Mōrena, and happy Tuesday!
I’ve been reading about the Smoky Room Experiment, where two groups of students were asked to fill out forms in a waiting room which starts to fill up with smoke. When the students were sitting by themselves, they always went to check what was happening and report it to the researcher. But if they were in the room with other people and the other people didn’t react, the students took four times longer to react, and some didn’t report it at all. If you want to know more, check out this excellent essay by Spencer R Scott featuring this equally excellent meme.
The Smoky Room experiment seems almost too obvious an analogy when it comes to describing humanity’s reactions to climate change. Politicians and voters alike are waiting for the other person to sound the alarm. We have less than 1.5 years to peak global emissions, and yet climate change is currently not a top 3 election issue.
We need to show both politicians and other voters that sounding the alarm will not result in social risk, but loud and whole-hearted social proof. We need to cheer and support, loudly and in public, every single person speaking out about climate change and proposing strong climate policies.
Climate Club has been collaborating on a Vote for Climate campaign to make this year’s election a Climate Election. There are roles large and small for people from towns, cities and universities all around Aotearoa. Join us:
And remember, you’re already part of a wonderful community of over 2000 people, alongside the thousands of others in the many other climate communities around NZ, so you’re never alone in sounding the alarm. The majority of NZers are worried about climate change. We can create the social proof that the people around us need to act. We’d love for you to be part of this election at a critical window in our history 💚
What can we do today?
The most-clicked link from last week’s issue was the Big NZ Climate Action Survey, which is still open!
🐝 If you have 5 minutes: High flyers paying higher taxes
We’re back on our tax roll, and for good reason - better taxes are a way for us to have the public income we need to create a society in which everyone thrives. Lawmakers in the US and EU are considering taxing private jets, a form of travel which is 14 times more polluting than consumer flights, and 50 times more than trains.
Action: Show your support for taxing private jets
🐇 If you have 15 minutes: Walking the street and narrow
Fun fact: lower speed limits reduce emissions (and also save lives, make it possible for kids to walk and cycle to school, all those good things). Auckland Transport have their biggest consultation yet on lowering speed limits, and it’s a really easy one to fill out - it’s multi-choice, so you can just let them know you support the lowered speeds.
Action: Have your say on Auckland’s speed changes (you can submit even if you just visit Auckland)We love seeing pushes for local change that would make streets better for everyone. New Plymouth Council has a consultation open around increasing transport options by improving pedestrian and cyclist safety.
Action: Use Better Streets Taranaki’s excellent submission guide and have your say!
💃🏽 If you have 30 minutes or more: Cool the planet this winter
Cardrona/Online, August 25th: Keen to speak out about climate action but feel you can't because your carbon footprint is high? Are you an athlete who would like to advocate for more action? Olympic gold medalist and World Champion Jessie Diggins is joining Protect Our Winters to talk about how she built the confidence to be a climate advocate and think beyond individual actions.
Action: Join POW and Jessie to learn about climate advocacy for athletes
Online, 10:30am, Tues August 29th: Wellington Regional Leadership Committee is having a webinar to share a plan called Me Tū ā-Uru. This is an action plan for environmental governance and decision-making, which calls for shared authority of Aotearoa’s special places to ensure a flourishing environment for future generations.
Action: Learn about an action plan for environmental governance & decision makingTe Whanganui a tara/Wellington, August 25th: Fonterra and the industrial dairy sector are the biggest source of climate-heating gases in NZ, and attempts to regulate the industry have repeatedly been delayed. We need more action from industry leaders to help the farming industry shift to a sustainable future.
Action: Join the weekly protest to demand climate action from Fonterra
In case you missed it!
Online, 7pm this Wednesday: We mentioned last week that 350 Aotearoa are running training on how to effectively ask about climate change at candidate meetings. They’ve added a second date in case you can’t make it this week!
Action: Learn how to talk to politicians about climate policy this Wednesday 23rd August at 7pm
Wins!
That’s all for today, folks 👋🏽 Thanks for taking action. Enjoy one of my favourite podcast episodes about extreme listening with Deeyah Kahn, a skill that will become only more important in our changing world (and in all those election convos you’ll be having!)
See you next week,
Dhanya & the Climate Club team
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I'm excited about the Me Tū ā-Uru webinar. It's something I've been thinking a lot about as I look at issues with water quality in New Zealand and in other work I've been doing.