Moving Beyond Doomism: Data-Driven Strategies for Effective Climate Content

by David Finocchio, Co-Founder/CEO of The Cool Down

When I started evaluating the climate content space a couple of years ago, I noticed a surprising number of parallels to what the sports world looked like between 2005 and 2010, when we launched Bleacher Report. 

The biggest similarity is that there is a lot of ideology and idealism, but not a lot of data-driven decisions rooted in objective analysis of what mainstream audiences actually care about and what actually moves real people to do real things. The smart use of granular data is one of the biggest levers climate communicators can pull to make these transitions move at a much faster rate — but that doesn't seem to be happening at any kind of meaningful scale. 

As a relative newcomer to the climate movement, I’ve observed that insiders spend a disproportionate amount of time debating the merits, or lack thereof, of individual consumer action, often questioning whether those efforts are distracting from the energy that should be spent holding corporations responsible for their massive levels of emissions and other pollution. Unfortunately, the findings published in our first public data report suggest that this approach is misguided at best and counterproductive at worst. 

I get the sentiment and logic of the arguments against individual action. I get that recycling, especially of plastic, was a hell of a trick played by the fossil fuel industry. I get that buying expensive heat pumps, induction stoves, and electric water heaters is what we really need over 100 million households to do. That, and having those same households switch to clean, renewable energy if and when they can. When you include gas vehicles in that equation, that’s around 35% of emissions in the U.S. that can’t be eliminated without individual people deciding to take action in their own homes. 

But we can't get there by hoping people magically shift their attitudes overnight. Instead, the transformation needs to be a gradual one — and the best way to start the journey toward broad-based awareness and high-impact action is with the small, personally beneficial baby steps that many climate insiders argue against. 

Let me be clear about how much I admire the many great people in the climate space who've committed themselves to saving the world. Their work is crucial, and their selflessness should be celebrated. But it's that same selflessness that makes them fundamentally disconnected from mainstream Americans, who are still very much in the “what’s in it for me” phase of their climate journeys. The unfortunate consequences of this disconnect cut both ways: Climate insiders miss the opportunity to meet people where they are with accessible information and advice, and mainstream Americans get the impression that "real" climate action is out of their reach, so they tune out the conversation entirely.

My solution to this dynamic — and TCD's reason for existing — is to work toward a world in which climate communicators embrace the potential of incremental individual action and spend more time converting casual consumers into evangelists than lecturing people about corporate responsibility. You can read a summary of TCD's data on this subject here, but I’ll also call out our high-level findings:

1. Climate content that promotes self-interest (saving money, saving time, protecting your family) outperforms content about making changes "for the planet" by almost 6x on average, an absolutely staggering figure. Induction stoves are a solid example. Convincing people to switch away from a gas stove because it increases their family’s odds of experiencing asthma is a much more successful sell than asking them to switch for the collective good of the planet.

2. Baby steps, like food storage hacks to help people reduce waste, may seem like small potatoes in the grand scheme, but they’re actually highly effective at engaging climate beginners and increasing their awareness of their impact on the planet. This type of content gives media brands an opportunity to educate readers over time and to move them further down the climate funnel to a point where they start really thinking about more lofty aspirations, like how they’re going to reduce emissions at home or at work. Baby steps content outperforms denser, more abstract climate content by 670%, on average. 

3. Relatable voices (think: a friend or neighbor) are typically received a lot better than climate-hero types, who often come across as being too perfect or endorsing standards that are unattainable for normal people. Content framed around everyday people living greener lives, like gardeners, thrift store patrons, and concerned parents — all of whom readers can easily relate to — performed an average of 270% better than hero content.

4. We expect the circular economy ecosystem to blow up (in a good way). Click-throughs to circular economy services are 20x higher than click-throughs to other types of content. It seems clear that mainstream Americans don't want to throw their old stuff in the garbage when they can help it — it’s all about showing them what to do with it instead.

5. Doomerism is a losing strategy. Leaning into anxiety and despair creates paralysis and depression. On the flip side, visually showing audiences a future that’s happier and healthier, and exposing them to the innovative technologies and solutions that will take us there, can inspire people to want to become a part of the climate movement. 

The marriage of granular data and talented communicators has profound potential to accelerate the shift of cultural attitudes and behaviors around climate in the U.S., which always has been and always will be essential to mobilizing transition at scale. 

