Season 3, Episode 6: A Climate Vocabulary with Herb Simmens
Season 3, Episode 6: A Climate Vocabulary with Herb Simmens
This episode found Thomas and Panu in dialogue with Herb Simmens, a long time advocate for addressing climate issues in local government, and author of the compendium of climate-related terms, A Climate Vocabulary of the Future. What kind of new words could be useful to make sense of living in the midst of climate change?
Links
Glenn Albrecht on Negative and Positive Earth Emotions
Finnish art project Utopedia. Inventing new words related to environmental futures (in Finnish)
Transcript
Transcript edited for clarity and brevity.
Thomas Doherty: Well, hello, I'm Thomas Doherty.
Panu Pihkala: And I am Panu Pihkala.
Doherty: And welcome to Climate Change and Happiness, our podcast, the show for people around the world who are thinking and feeling deeply about global climate change and all the other environmental issues that we can be aware of, and that affect us in our personal lives, in our daily lives. And like we say, we're all emotions all the time. So we really try to make a place for all our different feelings and our thoughts, and maybe our actions as well. And we have a guest today with us:
Herb Simmens: I am Herb Simmens, from Washington, DC, and the author of A Climate Vocabulary of the Future.
Doherty: Yeah, so we're really … We've been chatting with Herb and we love words here at this podcast, feelings words, concepts, and Herb has a whole book of an incredible lexicon of climate words. And we know this is one broad approach that people do to make sense of this big issue is trying to get the vocabulary of it. And I personally, as a lover of words, appreciate exploring an area through its vocabulary. So we're going to talk about that today. And you listeners can think about how this is landing for you. And you might also check out Herb’s book as well as kind of a guide, as an accessible guide to a lot of different really interesting concepts about climate change. Panu, do you want to get us started?
Pihkala: Warmly welcome, Herb, very glad to have you here. And we share a love also, for crafting words. I've done that mostly in the Finnish language, which functions so that we often put words together and of course, then you may also mix them a bit. And I see some similar things happening with English also in your book. And, but let us start with sort of roots and history. So could you share a bit about your own journey? What brought you to do this kind of creative, multifaceted work around climate issues?
Simmens: Well, thanks and I really appreciate the opportunity to be here today. I've really enjoyed the podcasts that I've listened to. I sort of grew up in the era and at least in the United States, when public policy and when government was looked at positively. Some of your listeners at a younger age may feel that … may be surprised to even hear that such an era existed. But, in the 1960s with then President John F. Kennedy [who said] “Ask not what your country can do for you,” you know, “what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country?” And as a result, I got involved in … I studied public policy, and worked in state and local government for many years. And I was actually the, the manager of a town in New Jersey, back in 1988, when Jim Hansen, the now famous climate scientist, appeared before Congress and said, “Global warming is real, and we have to pay attention to it.” And I remember, even back then discussing it with people in my town, what do we need to prepare for? And over the years, I continued to be involved in various ways, running a small nonprofit that was a consortium of New Jersey's colleges and universities focused on climate. I had the opportunity to help get the county that I live in right outside of Washington create or adopt the first climate emergency in the United States and the second in the world in 2017, and a whole bunch of other things that I won't take the time on now.
But you know, in the last … a few years ago, it struck me that, what's maybe sort of obvious to me and to some people, but it wasn't to everybody back then, was the climate affects everything. I mean, you could sort of do it like a parlor game and just pick a topic or a word and say, “How does climate connect to this?” you know, and sooner or later, you'd be able to figure out a connection. And so I thought, well, since climate affects everything and sadly not that we wanted to, climate being climate change, that it's important for us to label what's happening, both to educate people and to stimulate people to have their emotions activated, if you will, because it's so important to identify what's going on.
And plus, I just always have loved playing with words. So I basically wrote the first edition of the book, and in 2017, it had about 400 terms, half of which are original. And then I sort of put it aside, I didn't want to deal with words for years. I was like … and I dealt with other aspects. And then two years ago, I thought, it's time for an update. And to my amazement, I thought I would, you know, add 100 words. But I added another four or five hundred words and terms. And here we are today. And I guess the fact that I added so many terms, sadly, is an indication of how much more pressing and huge climate is as a problem.
