2. Put your proposals and arguments in the context of an interconnected world.
3. Explain why your proposals are smart/effective/ pragmatic/realistic in the context of today's world. Reference big ideas about sound decision making, leadership, or management.
4. Explain why your proposals are the right thing to do. Evoke big ideas familiar to Americans about decent behavior.
6. Stress a "can-do" approach. Don't open with fear, guilt, or comments that overwhelm listeners about the enormity and complexity of problems.
13. Avoid jargon and acronyms. (See "Wonk-Speak Translator", Tab 2)
15. Use numbers sparingly and put them in context.
17. Use a reasonable, rational tone. Don't attack personally or attack motives. Avoid partisan attacks. Question others' assumptions, not their integrity.
- Explain how investments in newer, cleaner, more efficient sources of energy are wise, pragmatic, preventive steps that can produce multiple bangs for the buck in our efforts to create a better, safer America and world.
- Establish the choices between wasteful, polluting energy sources and new, more efficient, cleaner technologies that will provide sustainable energy for our homes, jobs, and planet.
- Explain how our choices affect the kind of world we will leave our children and the health of the planet for future generations.
- When talking about corporate energy interests, allow room in your message to praise corporations that are taking responsible steps. One way to do this is to talk about the need for "tough standards and accountability." Stress that most corporations will not volunteer to adopt the kinds of changes you are advocating.
- Don't overpromise about America's chances of achieving energy "independence." In our interdependent world, no country is going to be able to become completely energy independent anytime soon.
- Don't perpetuate the myth that the problem is merely about reducing dependence on "foreign or Middle East" oil. This frame can lead listeners to believe that an appropriate "fix" is simply to drill more oil at home or to help develop oil resources in more "friendly" parts of the world. Possible alternatives: Explain how different choices would help the U.S. to reduce our vulnerability to the main oil-producing countries (e.g., to unstable regimes in unstable parts of the world) and would give us greater flexibility in dealing with oil-rich countries. These formulations open the door for you and others to explain important facts and details (e.g., why merely reducing our dependence on "foreign oil" in a global economy doesn't eliminate the U.S. economy's vulnerability to oil price shocks).
- Don't imply that greater energy independence will allow us to "get out" of unstable regions or the Middle East. America and the rest of the world will continue to care about the future of the Middle East and other oil-rich regions regardless of levels of oil dependence. Possible alternatives: (1) Explain how overdependence on oil "limits our foreign policy options" and forces us to make undesirable choices; and/or that (2) overdependence on oil empowers autocratic leaders in oil-rich countries.
- Don't use wording that could put listeners into an "us versus them/others in the world" mindset -- especially when talking about the potential benefits of clean-energy leadership to the American economy. Such mindsets counter efforts to help Americans understand the need for a global transformation in energy. Try using words that create images of America as competing in a global economy ... of our kids thriving in a global economy ... that is making a transformation to a better global energy future for everyone.
When you know your audience well, you might rearrange the order in which you introduce your "gateway" arguments. For instance, sometimes you might open with a pragmatic argument emphasizing how sustainable energy policies could create jobs; other times, you might begin with aspirational or values-based arguments about the state of the planet we will leave to our children or the opportunity to create a better world for all. In rearranging your gateway arguments, however, keep in mind that the sequencing of arguments and frames is a hotly contested area of public opinion research.
Pragmatic; Investment A national commitment to invest in newer, cleaner sources of
energy -- and make more efficient use of what we have -- would
create good new jobs and competitive industries, help clean up our
environment, and improve our security. A smarter energy policy -- for
technologies we already have and for the development of new ones -- would help build high-tech
industries and create jobs; give us more flexibility in dealing with unstable or unsavory
governments that control large oil flows; and improve the health of our air, water, and
atmosphere.
- Industry leaders as diverse as the head of BP (the former British Petroleum), the head
of Ford Motor Company, and the chief scientists for the electric power industry all
agree that in this century we will see a transition away from fossil fuels such as oil, coal,
and natural gas. The question is whether the U.S. will be at the forefront of the
transition and reap the benefits or will trail behind and miss out.
