Keep Cities Cool! Shade Tree Edition

 The following project and blog post are by Fairl Thomas:

I have created a Climate Change Action Initiative for the purpose of my Climate Change Communication course at Eckerd College. For the purpose of this initiative, I created a petition using Change.org. My petition was targeted at the City of Safety Harbor City Commission with a goal of persuading them to adopt a new shade tree initiative. The City of Miami Beach has adopted a similar initiative, promising to have more shade trees than palms in the next 30 years (Luscombe, R. 2021).

Shade trees can make for significantly more comfortable atmospheric temperature. In fact, the presence of shade can reduce the temperature of a surface from 20 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit (United States Environmental Protection Agency, n.d.). In addition to temperature reduction, shade trees absorb significantly more carbon dioxide than ornamental trees such as palms, which is a big win for the climate change movement!

Convincing the local government to agree to implementing this climate change initiative, it takes effective communication tactics. In order to reach my goal, I created a Change.org petition to collect community member signatures. To stay as nonpartisan as possible, I chose neutral language and avoided using the term climate change in the petition description. I felt that the petition would be more successful if community members felt it is an initiative that will benefit their personal well being and the community economy, more than if they assume the sole purpose of the petition is for climate change.

In order to most effectively relay my message and collect as many signatures as possible, I took inspiration from our coursework and texts such as Stoknes Chapter 10 “Reframing the Climate Message” and Chapter 9 “The Power of Social Networks”. Specifically, I chose to use opportunity framing in my message (Stoknes, p. 119). Rather than being an alarmist or talking about how miserable Florida summer’s can be without sufficient shade, I wrote my message so that it would come across as an opportunity for residents to join forces on a mission that would better their comfort and well being this summer and for years to come. Furthermore, I took this message and shared it in a variety of Safety Harbor “groups” in order to effectively spread the message and plant roots for this action initiative (Stoknes, p. 95).  

My petition description read:

Let’s keep Safety Harbor cool. Sign this petition to ask our City leaders to plant more shade/canopy trees on public property for the future of our beloved town. Shade trees reduce air temperatures and many cities around the country are adopting this forward thinking approach to combat rising temperatures by taking the initiative to plant canopy trees. The City of Miami Beach is leading the way in Florida. Cities and towns with more trees enjoy cooler temperatures and higher property values. Let’s let the trees do the work for us in Safety Harbor and help keep us all cool.

    My communication was successful. I received a total of 121 signatures on my petition. I presented this petition to the Safety Harbor City Commission and received positive feedback from newly re-elected Commissioner Steingold. He replied to my email to the commission and informed me that the shade tree initiative has been added to a priority list for city plans!


Work Cited:

Luscombe, R. (2021, February 28). Miami beach to cut back on famous palm trees over climate concerns. Retrieved May 12, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/28/miami-beach-palm-trees-climate-change-cool

Stoknes, P. E. (2015). What we think about when we try not to think about global warming: Toward a new psychology of climate action. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2019, December 16). Using trees and vegetation to reduce heat islands. Retrieved May 12, 2021, from https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/using-trees-and-vegetation-reduce-heat-islands