Marketing Environmentalism 2

See video below.

When it comes to common folks who merely want clean air and less dependence on foreign oil, the right wing usually just can't spit the words out. So we'll have to settle for this excellent short video put together by Senator John Warner (R-Va), even if it is with a divided heart.

Hard as it is we'll have to hold our liberal noses and swallow the clarity and professionalism of the message. It's a brilliant strategy and terrific execution. Warner's 100% correct. His points are dead center bulls eyes. $700 billion a year flows out of our economy mostly to countries with whom at best we share a tense antipathy. Soldiers and civilians alike are dying over the black, murky liquid gumming up the works.

Note the flag waving in the opening seconds, the serious tone, the mentions of security, terrorism, the visuals showing soldiers sandbagging floodwaters, discussion of "our sons and daughters" who may serve in these energy wars, and the handsome captain-spokesmodel saying "it's like taking every hornet's nest we have around the world and shaking it up." Images of warfare, natural disaster, refugees, and a masked Islamic radical firing his gun are intermixed with apple pie images of America. The apocalyptic music lends the perfect creepy touch.

This is the way to sell the huge changes we need in order to get off our oil high. Contrast this video with the stiff, didactic way in which we on the left have framed the argument.


Climate Patriots from Laura Lightbody on Vimeo.