Katharine Hayhoe is taking her climate change message to a bigger audience, and you can help

By Steve Valk on Jan 19, 2016 11:08 am

Katharine Hayhoe is taking her climate change message to a bigger audience, and you can help

By Davia Rivka

I live in Los Angeles where star sightings are frequent. Julia Roberts sitting two tables over eating pancakes, Jane Lynch on my morning hiking trail, Cindy Crawford leaning against the wall in front of the movie theater. Stars. Bigger than life. Walking around like real people. We snap Instagram photos, text our friends — OMG, guess who I just saw.

Well. Julia, Jane, Cindy. Move over. Here comes Katharine.

Who’s Katharine, you ask?

Katharine Hayhoe — for those who haven’t had the pleasure — is a thoroughly delightful Canadian, evangelical Christian climate scientist who doesn’t hesitate to use God and global warming in the same sentence. In fact, she welcomes the opportunity.

She doesn’t live a flashy life in L.A. Instead, she lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her pastor husband, where she is director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. All sorts of people say amazing things about her. John Abraham, professor of thermal and fluid sciences and co-founder of the Climate Science Rapid Response Team, says that she is “perhaps the best communicator on climate change.” Then there’s Time Magazine, who listed her among the 100 most influential people in 2014.

And now “the best communicator on climate change” is hoping to reach a wider audience with “Global Weirding,” a series of webisodes that will explore climate change. These won’t be ordinary webisodes. Forget polite conversation. Katharine will be talking money, politics, God and climate. You can bet on it, if it’s in the closet, she’ll be dragging it out.

‘Global Weirding’ was born because too many people want her autograph these days. They want to take selfies with her. She doesn’t have the time for a face to face with everyone who wants her. She’s hoping the series will answer hard questions, open closed doors and change hearts and minds.

Here’s where you come in. She launched an Indiegogo campaign a month ago. The goal is to raise $20,000 for production costs in the next 39 days. So far it’s at $2,723. So with your help, we’ll launch Katharine (and climate change) into a wider universe. And when the show launches, you can invite your next door neighbor and your father to watch it with you. She’s charming, articulate and smart — they’ll love her. She’ll model the words, the posture and tone of voice so that you, too, can engage in those really, really challenging conversations.

With her endearing smile, and absolute trust ability you can show the webisodes at your next family gathering. Let Katharine talk to Uncle Fred. Let Katharine be the unlikely climate celebrity you capture on Instagram, brag about to your friends.

But she needs you. And we need her.

As soon as you finish reading this piece, click on the link and send her your autograph. Help fund the next big star. Who knows, maybe one of the perks will be a signed Katharine selfie. Smiling for all we’re worth.

Davia Rivka is a member of CCL’s Blog Team, and she also posts on her own blog,Flying with the Geese.

The post Katharine Hayhoe is taking her climate change message to a bigger audience, and you can help appeared first on Citizens’ Climate Lobby.