SOS:
Framing the Climate Protection Act Now The bill also specifies that a lot of the money raised by fees
will be returned to the public, as energy prices inevitably rise. What
to call those returned funds? On this point there has been another very
unfortunate, persistent framing error in some sectors of the climate action
movement and the media. That mistake has been calling the funds to be returned a
"dividend." That's a 1% word, friends, and the choice of it is based on a faulty
analogy with the situation in Alaska. There, the name for money returned to
state residents from selling Alaskan oil is called a "dividend." This makes
sense in Alaska, because the oil is a state resource, and thus the common
property of all Alaska residents. But a federal carbon fee is very different from the sale of oil!
The payback to citizens is also very different. It's about making amends to
individual American citizens for the price they will pay for carbon-based energy
after the fee is in place. The frame used to describe those "amends" must be
something everyone can understand. We can be sure that the climate change
deniers will use every hook we unwittingly offer them to sabotage the Climate
Protection Act. So what frame do I suggest? I think "rebate"
is a far better choice, because that is a term familiar to the mainstream
public. It suggests getting a break on the price of something. That is exactly
what the bill means to offer to the public. So I beg of you, all of you: listen to my warnings and suggestions
about framing this bill! Our climate crisis is worsening every day. We must do
everything we can to protect our planetary ecosystem, our own species and the
other forms of life here. That also means talking about remedies in a way that
works for all. Even our hope for peaceful resolution of climate change conflict
depends on good framing. Say it wrong, and things will definitely go wrong! Say
it the best way, and we might just "save our planet." Susan C.
Strong, Ph.D., is the Founder and Executive Director of The Metaphor Project,
http://www.metaphorproject.org , and author of
our new book, Move Our Message: How to
Get America's Ear. The Metaphor
Project has been helping progressives mainstream their messages since 1997. Follow Susan on Twitter @SusanCStrong.
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Capitol at Solstice Sunset shows the place where this bill has to win!
(Image by brownpau) Details DMCA
by
Susan C. Strong
Senators Boxer and Sanders are now back on track
promoting their Climate Protection Act (see http://m.sfgate.com/... ), and I am happy to note that they
describe what companies would pay as a carbon "fee," not a
"tax." After all, it's a "pay to play" situation for business, and that is the
definition of a "fee," not a tax. The primary goal of the fee is to raise the
price of carbon, not to raise money in the way a tax does. In fact, we'd better
not get dependent on funds raised by carbon fees, because in the end we want
those fees to become unnecessary as the U.S. moves to a truly sustainable energy
economy. And I don't have to tell my MP Network readers that calling a thing a
"tax" means it will be DOA in D.C. We simply cannot afford that kind of framing
disaster now.