Finding Common Ground To Move Forward! by Johnnie Buttram

I am not sure I understand what this proposal *proposes*. On one side, I agree that simply acting where you CAN is a good idea - but most of us actually do that already. However, many people do not know who to do it or how to effectively do it. One example: in my office, I can do a lot to nudge people to think about sustainability: saving paper, buying fair-trade biological coffee, etc. At home, I can also do a lot. But at my parents' home I feel completely powerless - whatever I suggest, the answer is " I have always done it like that" or "I know better". Another problem is that people do not like being told what and how to do it. Furthermore, the people who always "know better" become simply boring and unsympathetic. How could we fight this?

Dear Anna Forster and Doran Bracha, I sincerely thank you for your time and skills outlining the complexities involved in trying to gently persuade those around us to better understand the seriousness of climate change. I sympathize with your frustration! Not being able to fully understand the best way to answer your concerns, I will try to share with you why I wrote the proposal, "Finding Common Ground To Move Forward!" I am a retired small-businessman, born and raised in northeastern Oklahoma. As a child, I heard stories about the Great Depression, Dust Bowl of (1929 - 1941), and the migration to California. My grandfather was a lifelong blacksmith . . so the stories related to me were based from the perspective of those who were poor, tired, and homeless. These stories of biblical proportions told to me and perceived as a child are probably why I honed in on climate at an early age, and also why as a young businessman I let out credit to non-paying customers which caused the business to fail. My frustration of how to reach out and positively impact sustainability began about 40 plus years ago. I could not help but notice that when I would casually mention to the educated, uneducated, financially stable, or poor that our political and business leaders seemed to be unconcerned about the potential fallout of our future eco systems, their eyes would glaze over and become almost totally blank. It was almost like I had come from a different planet . . which may help explain why so many of the old-time climate dudes could possibly have a chronic identity problem! As to this day, I carefully choose my conversations as the evolution of recognizing climate change has not progressed to the point of real action. In fact, one of our Oklahoma Senators has been described as the first person to stand up and say, "Global warming is the greatest hoax that has ever been perpetrated." These are just a few of the reasons why I can truthfully say I sympathize with your frustration! As a researcher and inventor, I have especially focused these last 7 years of my life on several proposals and solutions to hopefully help those who are innocent of contributing to the overall problem. . .to be continued . .

Very interesting, but I am not sure if I understood "what actions do you propose?" section. Could you clarify a little bit more what future actions will be. The way it's written seems there is no action. Paulo

Dear Johnnie, I like the general approach of your proposal. Though, I think you should be more specific on certain aspects of this proposal: 1- Forming volunteer groups may have a network structure. How would you build that structure? What kind of public outreach program would be in place? Will you have central organizations, or independent organizations with different missions? You can be more specific about the structure of the volunteer organizations 2- I think there should be sub-groups to address different issues. You can propose a map for the issues these people would be working on. These can be reducing CO2 emission through A/Cs, cars, etc. energy efficiency measures through light fixtures, .... I like the approach, but you can be more specific.

Dear Johnnie, Thank you for your response. It's a very broad set of actions. That would be nice if you could use a graphical representation such as mapping to identify the flow of actions and information with this diverse group of people involved in the project. Paulo

First, I want to say that you definitely are right. Individuals have the power to be huge agents of change, especially when they act together. I have to agree with some of the earlier comments-- in reading your submission, I am not sure I got a strong sense of your proposed action. I do get that your basic idea is for everyone to take action, but your submission doesn't provide a suggested action for how to make that happen. I don't think that you need to step away from your idea, but maybe just provide a more concrete suggestion. For example: maybe something like the "30 Random Acts of Kindness" challenge that is spreading around Facebook, but with an environmental spin? Just some food for thought. You still have time to tighten up your proposal to make sure your good thoughts are persuasively made!

Thoughts around this proposal is quite novel. You are right Johnnie that research and activist group should work towards bringing disruptive changes in technologies to fight against climate change. You would have similar examples of interventions taken to tackle disease control, poverty, water and sanitation. Take example of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which throws challenge to public to come up with innovative technologies/approach to deal with these global issues. Climate change is similar issue at big scale where there will be partnership required amongst all stakeholders. There was one innovation challenge thrown open Mahindra Group in India: (a) The Mobility Challenge, which invites solutions for driverless cars in India, (b) The Solar Challenge that aims to make solar energy products more accessible. This second challenge to fight against climate change and energy security for the country. This challenge will have partnership between not only researcher, environmentalist but also technology leaders. Thus you could look at these options to bring change to find common ground. All the best!

Dear, Anna Forster, Doran Bracha, Paulo Borges de Brito, Gune Hellweger, Sco Sentinoroush, and Vishalbhaver, I want to again thank you for your excellent comments and observations. I also want to apologize for not being able to answer some of your questions to point you in the right directions. To everyone interested in expanding their social skills regarding a broader discussion of geoengineering, I posted a link to this information on the references box on the proposal, Finding Common Ground To Move Forward! Thanks again, Johnnie Buttram