Read this post at our blog, From the Trenches.

I'm not going to pretend I know all or any of the facts about global warming. That's not what this is about.

This is about communication + how to do so effectively.

And in the climate change debate, one side is clearly winning.

It is not the good guys.

On Tuesday I was part of a bloggers conference call with a top PR guy at one of the major oil companies. The PR guy spent a lot of time talking about the policy behind their argument, proactive steps they're taking to address climate change through smarter science, facts that are not in dispute, etc.

The problem for the PR guy - and the team behind him whispering in his ear - was that I agreed with him before he was even on the call. He was trying to sell me a product I bought along time ago. You see, this wasn't the first time the oil companies have talked to conservative bloggers, it was the second. But this time, the novelty is gone.

After he spoke for a while, we were able to ask a few questions. I sat back and listened until it was my turn.

Summarizing my question to him for you, I said, "So this morning, before I came here, I was reading a Rolling Stone article about how great and cool Al Gore is this time around, how he owns the global warming issue, and how he has popularized the issue with the mainstream. Every day I read another newspaper headline about global warming. The problem you all have is not that we don't agree with you - your problem is that the issue is no longer an academic argument - it has crossed in to the mainstream and it's now 'cool' to want to 'stop' global warming."

The thrust: "What are you all doing to win the argument everyday in pop culture? In the modern world? In YouTube? To the folks who don't read Science Journal?"

His answer isn't surprising. He said, "You're right. We don't know what to do but we know we're losing the communication battle."

And therein lies the problem for our party and for so many professional communicators. The world has changed. It's all so...modern.

Look, whether or not global warming, or climate change, is occurring is not an issue I'm interested in debating. You likely feel passionately one way or another.

But for goodness sakes, if there are two sides to the issue, then I should be hearing both sides of the story. And not just at the academic level.

Mr. PR Guy - Here's how you start getting ahead in the modern world with a great price that will meet your non-existent modern media budget - FREE.

Find an actor, a comedian, or a big time Hollywood movie producer/director who agrees with us. Let's create a few clever videos and hope that one of them goes viral on YouTube. Let's hold another bloggers briefing, but this time, let's have the celebrity on the call and let's not talk policy. After the call, let's email around the YouTube video so that we maintain control over the content/message that we're delivering, but we're hopeful that our allies will help us get it out to their pool.

Let's create a website to accompany the video where users/viewers can find more videos - and - here's the kicker - create their own videos where the winner of an online contest will win $50K and the opportunity to work with the aforementioned director on a documentary about global warming - from our side of the moon.

Maybe then you'd be making an impact on this debate in my life. Call me if you want to get started.

P.S. What does modern art have to do with global warming? Nothing, but neither do you and the modern world.

Credits:
Jackson Pollock, Number 8, 1949
Chuck Close, Lucas/Woodcut, 1993
Roy Lichtenstein, Untitled, 1973