All of our time and efforts will be more efficiently spent if we treat each person's climate journey like a data-driven customer experience: Start them at the top of the funnel with easy-to-understand and easy-to-achieve concepts, then patiently introduce them to the next level that’s slightly more sophisticated, and so on and so on until the casual media consumer has become an eager participant in the movement for a cleaner and more sustainable world.  

This is how we can shift attitudes and convince millions and millions of people that making both individual switches and societal switches is actually very much in their own best interests as well as the best interests of the planet. And at the end of the day, that outcome is the only one that matters.  

If you’d like to talk with us about our data or findings in more detail, please feel free to contact me at dave@thecooldown.com.

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✍️ The Draw-down

Weekly climate art by our MCJ Artist-in-Residence, Nicole Kelner.

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🍿 The Lean Back

Learn about Terviva in the latest Pique Action film.

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🎙My Climate Journey Podcast

🍌 Cody talked to Harry Tannenbaum, Co-Founder and President at Mill, about the issue of food waste and how Mill’s innovative smart kitchen bin aims to keep food in the system rather than the landfill.

🚢 Yin caught up with Zach Gallant, Head of Maritime Operations at Fleetzero, about his experience as a marine engineer on ships for 15 years before transitioning to the climate tech company.

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👩‍💻 Climate Jobs

For more open positions, check out the #j-climatejobs channel in MCJ Slack as well as our job board featuring 78 MCJ portfolio companies and over 500 open positions.

• Director of Business Operations at Activate (Remote)

• Mechanical Engineer, Rotating Equipment at Air Company (Brooklyn, NY)

• Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer, React & Node at Arch (Remote)

• Accounts Associate at BasiGo (Nairobi, Kenya)

• Benefits Manager at Crusoe (Denver, CO)

• Director, Technical Diligence (Solar & Storage) at Euclid Power (Remote/NYC)

• Lab Technician at Epoch Biodesign (London, England, UK)

• Project Manager at Lilac Solutions (Reno, NV)

• Senior Electrical Engineer and Motor Controls Engineer at Lightship (Boulder, CO)

• Head of Sales at Runwise (New York)

• Senior Logistics Coordinator at Sense (Cambridge, MA)

• Marketing Operations Manager at Sinai (Remote)

• Senior Product Designer at Toucan (Remote)

• UI / UX Designer and Communications Manager at Twelve (Remote)

• Executive Vice President, Climate & Energy at XPRIZE (Remote)

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✨ Highlights

@mcjpodCarlos Araque explains why he thinks solar and wind will only play a small role in the clean energy mix. Do you agree? ##wind##solar##energy##geothermal##fossilfuels##myclimatejourney##mcjcollective##podcast##climatechange##energytransition

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💡 MCJ Ask-Me-Anything Event with Carlos Araque: Carlos is Co-Founder and CEO of Quaise Energy, which seeks to unlock the power of geothermal energy by drilling into deeper and hotter parts of the earth using microwave-based technology instead of traditional mechanical drill bits. He recently joined us for a MCJ Startup Series episode and will be answering your questions asynchronously for 24 hours starting March 22. RSVP here.

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🗓 March Events

Click the event title for details & RSVP info. For more climate events, check out the #c-events channel in MCJ Slack.

🌅 Orange County MCJ/WoCl Meetup: Casual hang amongst folks interested in or already working in the climate space. (3/15)

⚡️ MCJ Monthly Idea Jam: Energy. These sessions provide a chance for MCJ members to get help with roadblocks, meet co-founders or future employees, connect with investors, or people working on similar topics. Anybody is welcome to listen in! (3/17)

​📚 MCJ Book Club: Join us for a discussion of Speed & Scale by John Doerr. We'll discuss the ideas presented in the book. (3/22)

🏔️ Vancouver Climate Social: ​​A casual get-together for climate-minded folks to mingle. (3/22)

👋 Community Welcome Call: ​Connect, share and learn with the MCJ team and community members. (3/23)

🎨 Climate Art Workshop: Pop in and paint with MCJ Artist-in-Residence, Nicole Kelner. (3/28)

👭 Women in Climate Meetup: Monthly meetup for women who work in, or want to work in, climate. (3/29)

MCJ Toronto | Climate Startup Series - The Rise of Social Entrepreneurship: ​Interested, curious, or passionate about climate? Join us for networking and learn from our local climate entrepreneurs. (3/29)

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