Citola Blog
Form? Content? Focus On Carbon!
Image is important. But form shouldn’t triumph over content.
That, in essence, is our response to the latest news coming out of the United States, where the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is, basically, bleating about the public-relations battle it appears to be losing.
How about this for a quote from a senior EPA executive? “The people in my line of work have not done the best job in communicating our side of the debate. We’ve lost the messaging war.”
According to press reports, this was said to a bunch of journalists recently. How self-defeating is that?
One view is that climate change science is a battle waiting to be fought. We at Citola happen to believe that 'putting a cost on carbon pollution' to incentivise a clean energy (low-carbon) economy is something that needs urgent attention and co-ordinated action. But that, in a way, is beside the point.
Surely, the real question is: why not reduce carbon emissions if you possibly can? The EPA might feel it’s losing it’s PR war, but legislators in the US are beginning to push measures through, working on the logic that if you can do a small thing of benefit to the climate, then why wouldn’t you?
Good news, meanwhile, comes in the form of as recently announced new agreement between Brazil and the United States. These countries have agreed to work together to reduce deforestation. The intention is reported as being as part of an effort to slow climate change.
A memorandum of understanding has been signed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on behalf of her government. It comes as part of a proposed climate-change policy that offers cash to tropical countries to reducing carbon emission from deforestation. It isn’t a formal climate treaty, but it’s a start.
According to one report: “Brazil and the United States will establish a Climate Change Policy Dialogue, which will meet at least once a year to work towards developing and implementing pragmatic solutions and policies for reducing emissions, including carbon markets; coordinating "joint efforts on research, development, deployment and dissemination of technologies for combating climate change;" and capacity-building in sectors related to climate change.”
So PR battles aside, positive action is possible.
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