Hello, I’m Laurent Cousineau, the founder of the Climate Change Guide. I’m looking at ways to improve the website and the Substack. I’ve only posted twice so far in the Substack, and my website was created back in 2011. It has evolved a lot since then.
What suggestions do you have on how to improve the website or how to make the Substack posts better?
Hi Laurent! What you're doing is important, your page being hacked also proves it. I've been subscribed to your newsletter for a while now and like getting news from you, I respect every person fighting the good, most important, all-encompassing, fight. I understand you keep your work scientific-only, without mentioning politics or business at all, because you want to reach a wider audience that way. And there are others, both activists and academics who already cover the political part of the story. Still, if you're already getting hacked, you might as well go all the way :) Just for your consideration:
- add in your vocabulary 'private interest', 'public interest', 'commons', 'degrowth', 'planetary boundaries', 'technodeterminism', 'technooptimism', 'permaculture'...
- Andreas Malm is an outstanding scholar who wrote 'Fossil capital' (on techno-determinism etc.) and while doing that, a compendium in which he briefly and wittily tackles bad climate theory and and presents good one 'Progress of This Storm' (both on https://library.memoryoftheworld.org/#/search/authors/andreas%20malm)
- if you want to laugh while crying and learning about how worthless COP agreements are, I'd recommend this debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsKkP6ZK9xE (great channel in general)
- check Katharina Pistor who teaches law at Colombia Uni, she explains how law is the code that makes the brutal, everyday, intentional violence of profit-crazed capitalism possible
- also see Elinor Ostrom's work maybe, difficult to read, but good to know (find a summary)
- artist Oliver Ressler (also has a great YT channel)
- youtube climate scientist Climate Town (did you know usa actually had good public transportation before Ford, and then GM & co literally crashed (financially and physically) it all and zombied people into private transportation and tax-paid roads and highways!)
I understand if don't want to go public with this knowledge, maybe use it in a strategic way. Still, if you ask me, these are some of the key nodes of knowledge to understand things better and move in the right direction.
First of all, I have no idea how you found me but I'm glad you did. I've been wanting to see a space that will appeal to the masses who are immobilized with overwhelm/fear in a way that empowers them to act. For those of us who aren't scientists or engineers designing climate solutions, our best path forward is to help build political will that broadcasts to those in power (at all levels) that we want solutions and action at the highest levels. Most folks (I think) have the basics about climate change but don't know what they can do that will actually move the needle. And I think that is what they want. I firmly believe it is building political will... passing climate friendly legislation, passing building codes that accelerate electrification and policies that reduce carbon emissions... that is most needed right now. In other countries, where progress is happening, it is because their leaders are mostly on the right side of the issue. There is a consensus that climate change is real and man-made so they are developing solutions and policies to shift to renewable energy. Our country is stuck in a political battle because constituents in certain districts are not demanding climate action. At least 70% of Americans want to see a shift to renewables and for the US to be carbon neutral by 2050 (that includes Republicans under the age of 30) according to Pew Research studies... so while politicians in certain districts resist climate policy, they do have a constituency who wants it. These folks just aren't making their voices heard. Yes, special interests play a role, but when push comes to shove, politicians want to keep their jobs and how they do it is by winning elections and listening to what their constituents want. So, if you can build a platform that empowers your audience to demand climate action... even suggest specific climate friendly bills that they can easily reference, you will be mobilizing people and we'll be moving in the right direction. So, my suggestion is to focus on climate action as the central element of the website and give people streamlined tools to reach the ears of all of the people/leaders that represent them.
I want more daily visitors, and I would like to spread awareness more efficiently, if possible.
I’m thinking of making a large section on “How to Help” and perhaps even a section refuting common claims by climate skeptics (I will reference the website Skeptical Science which is good at showing the evidence of climate change).
Side note: my Facebook Page, “Climate Change Guide,” was hacked several times between 2018 and 2023; therefore, I decided to spend less effort on my page for the time being due to security issues. Hence, I will focus on the website and Substack. I may also do a YouTube channel in the future. If I do a YouTube channel or TikTok account, it will be not just about climate change but other topics as well.
I would put much more emphasis on the two actions that more and more climate advocates are recognizing are essential to ameliorate the climate crisis and restore a safer planet.
That is removing massive quantities of the excess CO2, which is the direct cause of the climate crisis. But because both removal and reduction of current emissions will take decades to accomplish the case, the world does not have time to do either before activating irreversible tipping points.
