Climate Change: Making Anxiety an Asset

Climate Change: Making Anxiety An Asset

Complex problems and anxious people are a bad combination, say Public Agenda's Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson, who gave that combustible formula a lot of thought while writing "Who Turned Out The Lights? Your Guided Tour to the Energy Crisis" (set for release October 27, 2009).

In this Op Ed piece for The Huffington Post, Bittle and Johnson argue that when it comes to climate change, the debate doesn't have to play out as badly as it has on the issue of health care reform – with various groups lining up to demonize each other, and lots of people left out in the cold wondering what the true facts really are.

Properly channeled, Bittle and Johnson say, anxiety can be an asset. They don't mean scaring people into going along with the government's plans, as arguably happened with the "war on terrorism."

Click here to take a look at their ideas on how we might build coalitions for change, in addressing the problems of a nation that is very dependent on fossil fuels.