Thank you very much to Juliet, who gave me some very useful feedback in the follow-up to the last post I put up.  It was the one that featured the video of David Mitchell on his soap box, having a go at people who publicly push climate change as an issue (that would include me) and those that deny it’s a problem alike.

Have a look at the video if you haven’t already, and again if you have.  You don’t have to, it just might set a bit of context to the rest of this blog.  I’d really appreciate some feedback on what I’m about to say, so it would be great if you could think about that as you read.  I’ll keep it short so you have more time to feedback.  If you aren’t able to comment directly below, then using Facebook, Twitter or email are all fine – I may post some of it back here in the comments.

There are lots of useful messages in Mr Mitchell’s video, such as that whatever you do, mitigating against climate change isn’t going to sound as sexy as driving to the arctic and blowing up an iceberg.  It’s just something we need to do, like the washing up.

The gem of an insight that Juliet gave to me was in drawing my attention to the first sentence in the video.  David pointed out that those people who raise the issue of climate change often (always?) seem to be just a little bit pleased about it.  Juliet took that further and likened “us” to the hairshirt brigade – delighting in forcing people to ride their bikes rather than use the car and the like.  It was a particularly useful piece of feedback as it came from someone who described themselves as part of the “wider audience” rather than the converted choir, on the sympathetic end of the spectrum, but not ready to join up [to Transition Town Berkhamsted].

Thinking about it from the other side of the fence at the time, I thought that there might be some who do see climate change as an opportunity.  It could be political, to move people to the left, or it could be idealistic, to return to a more natural lifestyle.

I’d be very interested to hear from any of you whether you can identify with these thoughts, and whether I myself come across as being pleased about climate change*?  And if I or others do, how could we avoid doing so?  What is it about how I / we put things across that creates this impression?

John Bell,

Ordinary bloke

* I’m not, of course.  My next post will be about what I feel about it, and its impact on my life at the moment.