Thus we need to directly cool the climate through various means of sunlight reflection. See a paper that I cowrote for more information:
Hi Laurent! What you're doing is important, your page being hacked also proves it. I've been subscribed to your newsletter for a while now and like getting news from you, I respect every person fighting the good, most important, all-encompassing, fight. I understand you keep your work scientific-only, without mentioning politics or business at all, because you want to reach a wider audience that way. And there are others, both activists and academics who already cover the political part of the story. Still, if you're already getting hacked, you might as well go all the way :) Just for your consideration:
- add in your vocabulary 'private interest', 'public interest', 'commons', 'degrowth', 'planetary boundaries', 'technodeterminism', 'technooptimism', 'permaculture'...
- Andreas Malm is an outstanding scholar who wrote 'Fossil capital' (on techno-determinism etc.) and while doing that, a compendium in which he briefly and wittily tackles bad climate theory and and presents good one 'Progress of This Storm' (both on https://library.memoryoftheworld.org/#/search/authors/andreas%20malm)
- to learn more about planetary boundaries check https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries/the-nine-planetary-boundaries.html
- if you want to laugh while crying and learning about how worthless COP agreements are, I'd recommend this debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsKkP6ZK9xE (great channel in general)
- check Katharina Pistor who teaches law at Colombia Uni, she explains how law is the code that makes the brutal, everyday, intentional violence of profit-crazed capitalism possible
- Silvia Federici's book 'Feminism and the Politics of the Commons' (online pdf https://library.memoryoftheworld.org/#/book/6bdecd4d-7e9a-4c96-ba70-7ffac5a61e99)
- also see Elinor Ostrom's work maybe, difficult to read, but good to know (find a summary)
- artist Oliver Ressler (also has a great YT channel)
- youtube climate scientist Climate Town (did you know usa actually had good public transportation before Ford, and then GM & co literally crashed (financially and physically) it all and zombied people into private transportation and tax-paid roads and highways!)
I understand if don't want to go public with this knowledge, maybe use it in a strategic way. Still, if you ask me, these are some of the key nodes of knowledge to understand things better and move in the right direction.
All the best to you, good luck and thank you! :)
First of all, I have no idea how you found me but I'm glad you did. I've been wanting to see a space that will appeal to the masses who are immobilized with overwhelm/fear in a way that empowers them to act. For those of us who aren't scientists or engineers designing climate solutions, our best path forward is to help build political will that broadcasts to those in power (at all levels) that we want solutions and action at the highest levels. Most folks (I think) have the basics about climate change but don't know what they can do that will actually move the needle. And I think that is what they want. I firmly believe it is building political will... passing climate friendly legislation, passing building codes that accelerate electrification and policies that reduce carbon emissions... that is most needed right now. In other countries, where progress is happening, it is because their leaders are mostly on the right side of the issue. There is a consensus that climate change is real and man-made so they are developing solutions and policies to shift to renewable energy. Our country is stuck in a political battle because constituents in certain districts are not demanding climate action. At least 70% of Americans want to see a shift to renewables and for the US to be carbon neutral by 2050 (that includes Republicans under the age of 30) according to Pew Research studies... so while politicians in certain districts resist climate policy, they do have a constituency who wants it. These folks just aren't making their voices heard. Yes, special interests play a role, but when push comes to shove, politicians want to keep their jobs and how they do it is by winning elections and listening to what their constituents want. So, if you can build a platform that empowers your audience to demand climate action... even suggest specific climate friendly bills that they can easily reference, you will be mobilizing people and we'll be moving in the right direction. So, my suggestion is to focus on climate action as the central element of the website and give people streamlined tools to reach the ears of all of the people/leaders that represent them.
I want more daily visitors, and I would like to spread awareness more efficiently, if possible.
I’m thinking of making a large section on “How to Help” and perhaps even a section refuting common claims by climate skeptics (I will reference the website Skeptical Science which is good at showing the evidence of climate change).
Side note: my Facebook Page, “Climate Change Guide,” was hacked several times between 2018 and 2023; therefore, I decided to spend less effort on my page for the time being due to security issues. Hence, I will focus on the website and Substack. I may also do a YouTube channel in the future. If I do a YouTube channel or TikTok account, it will be not just about climate change but other topics as well.
ok, last one, promise! :)
Rob Nixon: Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor (https://library.memoryoftheworld.org/#/search/authors/rob%20nixon)
I would put much more emphasis on the two actions that more and more climate advocates are recognizing are essential to ameliorate the climate crisis and restore a safer planet.
That is removing massive quantities of the excess CO2, which is the direct cause of the climate crisis. But because both removal and reduction of current emissions will take decades to accomplish the case, the world does not have time to do either before activating irreversible tipping points.
Thus we need to directly cool the climate through various means of sunlight reflection. See a paper that I cowrote for more information:
https://pdfhost.io/v/sZR6yz2f0_HPAC_Vision_for_a_Healthy_Planet
I just shared this to our group called Canada Waking Up the Masses. If you would like to join us, please do.