Doherty: Yeah, so are you from New Jersey originally?
Simmens: From Philly [Philadelphia] across the river from Jersey.
Doherty: Yeah. So that one's one strand to talk about a little bit. It's just this background, because, you know, Philadelphia, broadly, New Jersey, you know … here I'm in Portland, Oregon, which is known as an environmental consciousness kind of town, but for whatever reason, New Jersey or Philadelphia might not necessarily be seen as environmental hotbeds. But, that's not really true, right? You've been aware. The point I'm trying to make is that there are people aware of climate change, and have been aware of climate change for many, many years, and in all parts of the country and all parts of the world. So you've seen climate change, as an issue in local city government, state government for decades and decades?
Simmens: Well, you know, I would like to be able to say that I agree with your statement, but I'm not sure I can say that, because it's mostly been a non-issue when it should have been an issue. And that's what I've seen is the level of indifference, minimization, denial, you know, name your word, speaking of words. And I'll just very briefly give you an example here in Montgomery County, Maryland, where our community literally declared an emergency and set the toughest greenhouse gas emission reduction target in the country, maybe the world of an 80% reduction countywide by 2027. And it has been an important issue in the county, but nowhere near an emergency. The distinction between another important issue, like taxes are important and good schools are important, you know, at that level, as opposed to, we've got to put this first because our future is in line. It hasn't happened here. And I haven't seen it happen pretty much anywhere in the country.
Doherty: Yeah, so it's both-and. I talk to young people a lot, and they think this issue is new, but like yourself, you've been living with this issue for years. It was almost 30 years between Hansen and when you all did the climate emergency. So I just want to just make sure that we shout out to listeners who have been working on this for years and just honor that. That's the piece I want to honor here.
Simmens: Absolutely. There's so many people that put their hearts and souls into this issue for, as you say, for years, if not decades. And you know, it's been lonely. It's been, you know, you could have a whole vocabulary and you maybe you have had shows about this, you know, the emotional price that one pays, when one is sort of looked at as a kind of Cassandra, or one is looked at as this Doomsayer. When you know … and then you never want to be in a position 5 or 10 or 15 years later saying, “You know, I was right. You know, things are … we did need to act 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, or 5 years ago, whatever.” So it's very emotionally draining to have been in that position. To honor, I mean, it's critically important to honor those folks as you suggest, and to recognize the price that many of us have paid.
Pihkala: Yeah, I think that's a very important point. And I've been working mostly in Finland publicly in this, ecological emotions, and especially ecoanxiety in the Finnish form, which is more like “environment-anxiety” (ympäristöahdistus). And that has led to some interesting discussions with people who have been aware of ecological issues and sometimes climate issues for decades. And now finding some validation because there are public discourses about psychological toll. Of course, there is also, you know, feelings of honor to be had when, you know, that you are trying to work for the right things. So there's always a complex mix of emotions and one of the new words in my Finnish book is “suojelijakiitollisuus,” which is quite technical, it literally means “gratitude about those who have participated in nature protection.” It's more of a pedagogical word, you know, drawing attention that it is a source of gratitude for me, and I know for many others, those people who had to work sometimes in much more difficult circumstances than now, psychosocially speaking. Of course, it's not easy still. And we have, in some places growing identity polarization around climate issues, for example, But anyway, just resonating with some of these things. And does this remind you of some of the concepts in your book?
