Climate change may be a dirty word in the Trump administration, but Shenandoah University is looking to foster informed dialogue on the issue by bringing in a national expert on climate communication.
The university will host Kathleen Biggins, the founder of the nonpartisan C-Change Conversations, on March 18-19.
C-Change Conversations is working to build a wave of consensus for climate action by educating audiences on how climate change will impact them and why there is urgency to address it.
Biggins told Katie Couric Media that climate change has been labeled as a liberal issue, and as such, attempts to address it have received pushback from Republicans and far right MAGA voters.
“We understand why the topic became so divisive,” Biggins told the news organization.
However, in the long run, the organization says, everyone, Republicans and Democrats, will feel the economic pain of decisions by the current administration.
“In the short run, the administration’s moves may score with the political base. But in the long run, they cause economic pain for all of us – squelching job growth, driving up energy costs, hampering reliability as demand is soaring, and exposing all of us to higher costs from climate impacts,” read a statement from C-Change Conversations communications team on its website.
President Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders on the environment and climate change since he took office in January. The EOs included pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, using eminent domain for oil and gas expansion and eliminating electric vehicle goals set by the previous administration.
Trump also directed his administration to remove mentions of the climate crisis from government websites. However, removing it from websites won’t make it go away, experts say.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon cancelled nearly 100 studies related to climate change.
“The [Department of Defense] does not do climate change crap,” Hegseth said in a post on X.
While its an uphill battle, Biggins is working to make the issue relatable regardless of what side of the aisle the audience is on.
“A former president of the American Bar Association told us that we lay out our case like presenting to a jury, sharing facts, weaving a narrative, but leaving the judgment up to the audience,” she said.
Critics believe there is clear evidence of the crisis: tornados, hurricanes, extreme weather, rising temperatures and wildfires among them.
“We should plan for the worst,” said Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, in an article for The Guardian.
“The keys to the car have been given to the polluters and fossil fuel plutocrats and they intend to drive it off the climate cliff,” he said.
Some Republicans recognize climate change and clean tech as part of an overall energy strategy and conversation.
“As Republicans, we should take a thoughtful approach and seek to refine and improve the IRA’s energy provisions in a way that promotes market certainty and continues to incentivize a comprehensive energy strategy. As a surgeon I would say, use a scalpel, not a sledgehammer,” said Congresswoman and Conservative Climate caucus chair Mariannette Miller-Meeks.
C-Change Conversations public events
Two public events will be offered as part of Biggins’ visit to Virginia as she works to persuade others about the current climate crisis.
- The first will be held at Blandy Experimental Farm, the State Arboretum of Virginia, at 400 Blandy Farm Lane in Boyce, on March 18, at 7 p.m.
- The second will be offered on March 19 at 6 p.m. in the Stimpson Auditorium at Shenandoah University.
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Crystal Graham