- Just as past U.S. leaders made it a national priority to put a man on the moon, and asked
the nation to help make it happen, we can make it a national priority to change our
energy future -- and reap the benefits in cleaner, cheaper energy and in new high-tech
jobs. We have the know-how and the can-do spirit now -- we need the commitment.
- Some parts of the world are already reaping the benefits. For instance, Toronto is using
energy efficiency to save $2.7 million a year and cut global warming gases by 20 percent.
- Reducing our dependence on imported oil doesn't help. With only 2 percent of world
oil reserves under our control, other countries will always be able to control prices and
availability -- and with U.S. demand for imported oil ready to grow 50 percent over the
next 10 years, we will always need more than we can produce here at home.
- The pace of technological change is making new energy options available to consumers
almost faster than we can take advantage of them -- the solar power industry, for
example, is growing 25 percent a year.
Farsighted, Comprehensive Stable, reliable, and affordable sources of energy are crucial to
both the U.S. and global economies. Almost everything we do, at work or
at home, requires flipping a switch, turning a key, charging a battery, or putting a plug in the
wall. Rapid price rises and power shortages are bad for business and consumers alike. What
serves us all best are the predictability and security that come from diverse energy sources.
- The energy sector provides 5 to 10 percent of our country's annual income, or gross
domestic product.
- About 1 in 10 American jobs is either in the energy sector or in a field heavily
dependent on energy, such as auto manufacturing or aluminum processing. The health
of these industries often hinges on energy prices and availability.
- For American industries and workers, energy efficiency is vital to competitiveness. Ford
and GM are having to purchase high-tech, high-efficiency engine technology from
Japan for their newest models. Technologies that the U.S. pioneered in wind and solar
power are now made and sold more efficiently elsewhere, where markets are growing
faster -- and American firms have lost market share as a result.
- Outside the U.S., other countries and peoples need reliable, affordable energy to grow
their economies as well. Yet 40 percent of the world's people have no access to modern
sources of energy. Energy scarcity and costs help keep their countries poor, and the
whole world unstable.
Teamwork; Can-do What's needed is a complex, global energy transition that we
can't accomplish alone but that won't happen without us. U.S.
creativity led the way in developing many new energy technologies, such as fuel cells, solar
power, and wind power. We're going to have to work with others to make sure that the costs
of an energy transition -- and its benefits -- are shared by all.
- World energy use will triple by 2050, as 200 to 300 million new drivers take to Asia's
roads and industry continues to grow in Asia as well as the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere.
- World production of the gases that cause global warming and pollution will also rise.
To stop global warming and keep our environment healthy, we're going to have to
develop clean energy at home and work with others to make it available everywhere.
- Markets and industry will lead the way in this transformation -- as they already have in
making buildings and appliances many times more energy efficient than they were 20
years ago. But markets need rules and standards, and markets need investment -- like
the initial government investments that created the earliest versions of the Internet 30
years ago, or the national highway system 50 years ago.
Right Thing to Do The energy choices we make today will determine much about
the world our children inherit. In the long run, our choices about energy will
be some of the most important ones we make for the health of our economy, our planet, and
our children's lives. We need to connect the dots among all these concerns and look past today's
narrow political or commercial interests for a strategy that meets all our long-term needs.
- We can choose to make better use of the energy technologies we have right now. We can
emphasize efficient, high-powered hybrid vehicles for transportation; build new power
plants that allow us to burn coal super-cleanly and efficiently; and catch up to the standards
of efficiency in buildings and appliances that are already being followed in Europe and Japan.
- We can choose to lead the way in developing new energy technologies, creating jobs,
and avoiding a global battle for shrinking oil resources.
- We can choose to safeguard our children's health. Upgrading power plants would
prevent more than 300,000 air-pollution-related deaths every year and reduce
childhood asthma rates by as much as 30 percent.
- We can choose now to take actions that will give us an insurance policy against the worst
effects of global warming -- or we can take our chances with a natural phenomenon that
could completely alter our climate, economy, and way of life.
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