By admin 
From the tinderbox forests of the Sierras and the thirsty farm belt of the Central Valley to evacuation-weary Los Angeles and low-level reservoirs across the state, there’s no denying that Californians are experiencing impacts of climate change that are economic, socially disruptive, and psychological.
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The climate crisis — whether it is voiced aloud or not — is edging its way into the American psyche. So why are so many Democratic leaders waging a hush-up campaign?
Since Trump’s 2024 election, a faction of Democrats has run with the theory that climate messaging and progressive green policies cost them the election by alienating working class voters. So they have ceased talking about it as much as possible. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, coined the term “climate husher” to refer to these colleagues.
As a therapist who specializes in climate-related mental health issues, I find this pervasive retreat into silence both disheartening and frustrating — though not entirely surprising. I witness the emotional, psychological and mental tolls that the climate crisis is taking every day, especially on our young people. Many Americans are experiencing a deepening well of moral injury — an emotional pain arising from the violation of one’s moral code — as politicians retreat further yet from a federal response to the climate crisis.
Climate hushing is unconscionable and ill-conceived. It has also led to a complicit triad of politicians, businesses, and media outlets withholding both evidence and urgency on climate change. Moreover, climate hushing is completely out of synch with reality and does not resonate with what the majority of Americans are experiencing or feeling right now.
Here in California, 78% of voters consider the climate crisis a serious threat. Nationally, 64% of Americans are at least “somewhat worried about global warming.” This gap between Americans’ very real concerns and the lack of political discourse by both Democrats and Republicans is untenable and puts communities at greater risk.
Moreover, sidelining the urgency of the climate crisis is a losing strategy for Democrats. Many Americans feel raw and ragged from the barrage of climate impacts both on the news and in their local communities; their desire to heal and find hope awaits political invitation. Democrats must seize this opportunity to mobilize American voters by creating a unifying party message and call-to-action that speaks to climate concern.
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Reframing climate change and integrating it into our national conversation will help to rebuild trust in the Democratic Party.
We need to use new climate terminology — ideally wording that invites more Americans into the conversation. “Climate change” and “climate crisis” are both too abstract and too politically charged. Climate communications expert Susan Joy Hassol has suggested the term “climate disruption,” because the word “disruption” is clear and visceral, evoking concrete impacts like wildfires and hurricanes. Instead of “natural disasters,” Hassol offers “human-caused disasters” as a way to create understanding that these weather events are not inevitable but rather are linked to human behavior.
A recent study by the Rockefeller Foundation of over 80,000 adults across six countries found that communicating the cause of climate change simply and concretely — such as using the word “pollution” to describe the problem — makes it feel 10% to 20% more solvable while reducing polarization. Tweaking climate terminology will help bring it into the mainstream, unify the public in a shared concern and restore agency.
Scientists are predicting a record-breaking Super El Niño event as early as October — unleashing a stormy, wet winter in California. Effective climate communication will help Americans prepare, stay informed and adapt. Democrats must show vision, urgency and courage when it comes to human-caused climate disruption. That starts by talking honestly about it.
Ariella Cook-Shonkoff is the author of “Raising Anti-Doomers: How to Bring Up Resilient Kids Through Climate Change and Tumultuous Times.” She is a licensed psychotherapist and art therapist in private practice in Berkeley and specializes in climate-aware therapy.
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