This stuff is really important for anyone who wants to understand why the public just doesn’t “get it” on environmental issues. It’s because they are navigating the world by referring to a master narrative (a “frame”) that’s different than ours.

Our challenge is to “reframe” the issue in order to get people to think about it from a different perspective. This can only be done by appealing to high-level frames that tap our core values, like freedom, justice, choice, etc.

The following short article should be mandatory reading for anyone in the environmental movement who communicates with the public.

A Five Minute Refresher Course in Framing http://www.frameworksinstitute.org/products/issue8framing.shtml

The American Prospect has a great article, entitled “Breaking the Frame”, that dicusses how progressive groups need to focus on how their messages resonate with larger “frames” — the “hidden chains of rasoning their narratives can set off in the public mind.” The article presents the social science idea of the “frame” and explains how “it’s not enough to present evidence; you have to change the frame.”

Citizens For King County Monorail is getting a campaign off the ground to establish a commission to study the feasibility of a county-wide monorail system — that is, one that would serve the eastside. About time.

He’s the most loveable evangelical Christian environmentalist I know, and often I think that Peter Illyn is a deeply wise man. Peter writes:

Too many groups, trying to become agents for social change, produce vast amounts of material that no one actually reads. Having solid information on your side isn’t enough. If a common-sense argument was sufficient, Ralph Nader would be president, hemp would be legal, recycling would be mandatory — and I’d be skinny! The failure to change is not simply about lack of information; it’s about lack of a heart connection. The goal is to reach a critical mass of advocates who then tip society toward sustainable behaviors.

Amen!

SmartMeme had a really great table at PIELC, including a handout drawn from the MAP Social Movement theory of Bill Moyer. Haven’t been able to find the people from SmartMeme yet, but now I’m lookin’ for ‘em.

The environment is under attack from all directions. The Bush Administration and corporate interests are moutning a bold, intelligent campaign to undermine and dismantle the bedrock laws and regulations that protect our environment and our health. It’s numbing to recite the examples: forest protection, drinking water, air pollution, climate change, fisheries, etc.

The political landscape is fundamentally different than it was last year. Republicans control both houses of Congress. We’re about to go to war. The Administration continues to fan the flames of fear. On top of that, the softening economy is putting tremendous financial pressure on progressive activists of all stripes.

And yet, the environmental movement is not adjusting its strategies quickly enough. Where we had previously relied heavily on legal strategies based in our bedrock environmental laws, the Bush Administration is attempting to change the laws to disarm us. In order to fight that off, we will need to mount a massive campaign to inform and arouse the American public that their land, air, water and health are under attack.

In order to do that, we’re going to need to rethink our movement from the ground up. We have to sit down and think hard about how we connect the myriad specific environmental issues — which are often complex and legalistic — to long term-messages that resonate with core American values such as patriotism, freedom, self-interest and the welfare of our kids.

This is not nearly as easy as it sounds, yet it’s vitally important, because without this kind of long-term message, we can’t thread our issues together into a compelling big-picture narrative that makes people want to get involved.

I’m here in rainy Eugene along with my colleagues Dean, Drew and Dave, atttending the Public Interest Enviromental Law Conference. PIELC is one of the world’s largest conference of environmental activists, and it brings together environmental activists and attorneys from around the world.

We’re here because this conference is a great opportunity to visit with dozens of activists from all across our region, to fill our heads with information about the state of regional environmental issues, and hobnob with activists from around the world.

And, heck, at what other conference can you hang out with both Vandana Shiva AND Al Sharpton?

More updates soon.