Ditch ‘warming’ and start talking ‘deteriorating atmosphere,’ PR firm says | Grist

The non-profit PR shop ecoAmerica finally released the findings of its public opinion research today, bringing a trove of information about how on-the-fence Americans respond to different messages about climate change and energy.
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* Ditch “global warming.” It makes people think of Al Gore more than anything else, too polarizing. “Climate change” is almost as bad. “Our deteriorating atmosphere” is the term soccer moms and other “environmental agnostics” respond to best, the report found.

* Likewise, people don’t want to hear about “cap-and-trade.” Too wonky. When you’re talking about cap-and-trade, call it “Clean Energy Dividend” or “Clean Energy Cash Back.”
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OK, but the report doesn’t seem to acknowledge that most people have bull**** detectors that kick in at some point. Calling a cap-and-trade plan “clean energy cash back” makes it sound like you’re promising to create money out of thin air. You can call it a “free beer and hot wings” plan, but at some point, citizens are going to ask for more than spin.

Is "Our Deteriorating Atmosphere" The Best Way To Talk Climate?

Well, not to be outdone, HuffPost Green has its own highly scientific method of market research that we'd like to try out. Let us know what you think [poll]:

How To Talk About Global Warming

EcoAmerica released the results of a survey it did to figure out how Americans best respond to discussions about global warming. The number one mistake made by environmentalists? Calling it global warming.

Apparently it's better to say our "deteriorating atmosphere." That sounds like idiotic hooey to us.