A key point of my book, Language Intelligence, is that the figures of speech are powerful because they are so memorable. The great Bards like Homer developed tricks to remember epic poems like the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Greeks codified these memory tricks — metaphor, irony, various forms of repetition, and so on — into rhetoric.

On the PBS News Hour last week, I pointed out that many people had warned climate change would inevitably lead to a storm surge that flooded Manhattan. Ray Suarez then asked if people could hear that message and act on it before seeing the devastation with their own eyes. I used a favorite metaphor:

People warned [before] Katrina that New Orleans needed to be able to withstand a Category 5. They didn’t design the levees to withstand it and we see what happened. Now we see the same thing with Sandy. I think the hope has to be that Sandy isn’t short for Cassandra and that it’s another warning that we ignore.

People now have seen that you can in fact have the worst-case scenario, which was a flooding of Lower Manhattan.

And I think any city along the Eastern Seaboard has to ask themselves, what would happen if Hurricane Sandy hit us?

Cassandra famously had the gift of prophecy together with the curse of not being believed, with archetypally tragic results:

While Cassandra foresaw the destruction of Troy (she warned the Trojans about the Trojan Horse, the death of Agamemnon, and her own demise), she was unable to do anything to forestall these tragedies since they did not believe her.

It has become a classic metaphor in the climate arena (though sometimes misused — see “Memo to WashPost, George Will: Cassandra was right“). Indeed, to extend the metaphor, carbon dioxide is the army of destruction hiding in the “gift” of fossil fuels.

Sandy/Cassandra utilizes multiple figures — a metaphor, an allusion, and repetition — which is no doubt why PBS picked it up for its own headline on the story:

Is Sandy a ‘Cassandra’? How Cities Should Prepare for Future Natural Disasters

Watch the segment:

Read more

The mark of man-made climate change is weather extremes. And that’s what we’re seeing in America this week.

On the one hand, we had Frankenstorm Sandy inundating the East, with 12.55 inches of rain in Easton, Maryland, 11.91 inches in Wildwood, NJ — and a “crippling amount of heavy, wet snow”:

34.0 in. – Gatlinburg, Tenn.
33.0 in. – Clayton, W. Va.
29.0 in. – Redhouse, Md.
24.0 in. – Norton, Va.

On the other hand, the overwhelming majority of the rest of the country is in drought, especially the Great Plains. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports the drought is still slamming farmers and ranchers:

• Hay in drought dipped to 62 percent, down two percentage points from a week ago and down seven points from the Sept. 25 peak.
• Cattle in drought also fell two percentage points to 69 percent, and is down seven points from Sept. 25.
• Winter wheat in drought decreased for the sixth consecutive week, although drought still covers nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of the production area.

This is what climate change looks like.

Related Posts:

• NOAA Bombshell: Warming-Driven Arctic Ice Loss Is Boosting Chance of Extreme U.S. Weather
• Study: Global warming is driving increased frequency of extreme wet or dry summer weather in southeast, so droughts and deluges are likely to get worse
• How Arctic Death Spiral Favors Extreme, Prolonged Weather Events “Such As Drought, Flooding, Cold Spells And Heat Waves”

America’s Finest News Service does it again. Here’s an excerpt from The Onion:

… Florida State University researchers released a report Wednesday revealing that the only circumstance in which Americans would ever pay any attention at all to the issue of climate change would be if film actress Julia Roberts were killed in a hurricane.

“Our data suggest that Julia Roberts will either have to drown in rising floodwaters or be crushed to death as 170-mile-per-hour winds demolish her home before the country even acknowledges global warming,” said the study’s lead author….

“Even if millions are killed and entire cities are washed away, only the sight of Ms. Roberts’ pale, lifeless corpse lying amid storm wreckage will convince Americans to have open and frank discussions about the disastrous effects of greenhouse-gas emissions….”

Related Humor:

• Major new report finds “Global warming issue from 2 or 3 years ago may still be problem”
• The Onion: Planet Earth Doesn’t Know How To Make It Any Clearer It Wants Everyone To Leave
• Republicans vote to repeal Obama-backed bill that would destroy asteroid headed for Earth

by Walter Frick, via BostInno

Remember how your Little League jersey sported the name of a local business? Well, the Framingham Jr. Flyers football team has an unconventional sponsor: energy efficiency.

Through a partnership with Boston-based Next Step Living, for every energy assessment completed using the Flyers’ referral link, the team earns $10. The alliance may seem unorthodox – and it is – but it’s consistent with Next Step’s unique vision for spreading the energy revolution. The key to selling energy efficiency in the residential market, according to Next Step CEO Geoff Chapin, isn’t fancy technology, sleek web apps, or colorful fliers. It’s building trust within the community.

While high profile cleantech startups continue to go bankrupt, Next Step has done work in 20,000 homes and grown to over 400 employees, hiring for a wide range of skill and education levels. Though the luster of green jobs may have vanished at the national level, it’s alive and well at Next Step. It’s a success story built around strong execution rather than exclusive IP, and potentially a model for venture capitalists looking to reset their approach in the energy space.

How To Pick Up One Dollar Bills

There’s a famous joke, if you could call it that, among economists that goes like this: two economists are walking down the street, and one of them spots a dollar bill on the street. “Look, a dollar bill!” one says. “Impossible,” replies the other. “If that were true, someone would have picked it up by now.”

Energy efficiency is sort of like the dollar bill. Free market types are puzzled as to why homeowners haven’t already invested in improvements, if doing so would save them money, as is often the case (especially once state incentives are taken into account).

But anyone in business knows it doesn’t work that simply. You might have a great idea for a product or service, but getting people to take time out of their busy days to even learn about it, much less buy it, can be a daunting task. It’s hard enough to get users to download a free mobile app; imagine convincing them to replace all their windows.

That’s where community groups and local sports teams come in. Back when Next Step was founded four years ago, it was selling energy audits and efficiency improvements to environmental types, the true believers who wanted to do the right thing. But that only gets you so far. And a lot of potential customers motivated purely by ROI frankly won’t believe you if you just show up and promise them huge savings, Chapin told me. They’ll only listen “if they’re approached by groups they trust,” he said.

Read more