Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet, 2021a

20 Adaptation Strategies 331
about X” rather than “I think you should X.” It is best to try to convey
a sense that we are all in this together. Expressions like “I worry that,”
or “Do you also feel that...”bring a human touch <strong>and</strong> invite a sense of
inclusion <strong>and</strong> collaboration.
One potentially interesting approach is to appeal to the fundamentally
conservative nature of most people. This is conservative with a small
“c,” rather than the Conservative (right-leaning) political party. In this
sense, conservative means:
1. low risk: let’s not gamble the future on speculative notions;
2. conservation 7 of resources <strong>and</strong> quality of the earth environment; 7: It’s right there in the name!
3. laying the groundwork for future generations (e.g., gr<strong>and</strong>children)
to have a livable world.
By these traditional definitions of conservative, many in the Conservative
wing are more fairly labeled as free market radicals—willing to
risk future stability <strong>and</strong> damage our environment in exchange for short
term financial gain. This approach is not inherently conservative. 8 The
U.S. may, in fact, be ripe for a massive political realignment wherein
traditionally conservative values pair more naturally with the Democrats
than with Republicans, as the former is increasingly able to lay claim to
conservative principles like: fiscal responsibility; rule of law; constitutional
protection; st<strong>and</strong>ards <strong>and</strong> norms; promoting strong families via
health care <strong>and</strong> living wages; <strong>and</strong> environmental conservation.
An apt analogy is that our society is, metaphorically, barreling toward a
cliff. Faced with credible warnings, the low-risk (conservative) approach
would be to alter course: get serious about a non-fossil infrastructure
<strong>and</strong> transition away from growth. At the very least, let off the gas pedal:
reduce resource use while we learn more. Keeping the foot down on the
pedal <strong>and</strong> seeking to accelerate as fast as possible is probably the least
wise 9 decision, yet best characterizes the current approach.
Unfortunately, a common tendency of people on the receiving end of
the kind of message this book advances is to get frustrated when the
story is not tied up neatly into a happy ending. Perhaps our story-telling
culture has irreversibly conditioned people to expect resolution at the
end of every movie or show. Nature <strong>and</strong> the world are under no such
obligations to satisfy our psychological need for closure, so it is unfair to
blame the messenger for accurately conveying the perils <strong>and</strong> uncertainty
of our times. Perhaps people seek a hopeful conclusion so that they can
walk away unencumbered—satisfied that everything is under control
<strong>and</strong> that somebody will figure something out. But this tendency is
perhaps counter-productive, in that only by internalizing <strong>and</strong> burdening
oneself with the daunting nature of our challenge will it be possible to
mount a collective <strong>and</strong> effective response. If human nature is such that
unpalatable stories don’t gain traction, it is another way to say that we
are not built to overcome a global dilemma of this scale. So push back
on any criticism dem<strong>and</strong>ing that you need to supply a happy picture at
8: Ask yourself: what conservation efforts
have Conservatives championed lately?
9: This decision would be okay if we knew
that the cliff is not there, but we can’t know
that, <strong>and</strong> plenty of evidence suggests reason
for concern.
© 2021 T. W. Murphy, Jr.; Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Lic.;
Freely available at: https://escholarship.org/uc/energy_ambitions.