by Cara Pike via Climate Access

Last week was an exciting one at SXSW Eco in Austin (the second annual gathering of 2,500 plus eco-pioneers, tech mavens, foodies and artists), where I had a chance to check out colleagues from Climate Nexus, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Talking Climate discussing trends in climate science communications, and hear a feisty debate between Ted Nordhous, Bill McKibben, Larry Schweiger and Bryan Walsh on new approaches in environmental problem solving and movement building.

I was there to talk about one of the common threads underlying many of the sessions at SXSW Eco – the efficacy gap that blocks public engagement in addressing complex challenges such as climate disruption. (Thanks to Pete Rafle from Spitfire Communications, Sabrina Hersi Issa from Be Bold Media and Alex Bosmoski from the Energy and Enterprise Institute for joining me for the SXSW Eco session.)

I’ve been thinking about the efficacy gap for some time now. For at least a decade, public opinion on global warming has been consistent with the majority of Americans being aware of global warming and feeling the issue requires significant attention. The problem is that few people have confidence that either the challenge can ...

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