(Adapted from my book Advocating for the Environment)
What events have touched your heart? A brilliant sunset over the ocean? The birth of an animal or child? Is there a place in nature where you go to connect with your soul? Have you felt the loss of a favorite place? Or the loss of something you loved to do like walking in a special place that is no longer there? Your personal story about connecting with the earth—whether about love or loss–is the starting place for advocacy.
You may think stories are too touchy feely, or not as important as facts, or not as powerful as your carefully crafted argument about your issue. This article will show you the opposite is true. It will show you how a well-crafted story is one of the most powerful tools in the advocates’ toolbox.
Two Ways Stories Are Used in Advocacy
Your earth connection stories—whether about love or loss— can ground you in your deepest truth. One of my favorite places is Maine’s north woods. When the going gets tough, I think of the many camping trips I’ve taken there, the beautiful forests, clear waters, the sun rising over lakes and mountains. This reminds me of why I care so much about the earth and why am doing this work. It keeps me on track when I hear bad news or am struggling to see the light. Your earth connection stories can do this too.
Your earth connection stories can also be used to show how ordinary people are affected by public policies. Ninety-two people testified on recent legislation to establish climate education in Maine’s public schools. Legislators heard from teachers, students, scientists, business owners, environmental advocates and ordinary citizens. Each had their own story and their own reason for supporting this initiative. The bill passed easily.
Touching the Hearts of Decision Makers
As an environmental advocate, you are trying to touch the heart of decision makers. Whether you are opposing an inappropriate development in your neighborhood, or asking congress to invest in clean energy, you need to make a human connection with those making policy decisions. And the best way to do that is by telling your story.
Trust in government is at an all-time low. This is particularly true in settings where public decisions are being discussed. Decision makers are on guard in these situations and are looking for the motive behind your words. They know you are there to try and influence them. They are wary of being manipulated.
An authentic, true story that shares the details of a real human experience—complete with feelings, thoughts, sights, sounds and dialogue—can cut through the wariness of your listeners.
By telling a good story, you can build a human connection and touch the heart of even the most hard-hearted politician. Everyone, even politicians and CEOs, want to feel like they are a good person, doing the right thing. Your job as a storyteller/advocate is to create a scenario where the decision makers can relate to your point of view, can integrate the facts to support it, and be persuaded that by supporting your view, they are doing the right thing.
Authenticity is key. You need to be who you are, grounded in your personal story. Twisting facts, lying, or directly challenging your listeners’ values is the kiss of death. But if you are well prepared and credible, your personal story will have power and influence.
Why Your Story Is Important
Most of us wish that decision makers would take the lead and do “the right thing”. But the truth is, leaders cannot stick their neck out without support. They need to know who is behind them before they can move forward. Citizen stories and organized groups of citizens provide this backing and pave the way for change.
Much of policy making these days is dominated by paid lobbyists. Conservative, well funded lobbying groups like American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Freedom Watch, and The Heritage Foundation write anti-environment legislation, and are continuously introducing it in all 50 states. Recent examples from these groups include legislation to bar the EPA from regulating carbon emissions, outlaw incentives for purchasing electric vehicles, and penalize banks and financial institutions that divest from fossil fuels. Citizen voices are needed— sometimes desperately needed—to counter these initiatives.
In Pennsylvania, the oil and gas industry convinced the state legislature that fracking was deep underground and not harmful to residents. The legislature passed Act 13, a bill that allowed fracking wells to be located anywhere—school yards, town squares, neighborhoods and public parks. It wasn’t until citizens came forward and told stories of polluted wells and sickened farm animals that decision makers, in this case the court, overturned Act. 13. Without these citizen stories, decision makers wouldn’t have acted.
The importance of citizen voices cannot be overestimated. Today, the balance of power leans toward the side of corporate America and the wealthy elite. We have seen this in many ways. Citizen voices, made clear with storytelling about people’s real lives and experiences, are needed to restore the balance of power.
You Are More Powerful Than You Think
The climate crisis is a topic where stories are especially important. Climate change and its causes are abstract concepts. And the effects of climate change are different, depending on where you live. Have you noticed the ice melting off lakes earlier than ever before? Have you seen land or water taken over by invasive species? Have you experienced drought or floods? Has anyone in your community suffered from wildfire fire smoke or extreme heat?
Your direct experience takes the climate crisis out of the conceptual realm. As citizens we need to tell decision makers exactly how climate policies are affecting our families and community.
Citizen stories have the power to shift the energy of a discussion, change the decision on the table, and bring forward a different way of being. With the climate crisis looming, policy makers need your help to shift the discussion from the cost of investing in clean energy or adapting to rising seas to the far greater cost of not taking action. Citizens need to show that the health and viability of their communities are at stake. It’s critical that ordinary people speak up about this.
The most important thing you can do today is to tell a decision maker that you care, that a healthy future matters to you, and that investments in clean energy will make a difference to you and your family. This is true whether you are working with your neighborhood association, an environmental group, your city council, a state or county, or even congress. If you have facts and data to back up your story that’s great. If you have experience organizing or advocating, that’s great too. But none of this is required.
It is enough to say that you care and explain why. A legislator I know said this to me recently: “When I go to vote on an issue, what I remember are the stories I heard.”