Do we deny the reality of climate change because
we do not care ? Or avoid taking action, because we are heartless ? The psychologist Renee Lertzman asks: “What if the issue is not about caring too
little, but perhaps caring too much?” She says that our anxieties may be unmanageable or
unthinkable. We may deny what is staring us in the face because it is too
painful to consider. She points out that humans use defence mechanisms of various sorts - such as denial, or an acute sense of inferiority, to avoid things that make us anxious. She suggests that it is simplistic to link an absence of action to an
absence of caring) [1]
The early experience of the action research group meetings here in West Derby have highlighted for me that people
care deeply, but as well the difficulty of understanding the science and the
way the planet works there is the very real barrier of emotional engagement - we just care too much.