B²: It’s Not Easy Being Green

It’s no secret that President Obama wants the United States to be the leader in all things green. While Solyndra didn’t pan out too well for him, he’s upping his game with the Clean Power Plan – a convenient foundation for him to submit commitments to the United Nations.

The Plan, which focuses on significantly reducing carbon emissions by 2030, will be discussed from now until the climate change conference in Paris in December. A significant focus will be on new and existing power plants as the EPA finalizes regulations this summer.

No doubt you can expect questions about ice melting, seas rising, and the devastation of our children’s and grandchildren’s future.

So, do you know how to answer questions on the environment without sounding like you hate polar bears?

Good thing it’s Tuesday, B² day.

Here’s the likely media question and the B² (block and bridge) that sets the narrative straight:

Q: “Don’t we owe it to our children and grandchildren and the rest of the world to reduce our carbon pollution?”

B²: “We owe it to our children and grandchildren to leave our world in a better place, but this Plan won’t lead us in that direction because <insert talking point>.

Wherever you take the conversation next – whether to talk about the high energy costs passed along to people with little to no benefit to the environment, or the fact that we are cleaner today due to the boom in natural gas development – do show that you care about our environment. We get tripped up when we sound like money matters more than people.