Teacher tackles gulf over global warming

Author uses wit, logic, to win over unengaged citizenry

By Christine McFadden

Pamplin Media Group, Nov 12, 2009 (6 Reader comments)

Courtesy of Greg Craven

Corvallis resident Greg Craven, after attracting 3 million hits on YouTube for his two videos on the climate change debate, wrote a full-length book on the topic.

Greg Craven aspires to be a “game-changer” in the noisy debate between global warming skeptics and true believers. The Corvallis resident, a high school science teacher in Independence, says the “unengaged majority” is tuning out the doomsday scenarios, so scientific findings get drowned out.

Craven became an Internet sensation with two videos on climate change posted on YouTube, which drew three million hits: “The Most Terrifying Video You Will Ever See” and “How It All Ends.” On the heels of that success, he set out to write a full-length book.

Relying on wit and evenhanded, logical arguments, Craven treats the skeptics respectfully, while encouraging readers to consider the facts and consequences of inaction on greenhouse gas emissions.

Sustainable Life: What prompted you to write “What’s the Worst that Could Happen?”

Greg Craven: The first videos started getting a lot of press coverage. I got an offer for a book, for a TV show, and all sorts of Web sites and partnerships, and a couple of part-time jobs. And I said no to all of them because I just wanted to be done. I didn’t want to be a crusader or a campaigner or an activist. I wanted to be a husband and a daddy and a teacher.

After things settled down, my wife and I thought, “Hey, wait a minute. A book, doesn’t that mean a lot of money?”

I started over from scratch – so the book is completely new. It’s not at all a regurgitation of the videos. The book was intended to help the average person cut through the shouting match and make their own decision about what seems to be the best bet about climate change. It’s a set of thinking tools for the skeptical.

SL: How has your book done so far, and what kind of feedback have you gotten from the Portland area?

Craven: It’s been very disappointing how the book has performed in terms of sales or publicity. There was a snafu in the publishing department. My publicist quit without notice just before the publication date. I can’t complain too much because I’m a “nobody author” – I was lucky just to get a book contract. For two years I was perpetually sleep-deprived, consuming really unhealthy amounts of Red Bull and nicotine. I’d sleep two to three hours a night, and I had nothing left in me. I gave all of my life force just to get the book done; I left nothing over for marketing.

The readers I had in mind were Nascar dads and soccer moms. They simply are too busy with their lives to dig into the shouting match. I only now realize that really the people it should be marketed to are the activists, because it is a completely new and unique tool for breaking through the great, unengaged majority.

SL: What got you first interested in climate change?

Craven: I teach physics and chemistry, and climate change was sort of on my radar for a long time. There was a chemistry lecture years ago at the University of Washington where a guest lecturer came in and talked about climate change. I knew all the scientific pieces, and he showed how they fit together, and I came out blasted. I came out thinking, “Oh my god, things are going to be different.” Not a day has gone by since then in the last 12 years that I haven’t thought about climate change.

SL: Your book uses a lot of sarcasm and humor. It’s funny, but it’s serious at the same time. Was this a conscious decision or is this just part of your personality?

Craven: I’m goofy in the classroom. To teach a captive audience about science, you have to do a lot of song and dance. It’s designed to be fun to read regardless if you were interested in climate change or not. The layout actually was inspired by Stephen Colbert’s “I am America and So Can You.” It was written for people who are allergic to mathematics.

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