Simmens: Well, I mean, there are many concepts in my book that span the whole range of, you know, sort of climate, climate emotions, if you will. I mean …maybe I can mention just a couple of the terms that I'm not sure, you know, I'm not sure how much on target they are with what you're saying, but they're sort of in the ballpark. One of the things is, because of the nature that those of us who are involved, essentially have a pretty good sense of what's going to come and maybe how bad it's going to be, but not necessarily when and how and where is the level of uncertainty. So I came up with the concept of an “antemortem,” where you're basically…mortem being death, essentially, you're in anticipation, you're sort of anticipating or analyzing what may happen, and sort of grieving in advance. You know, because today if you are where I am, it's a beautiful day. It's 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and you know, the world is wonderful. It's .. there's a kind of hidden, you know… Here's another one … the “false climate summit.” For those who are mountain climbers know that often in certain large mountains, you get up there, and you think you're at the summit, but you're not, there's another one behind it. So, I coined the term “false climate summit” that we know we've made a certain degree of progress, or we've gotten through this, [and we say] “Oh, my God, there's another one,” you know, “where am I then going to get the … candy bars and the energy bars and the emotional support to get to the next summit? You know, that kind of thing.
And another one is what I call “bifocal behavior,” the idea that climate almost requires the same way with people with certain kinds of glasses, to be able to look at the distance, and to look at what's now at the same time. We can't take our eyes off of the, you know, the sort of the future 30 years from now, or else we won't achieve it. But if that's all we look at, and we don't deal with the opportunities and the pain and the suffering and the grief and the confusion, then we will have failed or at least not succeeded. So anyway, those are a few terms I'll just throw out. You're going to have to stop me because I got 1000 In the book, and you only have a few minutes! But what you know is that, you know, those are a few that cover various dimensions of climate and, you know, sort of the emotional landscape.
Doherty: Yeah, … it's great. I have to make a note about this idea of [false summit]. As someone who's been a mountain climber, the idea of a false summit, I know what that is. We… we've been climbing for hours, like Mount Adams, near where I live is a big mountain we all can see. And it has a very notorious false summit when you're the first time climbing up there. But they tell you there is but you don't believe it until you see it. And when you get up to this … precipice, you think that must be the top, and then you get to this and then you see a whole other set of the mountain, and little tiny ants up on the side of the mountain, which are the other people that are far ahead of you.
Yes, we love to do wordplay here. But you know, “False Climate Summit” is also a play on words about some of these meetings that we have, like the upcoming COP. I think a lot of people would think that's a “false summit,” in the sense of it's already sort of infiltrated by fossil fuel interests and
things like that.
Simmens: Oh, I don't know how you can say that, Thomas! [laughs] The fact that it's being led by the head of the oil company, the head of a Middle Eastern oil power, you know, oh, you're much too cynical!
Doherty: Yeah. So humor is our friend, if we can if we can find humor. But you know, so I'm curious of where you find your words. I imagine you're always on the hunt. There's some of your words that are very pop cultural, which I like. Like there's an entry called “So Holocene,” which is a great, great kind of pop culture term. So the idea that the Holocene is this traditional geological age that we've become accustomed to as humans, and now that's changing because of climate change to a different geological regime, you know, in the planet. That's the Holocene era that we're mourning the loss of. But to say something’s “So Holocene” that means it's kind of like “so yesterday.” It's “so 90s.” …It's so quaint that you're, you know, so when we make our summer plans, and we think we're going to do a certain thing. “Oh that it is ‘So Holocene’ that you think you're just going to make some plans, and there's not going to be wildfire smoke or a flood or something like that.” Do you know where you got that term “So Holocene” from?
Simmens: I think that one I found online somewhere, maybe Twitter, I don't know. You know, I distinguish in the book, I have a sort of a special dot or mark for those terms that, as far as I know, are original with me. At least when I do a Google search … they didn't show up as a climate term. And those that I basically …you know, taking out of the reading I do and whatever. But generally, I mean, most of what I've done is simply to, as I'm reading, if I'll read a paragraph in a book, and it may not even be about climate, and I think, you know, the author is taking a whole paragraph or a whole page to explain this concept. There should be a word or a term for this. And so that's what I'll do is sort of scribble on the side of the book and say, you know, maybe a couple of different terms.
