Climate Book Launch Party--Politics and Prose (Wharf)

WILL HACKMAN — RADICALLY REFRAMING CLIMATE CHANGE: A GUIDE TO SAVING OURSELVES - WITH NIHAL J. KRISHAN — AT THE WHARF

An inspirational guide to discussing and fighting climate change for millennial and GenZ voters that cuts through the usual myths and scare tactics to provide practical advice.

Will Hackman is a Millennial, and he is pissed. Two wars, two global economic catastrophes, and a pandemic combined with a ballooning cost-of-living crisis and crushing student loan debt can do that to a person. But there's one thing that compounds these challenges that is unequaled in human history: the ticking time bomb of fossil fuel emissions. Millennials and Gen-Zers will be left to deal with the worst of the climate change fallout well after those responsible have passed away. And we have never been more divided.

In Radically Reframing Climate Change: A Guide to Saving Ourselves, Will Hackman identifies three main obstacles to solving climate change: polarization, paralysis, and stale, ineffective messaging. He empowers readers to turn their anxiety or apathy into passion, and anger into action at the personal, community, and government levels. The climate rallying cries to "Save the Planet" no longer work in our hyper-partisan world, nor do images of polar bears on melting glaciers. The problem isn't scientific, fact-based, or even technological. It's political, emotional, and ideological. Hackman provides a path forward for engagement and voter mobilization that combats apathy, dread, and resentment, and builds greater issue identification.

Hackman reframes the climate crisis as a humanity crisis, arguing that we must change how we think and talk about climate change, both in our conversations with non-believers and among those who care. Assuring humanity's place on a changing planet will require a near universal level of public support we will never reach if we keep making the same mistakes. We know how to do this. But the stakes have never been higher and time is running out.

Will Hackman has more than fifteen years' experience working in US political campaigns, public policy process, strategic communications, coalition building, climate activism, and global environmental conservation advocacy. Will is a frequent climate policy expert voice online and in the media and has been interviewed on several climate change-related podcasts and filmed a TEDx in 2022. His writing has appeared in The Hill and Washington Post. He lives in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in Front Royal, Virginia with his wife Paula, tucked into the Blue Ridge Mountains and the north entrance to Shenandoah National Park.

Hackman will be in conversation with Nihal Krishan, an A.I. and Tech journalist based in D.C. and has worked with FedScoop, the Washington Examiner,  Mother Jones, The New Republic, and PBS Arizona. His work has appeared in the Boston Globe, USA TODAY,  MSNBC, the Huffington Post, and The Hindu. He recently won an international award for “Leading Washington’s tech policy conversations.” Nihal also recently served as a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Fellow focused on AI and Tech Policy issues. He grew up in South Korea, Saudi Arabia, India, and Singapore before moving to the U.S. As a meaningful passion project in 2023, Nihal co-created ‘Generative Series’ a successful live events series discussing topics at the intersection of A.I., Art & Culture, with the renowned Phillips Collection museum, ArtsClub and The LINE Hotel in Washington, D.C. Generative has been featured in DCist, the City Paper, POLITICO and The Washington Post.

This event is free with first come, first serve seating.

To request accommodations for this event or to inquire about accessibility please email events@politics-prose.com ideally one week in advance of the event date. We will make an effort to accommodate all requests up until the time of the event.  DC Climate Week is not responsible for this event. It is organized by the organizing group, and being listed on the DCCW calendar is not an endorsement of content or partners.