By Jacob Anderson-Kester
On January 12th, 80 Washington residents gathered virtually for the inaugural meeting of the United States’ first Climate Assembly. The Washington Climate Assembly presents a unique angle to paths towards direct democracy by utilizing community conversation and action, mirroring similar pursuits in countries around the world that request input for policy from members of local communities. After gathering and discussing over the course of several months, the Assembly will present their findings and opinions to the Washington State Legislature and the general public. By asking participants to think honestly and critically about climate concerns, participants are unfettered by the political ties and funding interests that might make conversations about climate more difficult in the halls of our Capitol.
These Washingtonians were selected randomly, with some benchmarks in mind to represent the various identities and geographic regions making up the diverse interests of the state. After some opening statements, the meeting began by grounding the conversation by asking participants to consider their feelings on statements such as, “We can’t all get what we need,” and, “It’s important that we all look out for each other, so nobody struggles on their own.” Then, members split off into Zoom breakout rooms to discuss questions such as, “What preferred future do you envision 50 years from now?”
The approach used in these meetings to encourage frank and open conversation bear a striking resemblance to The Evergreen State College’s own variation of the Socratic seminar, a sort of group conversation guided by questions. Assembly members hear presentations given by various qualified scientists, researchers, and community leaders, then are given spaces to listen to each other and present their own commentary on the issues at hand. This method is both educational and action-oriented, and participants are granted a platform that many would otherwise not get the opportunity to have.
Besides being informative to the public and policymakers, the Washington Climate Assembly stands to serve as an example for the rest of the nation. Ron, a member of the Assembly from Moses Lake, had this to say: “Washington State seems to be in a prime location and have the ability to be the example for the rest of the nation if we choose to be…and I see that as why this opportunity to get together and think as one, collectively, can be so powerful, because we can then be the example for the nation if we come up with ideas and share our knowledge and can harness it.”
In a country plagued by misinformation and legislative gridlock, alternative ideas for communication offer a path forward. The climate crisis has a global scientific consensus of being absolutely necessary to mitigate and handle, as determined by treaties such as the Paris Agreement. Inaction stares in the face of an impending global disaster. Ed Chadd, a volunteer helping organize the Assembly, seemed to have a similar outlook, telling me, “I got involved out of a sense of despair that our ‘green state’ with a ‘climate governor’ has only taken baby steps toward mitigating climate change, and that despair was reinforced during the 2020 legislative session.” Indeed, we seem to only be walking inches at a time when great leaps need to be taken to, at the very least, be prepared for what is to come, and try to do our best to change our ways in order to prevent the very worst.
Policy change can happen immediately, but conversations about the climate need to find new ways to reach people. Scientists and experts have done their absolute best to inform the public on their findings, but America remains divided on the issue; a Pew Research poll conducted in 2020 found that 40% of Americans disagree that climate change is a major threat. These numbers are considerably better than a decade prior, but still remain as a major obstacle, especially when noting that the debate remains largely partisan, with the same poll tallying 88% of Democrats believing that climate change is a major threat versus 31% of Republicans. The slow spread of recognition of the problem at hand is concerning, since acknowledging an issue is only the first step towards finding solutions to it. The clock is ticking, and the way in which we access our news and information only seems to be getting worse. A study conducted by Statista found that over half of respondents felt that online news websites regularly publish fake news stories, with the overwhelming majority of them believing that online news is at least occasionally fake. The public belief that there is a problem with misinformation is telling of an atmosphere where deception is a key force in the ever-evolving ways we learn things through the internet.
To that end, the Washington Climate Assembly stands as a shining example of breaking through the confusion of what is fake and true and the murky waters of ‘alternative facts’. By placing a focus on group conversation and close listening, the Assembly is encouraging candid confrontation with beliefs and opinions, creating a method for differing world views to engage with one another in a place that is not a Facebook comment section or a holiday dinner. Assembly member Barry from Bellevue notes, “There are going to be a lot of different factions of people, which I think is going to be really important, because something that I wouldn’t think about, somebody else would think about.” Members have an opportunity to show their preconceptions and place them alongside others, forming new conclusions and allowing stronger, more developed ideas to generate.
Doug Schuler, former Evergreen professor and founder of the Public Sphere Project, which helped locate funding for the Washington Climate Assembly, told the CPJ that “climate assemblies are ways to try to bring people back in, because they are so detached.” Detached is the key word here, as social media algorithms and certain narratives have disillusioned people from engaging with the communities that surround them for the belief that their particular ideological box is the only true representation of reality. People ought to utilize technology in creative ways in order to reattach to conversations about the various issues the United States and the world faces, where they feel their voice is heard and also accept that their opinions might change when presented with new information. The Washington Climate Assembly promotes a similar perspective, and hope can be had that processes such as these can serve as an example for other places around the country that could also benefit from original approaches to confounding problems.
The Washington Climate Assembly is still ongoing, with the eventual report & recommendations of the Assembly to be released in March. You can view the previous and upcoming Assembly meetings and read more about the project on their website, waclimateassembly.org.