And that's how I, and also, when I'm walking here, I'm not a mountain climber, but walking and hiking. You know, I basically, I guess, my experience is enriched by looking at the relationships between the plants and the animals and the birds and the sounds. And then, who knows where creativity or even if one would be so bold as to even call what I've written creative, but you know, sort of something will come to me. Like the idea of one of the terms I have is “biophonic discord.” Basically meaning, and this is a tragic term, where it represents something tragic, which is that, one of the many spheres of life on the planet is the soundsphere, the “sonosphere.” And that is being changed dramatically, as is everything else. As you know, as certain animals are more or less prevalent in an area, et cetera, and plants and all the rest of the ecological changes. And so we have a kind of “biophonic discord” that's out there. So anyway, that, you know, I don't know if that's a great answer to your question. But I guess the simple answer is they come from everywhere and nowhere and half the time they surprise me when they pop up in my head.
Pihkala: Yeah, that's definitely creative, in my opinion and mind. You have already hinted at some of these, but I'd like to ask even more explicitly about what has this project meant for you, this whole endeavor of coining these words? And whether you had some particular aims consciously, when doing the books? So, something about the impacts, and aims…
Simmens: A lot of my goal, and that's why I attempted, and only the reader can tell if I succeeded, I attempted to put some humor and lightness in the book at times as well. But in a way, it's sort of an attempt to give a reader the opportunity to learn not just about climate change, but about the connections between all the aspects of climate and life in a much more digestible way than, you know, sort of picking up a book that's 400 pages and, and reading and you have to read from page one linearly to the end, because the second chapter depends upon reading the first, whereas my book, you can, you know, pick it up any place, point your finger to a term and read it and get the benefit of that without having to, you know, be disciplined about everything.
So maybe it's sort of like a bite-sized effort at providing information that is not, as far as I know, not available, at least in this format in any other manner. And that was a lot of the motivation for me. And then the other is pure selfishness. It's been great fun to do it! And I, you know, I have one of the terms is “microguilt” in my book. I have a lot microguilt when I say that to you right now. It's like, how can I say something is great fun when we're talking about such a potentially tragic issue? And you know, one of the things I've learned, that I don't always practice years ago from a therapist, is the concept of instead of but-and to notice something could be fun and tragic, fun and onerous at the same time. It doesn't have to be one or the other. So it's really been it's been great fun for me, you know, I wrote about half the book sitting at a Starbucks on the beach in South beach in Miami Beach, in one of the most wonderful venues I could ever imagine. I was so excited there. I used to write love letters to the manager, I mean, about how great a venue they had!
Pihkala: So anyway, yeah, thanks for expanding on that. And I can personally resonate with much of that, especially in connection to my second Finnish book about eco emotions, which was a handbook. So it had some similar ideas. You know, you can open it from anywhere, and then different types of things which are given names, or little descriptions. And I ended up writing short, prosaic texts in between to sort of explore some aspects of eco emotions. And we've often in this podcast talked about the need to be open to both sadness and joy, for example. So there’s great dangers in this era, because it is so difficult and so much filled with suffering, that we sort of start to deny ourselves and others the possibility for joy, joy and laughter. And that's not something that even the people who live in varying conditions filled with suffering always do, quite the contrary. So there's something very human in the ability also to share things that produce gladness with others. And I don't want in any way to “brightside” suffering and very dark circumstances. But I really think that this idea of being open to creativity and humor and at the same time being open to very sad issues as you are also in the book, I think that's really crucial.
Doherty: Yeah. And we are again, being lovers of words, there is this idea of creating a kind of vocabulary, is done, you're probably familiar, you know… I'm going to call you Hank, I think, right, instead of Herb I think you might go by Hank for more casually. You know, Glenn Albrecht in Australia and has done a lot of work around his own lexicon and [new words like] “solastalgia.” And probably if he were here, Glenn would agree with some of this and have his own unique take on it. But it is this personal, creative, it's a creative response. And then the Bureau of Linguistic Reality, and … looking at some books on my shelf. But we've got other kinds of books.. I myself have coined, you know, my own terms like “climate hostage,” and various sorts of things. So there's this creative… So for the listeners, you know, there it is exactly as, as Hank says, it's “yes and.” And so we can feel this and that, and it's the 360 degree range of emotions. Our mind is primed to look at danger and threats. So we tend to focus on those first from a survival standpoint. But we have to work hard to bring those other emotions in. And so just honoring that.
