, which had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

But the proportion of Americans that reports ever having initiated a climate conversation with various people in their lives is significantly lower than the share of Americans concerned about climate change, according to Morning Consult polling. A June survey found 71 percent of adults were very or somewhat concerned about climate change and its impact on the U.S. environment.

“Most people don’t perceive a social norm in favor of taking climate action, and so I think that sort of feeds into this reluctance to talk about it,” said Parrish Bergquist, a researcher at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. “This is a risky subject.”

Perhaps it’s just wise to stay away from conversations that can start fights, at least where most do not want to discuss it. Believe it or not, I generally stay away from discussing it at places like work, because it never goes well, and, my starting point when someone brings it up is “what have you done in your own life? Is that your fossil fueled vehicle right there?”

“How do you start potentially awkward conversations in a way that makes people comfortable?” posed Edward Maibach, a professor and director of George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication. “I suspect most people are not expecting to start a conversation because they don’t know how to make people comfortable.”

You don’t. Unless your a climate cultist.