Introducing the ABA Climate Coalition

by Steve Eversole, ABACC Founder

Circa 1975, I was assigned to do a high school book report on B. F. Skinner’s Beyond Freedom and Dignity. Skinner (1971) explained how behavior is a product of the environment and how we could manipulate the environment to promote human flourishing. My reaction was that this guy’s got it all figured out—that made perfect sense! Yes, we can save the world! My career was set!

First year of grad school, Western Michigan University, 1981: I’m at a social gathering of students and professors (I thought it was so cool to be hanging out with all of those Skinnerians). We were talking about how to save the world from nuclear war, promote feminism, solve pollution, racism, and other issues of the day. I don’t recall the specific solutions we had in mind, but I knew at the time they were brilliant and revolutionary.

Events like these characterize much of my education at WMU at the time. We were immersed in a culture of big ideas, lofty goals, and behavior analysis was the vehicle for change. This is the behavioral history of those of us at WMU and at least some of the other behaviorally-oriented grad programs across the country. Out of these programs came a plethora of research on a variety of socially significant behaviors (Heward, Critchfield, Reed, Detrich, & Kimball, 2022). I also recall being inspired by Behaviorists for Social Responsibility (BFSR) meetings at early ABA conferences (before the Association for Behavior Analysis became the Association for Behavior Analysis International).

Fast-forward to today. The field is probably 30 times larger, “applied behavior analysis” (ABA) is practically a household term, and we’ve improved the lives of hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of people with autism. This is a tremendous achievement!

Regarding social issues, we not only have the BFSR SIG, but also the Behavior Analysis for Sustainable Societies (BASS) SIG and Values to Action, all working to make the world a better place. Despite the diligent efforts of these groups and Skinner’s foundational writings, as a discipline, we’re currently not as focused on cultural and societal issues as we should be. I recommend reading Beyond Freedom and Dignity (Skinner, 1971) and Why We are Not Acting to Save the World (Skinner, 1987), and then visiting the above websites to compare our historical and recent initiatives. You’ll find the former writings to be more philosophical, while the latter is more action-oriented, which makes sense since this reflects a natural progression theory to practice.

We are now in the midst of a climate crisis (IPCC, 2022).  While the world has known about the effects of CO2 from fossil fuel heating up the planet for decades, government, businesses, and society have been too slow and too limited to act. The 2022 IPCC report projects that the world will warm an additional 4.3+ degrees Fahrenheit by the end of 2100. As CBC’s November Climate Corner noted, “The report urged countries to consider incorporating pro-climate behavior change, estimating that such an approach could reduce GHG emissions by an additional 40-70% by 2050 compared to current plans, but only if the changes happened rapidly and at scale.”

Behavior analysis should do its part to help rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Among the relevant behavioral excesses are driving gas-guzzling cars, eating meat, and flying, to name just a few. Behavioral deficits include learning climate science, political and social activism on climate solutions, research, and many more. For this reason, we are launching the ABA Climate Coalition (ABACC) to advance the goals of

a)        climate awareness,

b)        climate action (i.e., behavior change strategies) and activism,

c)        education on climate science and climate action,

d)        research on climate action, and

e)        development of a technology of the above and dissemination to other disciplines.

I’ll briefly address each goal.

Awareness will be promoted directly through advertising on the ABACC website, social media, conferences, and other forums where behavior analysts are found. Awareness will be advanced indirectly by promoting other university programs, organizations, and individuals doing work in climate-related instruction and research.

Climate action and activism will be encouraged by regularly providing member organizations and individuals with climate action strategies for both individual and collective action, and (importantly) nurturing a community atmosphere. For example, we are partnering with the GetGreen app organization to customize their sustainability app for the ABA community.

Education in graduate programs on climate action is rarely part of the curriculum; although related CEs are occasionally available. Much more needs to be made available and promoted on basic climate science and the intersection of climate science and climate action. We provide instruction in these areas on the Center for Behavior and Climate (CBC) site, but we will be promoting other courses and programs as well.

Research on climate action recently conducted will be highlighted, and we plan on being  an incubator for new research ideas. Much of the research on climate action has been conducted in the broader behavior science arena, a community that not often enough intersects with the ABA community. We hope to bridge this divide to make each community better aware of the good work of each and to spawn collaboration and innovation.

Dissemination is the ultimate goal. The impacts of the above goals could be magnified if we could also develop a technology for dissemination and adoption of our methods by other disciplines. The multiplicative effect of a number of disciplines consisting of hundreds of thousands or millions of professionals united in the common goals of climate awareness, action, activism, education, and research could compound the contribution we make to greenhouse gas emission reductions.

Our Ask of You

Will you consider joining ABACC? We are a good fit for those who recognize the seriousness of the climate crisis and want to help, either as an individual behavior analyst or as an organization. You will gain access to a community of like-minded individuals who appreciate that the world is in jeopardy and that those of us who understand how to manipulate the environment to promote climate action must join with others to address this existential threat to humanity.

In Conclusion

Skinner (1971, p. 22) said, Almost all our major problems involve human behavior, and they cannot be solved by physical and biological technology alone. What is needed is a technology of behavior, but we have been slow to develop the science from which such a technology might be drawn.

We’ve learned a lot since 1971. As we continue to advance our science, we must take our existing technologies and act now. The climate crisis is that urgent. The world needs behavior analysis to step up and do its part. Our hope is that ABACC, could move the field forward in this regard by providing a resource for our community to communicate, educate, and collaborate. Please consider joining us. Your children will thank you.