I had a question. I mean, we've got the pop culture terms in the terms that you create, Hank yourself to kind of make sense. But then there's some other words. I noticed you have a lot of great testimonials in your book, you know, from people like [author] Kim Stanley Robinson, and some of the people that I admire. Kim Stanley Robinson, of course, has imagined whole, you know, worlds and future scenarios. And you have a word “World Climate Organization.” So that's the proposed organization that will be responsible for managing climate. So it's almost like the World Trade Organization, but we would have a world climate organization or a carbon reserve bank. So we would… so the World Bank would also, you know, work on this more directly. But those must be terms that people have been actually proposing in the real world. I would assume that you've heard about somewhere?
Simmens: In some cases, yes. In some cases, no. And actually, in the first edition of the book, I had a separate section with terms that I came up with or that were existing, that reflect policies, I mean, or actions as opposed to simply, you know, describing an emotion or an owner situation. And so that's where I had a whole section on things like the World Trade Organization, as you say,or the carbon Reserve Bank. Some of them were original to me, and others, you know, are sort of out there. Ironically, when you said, the World Climate Organization reminds me of the World Trade Organization, there is an international group that was established to attempt to come up with strategies to avoid overshooting the 1.5 [Celsius] targets. And there I have just been in touch with them two days ago. And they're trying to basically come up with a report in history and a strategy. And the guy who is head of that head of that is the former head of the World Trade Organization, just coincidentally.
But yes, those kinds of things are from my background in public policy. I mean, there's part of me that says, Oh, yes, here's this new entity, and here's this new organization. And here's this new group that we could create. You know, that go, you know, a world counseling group, where you, you're trained 1000s and 10s, of 1000s of peer counselors to support each other. I mean, you know, to me, the broader vision that I that I have and I tried to reflect it in the vision that I wrote is, is that there's so many new institutional arrangements that I think are not happening, that could really enrich our lives, no matter what the ultimate outcome, if there is one, will be of the climate crisis. And that certainly one of them is to have millions of people doing peer counseling with each other.
Doherty: Yeah. And I know, I've heard people talk about that. And folks who are working in transformational resilience and the Climate Psychology Alliance, and people doing climate cafes. [So that’s right.] So that's the other angle here, like, again, thinking of writers like Kim Stanley Robinson. It’s … there's an aspect of futurism where we kind of just lean a bit into the future, the near future, you know, predictions. It’s not science fiction. It's really just taking existing trends and just moving them forward, or also, realizing that there are things already happening, that I didn't realize, that I thought were going to happen in the future that already are happening [now]. So, I think there can be some pleasant surprises when we realize, “Oh, these things are already happening.” And some more things are happening in Finland, for example, that in the US might seem futuristic, but the Finns have been doing for a while.
Simmens: Well, you know, there's the book, I may have attempted to accomplish too much with the book, because the scenario that I write in the book for looking back from 2035, basically shows how the world can and I think absolutely it's a feasible if not probable future, can reverse climate change and restore a safe climate, through the careful knitting together of a lot of these institutions and ideas and concepts that aren't being given full attention by the world community. You know, that's a whole other podcast to go into all that.
But, I came up with a term that some groups that I'm working with to activate some changes at the international level are using the “climate triad,” which is basically currently, we have one of the terms that came up with ERA “emission reductions alone,” the current model of climate action is almost entirely focused on emission reductions, and of course, adaptation. But what a number of us are saying we need to broaden that, to give equal attention, and weight and action to removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and most controversial, and maybe some of your listeners will, you know, turn off when I say this right now, but some form of what we call “direct cooling of the climate,” others call geoengineering, which has enormous potential and yes, can be scary, to literally lower the world's thermostat in a matter of months, and prevent incredible amounts of suffering. And this 2035 scenario is sort of built around that concept.
