In an attempt to influence the climate change conversation, Google teams up with 21 climate scientists from various disciplines and sub-disciplines to create a media-driven public relations campaign for the results and significance of climate science, noting a “large gap between the data and America’s understanding of it.” The goal of the endeavor is decidedly policy-oriented; recognizing the confusion generated by isolated disciplines attempting to reach the public unilaterally, the Google team wishes to better educate the public and lawmakers to make more informed and effective policy decisions.
Future plans call for projects aimed at addressing “socially relevant topics tied to science and the environment” in addition to direct communication between climate scientists and the public. The article also mentions that Google’s partnership couldn’t have been announced at a better time, citing a recent annual Gallup poll:
… nearly 20 percent of Americans surveyed believe the effects of global warming will never happen, up from 11 percent three years ago, while fewer respondents are concerned about climate change than in the past. A day later, House Republicans in the Energy and Commerce Committee voted unanimously against three amendments offered by Democrats that would accept that climate change is occurring; that it is largely due to human activity; and that human-made warming poses a threat to public health and welfare.
I’ll be listening intently for whether Google can shout loud enough to drown out the conservative-driven, rhetorical Doubt Machine – and also whether their pro-climate change stance has any negative effects on their business.