The first challenge of global warming has been getting the masses to accept the reality and the threat it poses. That was difficult enough, but seems to have been achieved. However, the second, much bigger challenge, is getting people motivated to take action.

A new report, "Climate Crossroads: A Research-Based Framing Guide for Global Warming" aims to offer a first step towards a unified conversation on global warming. The study is a summary of what is known to date about the most effective communications approaches, what works and what won't work to move the ball on global warming.

GreenBiz.com Executive Editor Joel Makower recently spoke with Cara Pike, the lead author of the report, about how to get people to care about global warming.

Joel Makower: So Cara, tell me first why there was a need to write this guide?

Cara Pike: Well, Climate Crossroads was really intended to take a long picture – a big picture, long-term view at public opinion and global warming.

So rather than just looking at one study in time and what the public thinks, you know, on this given date, we looked at about five years of public opinion research and commissioned some original research to really try and get at where are the big cognitive blocks in the public's understanding of the challenge of global warming and how do they see their role in addressing it?

So we felt there was a lot of great research that had been done about how opinion was changing, but we really wanted to get a better sense of where are the big barriers in understanding that we need to overcome to really engage the public in a way that supports policies but also promotes individual behavior change.

JM: And when say the "public," you were talking about the U.S. public?

CP: Exactly. The American public.

JM: So what's been the biggest problem to date in terms of getting public understanding and buy-in on climate change, global warming -- and we'll get to what we call it in a minute.

CP: Well, there's actually quite a bit of good news, and I think that's probably the place to start. What we saw in particular in looking at about five years of data is that the conversation about whether global warming is a real problem is in many ways done. Yes. There still are some voices in the public who are denying that it's a reality, but for the most part, most people accept that it's a real challenge that we need to deal with. And acceptance of that is very high.

But now the challenge is really about a sense of urgency -- is this something that we need to deal with now or can we wait until we get a few other things in order? And then the other big challenge -- and this is actually being picked up in other studies, not just ours -- is that there's a low sense of efficacy. And what that really means is that the public really isn't sure what the best solutions are and whether or not they really have a role to play. So the solvability issue is quite key.

JM: So speaking of that, our listeners and audience are business people primarily, and I think one of the challenges that companies face stems from what you were just talking about, which is that companies are trying to figure out how to be part of the solution and many and are doing many impressive and sometimes even bold and audacious things.

And one of the challenges they face is having a message that to a public that isn't even sure it understands what the solutions are, let alone how to think about companies that claim to be doing the right thing -- or at least better than they were doing before.

CP: Well I think the challenges that many of the work that's been done on messaging has leaped ahead and is many ways at an expert level. What we found is that even with segments of the public who are highly educated and very aware of global warming, there is a very low understanding of what the problem really is.

So what we found even in talking to people who are members of environmental organizations or who identify themselves as environmentalists, is they often thought global warming had to do with the problem with ozone holes.

The other thing that you find is that most people don't really have a sense of the connection between energy, the economy, and climate, and so most people wouldn't be able to tell you, for example, that their energy or great majority of their energy might come from coal, for example.

So a lot of the discussion and in particular, in the media, has leaped ahead into this somewhat elite conversation, but even those who are trying to follow that conversation very actively are missing some fundamental information. So what we really found is that you have to go back and fill in some of those holes.

So for example, "green energy" doesn't mean anything to anyone. "Alternative energy" sounds too marginal. Or even needing to make sure that people need to understand that in many ways, we're dealing with the problem with too much carbon building up in the atmosphere.

You have to go back and fill in some of these more, what my seem to people working in clean energy or in business trying to tackle this problem, some basic ground that they don't need to pay attention to.

JM: So there's a huge education component here that companies and others, of course, need to engage in.

CP: Exactly and, you know, I think another big issue for business is often, the conversation around energy choices and global warming is very focused on cost. And while cost is obviously a huge factor and the public generally worry about rising gas costs and their personal costs, what we found is that there's a higher level of concern about the economy and energy that really has to do more with the United States' role in world and whether or not we're really being innovative leaders, whether or not we're really working towards a more secure world where we'll be less dependent on fossil fuels.

So while people do want to know where they can save money and how different solutions that businesses might be offering are much better for the economy, you also have to make sure that those messages are connected to conversations and frames about those higher level values regarding our place in the world.

JM: I know your report doesn't necessarily evaluate company communications but have you seen any good examples of companies that you think are doing it right or "righter," I guess?

CP: Well, you know, I think that there have been some good examples when people can really connect some of the individual level choices people are making to the solutions that they offer.

I think one of the key things is really making sure that in the consumer choices area, people have a sense of how their choices are making a big difference. I actually can't think of any sort of outstanding example of, you know, stellar models that I have seen where a lot of the communications is quite fuzzy around how the options or the alternatives being offered to the consumer are really going to add up and make the kind of difference that individuals are hoping to see.