In fairness, the following dialogue would happen with people from the Right or those who disagree with claims that humans are seriously degrading the environment’s ability to sustain life. In that case, we’d substitute something like “They hate America!” for “They don’t care!” though the problem would be less about the environment and more about the loss of liberty, freedom, equality, democracy, and national security, which they’re contributing to.
Those who purport to protect, conserve, or restore the environment, or fight for “environmental justice,” all pollute and deplete more than most people. They seem to shun personal responsibility or acknowledge the effects of their actions to undermine their work.
Here’s a typical dialogue, or at least the meaning if not the exact words:
Me: “We all pollute and deplete. We can stop.”
Leftist/environmentalist: “Conservatives and heads of big corporations are the problem. Not me.”
Me: “If we don’t we lack credibility and integrity to lead.”
L/E: “It’s them, not us. They don’t care!”
Me: “But you pollute and deplete as much as they do. You fly too.”
L/E: “But I care.”
Me: “They don’t believe that they don’t care. They care too. What difference does your caring make?”
L/E: “You don’t understand. They only care about profit and helping themselves.”
Me: “Okay, say someone doesn’t care and they fly. Then you care and you fly. What difference does your caring make?”
L/E: “Umm… I’m just one person. They’re running big polluting corporations.”
Me: “Exxon doesn’t buy its products and services. We do. They extract because we pay them to.”
L/E: “Umm… They don’t care! They’re running big polluting corporations.”
Me: “What does your caring matter to the family made refugees to access the minerals and fuel beneath their land, to the people who get cancer from pollution you funded, or to people made refugees from the sea level rise you funded?”
I have at this point seen people reflect on their behavior, acknowledge that it violates their values, makes them ineffective, and promotes opposition. They’ve even shed tears of gratitude and catharsis. It can lead to them taking responsibility and finding liberation from blaming others
I’m still working on how to communicate more effectively.