Climate Annoying? Open the Mind Instead

“… talking to your friends and family [about climate change] … is a great place to start. You might be annoying. But you’ll be helping.” – Sammy Roth [1]

Sammy Roth, climate columnist at the Los Angeles Times, might need an intervention from a loved one. He wants us all, like him, to annoyingly talk about climate change. I doubt many will take him up on it, and his next family get-together might hang in the balance.

Roth states in Boiling Point: Want to fight climate change? Then talk about Climate Change (February 25, 2025):

When people ask me what they can do to support climate progress, one piece of advice I give again and again is to annoy their friends and family by talking about climate change constantly.

Here’s the thing: Large majorities of Americans understand that global warming is real, dangerous and caused by humans. Even so, it’s not a threat that most people prioritize in their daily lives.

Polls, polls. Ask the right questions to get the desired results. Roth continues:

For proof, see the latest edition of Climate Change in the American Mind, a twice-yearly poll from George Mason and Yale universities. Researchers talked with 1,013 adults, releasing the results this month. They found that 73% of Americans think global warming is happening. Sixty percent know it’s mostly human-caused.

Also illuminating: Nearly two-thirds of Americans are worried about climate change consequences. Between 61% and 77% think global warming is affecting problems such as electric outages, water pollution, reduced snowpack, air pollution, hurricanes, droughts, fires and extreme heat, the poll found. All that tracks with the science.

And then comes this statistic that Roth seizes upon:

Despite those concerns, 62% of Americans say they rarely or never discuss global warming with friends or family. Just 27% say they hear about it on social media at least once a month. Not even 1 in 3 consumers are, even occasionally, making purchasing decisions based on the steps companies have taken to reduce pollution.

He blames such passiveness with the myriad failures hitting the wind and solar industries:

It’s no wonder tech giants Microsoft and Meta are backing away from their renewable energy goals and rushing to build gas-fired plants to power artificial intelligence. If President Trump loves fossil fuels, and consumers don’t care, what’s the harm? Same goes for fossil fuel giant BP, which is planning to scrap its renewable energy goal.

Roth then conflates CO2 emissions with pollution, the latter being the criteria air pollutants, all declining with fossil fuels now being environmental products at the point of combustion.

It’s also no wonder the U.S. has made such slow political progress addressing oil and gas pollution. Polling has found that while voters know the climate crisis is real and dangerous, it’s relatively low on their priority list.

The grand consensus is unravelling. But Roth wants to reverse all this to the point of being a pest.

There’s no easy way to get more people to prioritize climate. Especially not when traditional media is less trusted than ever. Especially not when Trump and Elon Musk are working frantically to dismantle the federal government and undermine American democracy. It’s hard to pay attention to much of anything right now.

But talking to your friends and family? It’s a great place to start. Remind them that climate still matters. Send them articles and videos. Point out that even as democracy hangs in the balance, a planet ravaged by ever-deadlier heat waves, fires and storms isn’t a place any of us want to live.

He ends by all but refuting himself:

You might be annoying. But you’ll be helping.

Comment:

Climate alarmism is old, stale, and a turnoff. What if Sammy Roth had a family member or friend who set him straight with the economic and environmental case against climate exaggeration and forced energy transformation? Is his mind open? In California, he can easily get confirmation bias, but maybe even that state can get real and go free-market green.

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[1] Mr. Roth has been the energy reporter of the Los Angeles Times since 2018. His bio states:

• Cover the business and politics of the energy transition, in a climate context; key storylines have included gas industry opposition to electrification, rooftop solar panels vs. big solar farms and environmental consequences of renewables
• Write Boiling Point, a twice-weekly climate and environment newsletter
• Launched Repowering the West, an ongoing series exploring how California’s demand for renewable energy is affecting rural towns and sensitive landscapes
• Regularly appear on TV and radio, and moderate climate and energy panels
• Became The Times’ first-ever climate columnist in September 2023

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