48,019,985 Democrats35,732,180 Republicans34,699,567 IndependentsONE ATMOSPHERE
65,900,000 rural Americans266,381,000 urban AmericansONE ATMOSPHERE

ONE ATMOSPHERE

8,000,078,132 people

in COMMON

OUR CLIMATE

WHY “Our Climate Common”

Climate change is an all-hands-on-deck challenge.  Everyone is needed, regardless of political affiliation, cultural identity, or economic status.  The atmosphere is our single largest “common pool resource,” meaning a resource we all depend on.

Unfortunately, we’ve become a hyper-polarized citizenry.  We’re divided by income, education, occupation (blue vs. white collar), geography (e.g., rural vs. urban, north vs. south), race, religion, gender, and of course, politics.  When we get this divided, we can no longer solve big problems, like pandemics or climate change.  We have a relationship problem, not a science problem.

WHAT we do

Our Climate Common builds relationships of trust with people in sectors of our economy that have been left out or left behind in the climate conversation.  We need their knowledge and their leadership to solve a problem this large and complex.

We start by listening and learning.  We develop an understanding of what people value—what matters to them.

Once we’ve built trust, together we design a project that requires the skills of both of us.  The end goal is to do something tangible that matters for the climate, but that also advances everyone’s interests.

We call this approach to social change “Relationship as Method.”  It works.  We’re building broad social will for solving climate change across our many divides.

Building trust at the individual level might seem slow and painstaking, but ironically, it is highly efficient in creating lasting solutions with the broad public support that is needed.

Many Missing Voices

Many sectors of our economy, especially rural sectors, have been left out of the climate conversation.  But we need rural knowledge.   They know better than anyone how to restructure our forest, agriculture, and fisheries systems to address climate change.  We need their help, and leadership.  Listen to three rural voices about the importance of being inclusive and respectful. (4-min clip, here to watch).

New Report from OCC and Maine Climate Table!

    sss

Richard Nelson, retired lobsterman, and John Hagan (founder of Our Climate Common) worked together on the report “EV on H2O: The Feasibility of Electrifying Maine’s Lobster Fleet by 2050.”  This report is an example of what can be accomplished when we work across our many divides.  Learn more here.

(click on image to download report)