Pihkala: Yeah, and that's fun. One part of the book, which we haven't discussed much yet is that it begins with these scenarios, which also then link to many of the words in the book. So that's an interesting way to provide links to some of the content but also, I liked the way that what you are trying to do, of course, is imaginative, but also sort of realistic at the same time, estimations of things that may go into the good direction and and things that seem to go to a bad direction. So I liked the nuances there. And a Finnish smaller scale version of inventing new words for the future was called the Utopedia (http://utopedia.fi/mika/). So that was also about futures, not just about utopia, but that's something that also came to mind when reading these scenarios that you've built. So there is an element of utopia, which I'm not interested about, you know, like that “we will all live under blossoming apple trees”. Not that kind of utopia, but more like being able to discern things in the future that would be important and desirable.
Doherty: Yeah, we're coming toward the end of our time. But this is just…I thought I was going to highlight a few key phrases and entries from your book, Hank, but I couldn't stop! So I've got too many highlights now. So I might just, you know, so it's climate vocabulary for the future. So it's a climate vocabulary really also for the present, obviously. But, I think for listeners who might not have time or bandwidth to read Kim Stanley Robinson's novels or really take a course in climate science and climate adaptation, or carbon capture, some of those neat science things, this is a great accessible entree into these concepts, and also how they fit together into a future scenario.
And I think, you know, what we describe of the future becomes the future. So it is … we do need to actively go into the future and create it, or else it happens to us. So I really appreciate Hank, that you've done this and shared it with people. Panu, do you want to finish us out with some thoughts here?
Pihkala: Yeah, we always try to finish with at least you know, being able to look more toward a tomorrow. Herb, is there any that kind of word that comes into your mind from your book, which is sort of related to the desire to live?
Simmens: Well, if I could, I thought maybe I would just read one brief paragraph, from this vision for the future that comes at the end, that follows what I said earlier about a vision that actually could restore a safe climate and not just avoid the worst. So this comes at the end of a 20 page narrative. So, it has to be looked at in the larger context. But basically, what I say is:
As of New Year 2035, the Triad based restoration movement was proving that it could succeed in achieving the unthinkable this century — restoring a healthy climate. To celebrate the success, revelers in 450 cities celebrated by cheering on as 450 carbon concentration clocks showed the first decline in CO2 concentrations since the industrial revolution from — you guessed it — 451 to 450 parts per million.
Restoration inspired billions to turn from social media, Kim Kar- dashian, fast fashion, drugged despair, enervating energy battles, and false fascist allures to the most exciting challenge of all — rebuilding a thriving healthy planet for all by meeting the One Generation Climate Challenge. We find ourselves finally on the path back to the sweet comfort of ecostasis — with harmony within and between the planet’s ecosystems and life.
So that's sort of how I end this scenario.
Doherty: Yeah, thanks. It's important for us to spend time with these visions, and you do a great job, you don't sugarcoat any of the problems, but you also, you know, you don't deny any of the solutions, either. And the possibilities. So that's that, “yes-and.
Simmens: That's right. And I think it's just the concept that we have one generation, roughly one generation where if the world comes together, or mostly together, to do the right thing, it would motivate you know, literally hundreds of millions of young people and whatever. And that's I guess, that's my larger sort of mega goal is the hope that that the words and the concepts in this book and play a tiny role in in motivating people to get beyond, to certainly acknowledge the despair and the grief and everything we legitimately feel, but to transcend that, or do at the same time build a future that we have to do right now or it'll be too late.
Pihkala: One thanks for joining us. It's been truly delightful, and I look forward to spending even more time with the climate vocabulary.
Simmens: Thank you so much. It was really great to chat with you guys and you, you do a wonderful job and I really feel honored to be on your program.
Doherty: Yeah, thanks. I'll be sharing this book with some of the people that I work with. And we'll have some show notes here that will describe Hanks’s and maybe some other references that Hank thinks are helpful. So this is climate change and happiness.com. You can find us at that address, climatechangeandhappiness.com and please support us through our website or through our Patreon to keep bringing you these very interesting shows and great guests. And Hank and Panu. you have a good rest of your day. Take care.
Pihkala: Thanks Thomas. Take Care.
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