How to win

It is clear that the cautious language of science is now inadequate to inspire concerted change, even among scientists. We need a fundamentally different approach. Only then will scientists be in a position to throw down the ultimate challenge to the public: "We've done the work, we believe the results, now when the hell will you wake up?"

-- writes George Marshall in an article worth attention.

The noted climate scientist James Hansen, for one, has been far from cautious in his language for many years. Recently he even put his body on the line for arrest. Bring Hansen together with people who look more 'ordinary', as Greenpeace did in the film about their Kingsnorth action, and you may be on to a winner.

Without Hansen type figures on board it may be harder to persuade more people -- or so would seem to be the lesson from the Drax trial. You need both a scientific authority and 'someone like me'/'someone I like'.