Christie Manning

The Emotional Impact Statement

About the author

Dr. Christie Manning is the Director of Sustainability and faculty member in the department of Environmental Studies at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Dr. Manning has a Bachelor’s degree in Human Factors Engineering from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in Cognitive and Biological Psychology from the University of Minnesota. Her recent co-authored publications include a 2021 academic textbook, Psychology for Sustainability, a 2018 edited volume, Psychology and Climate Change, and a 2017 review article in the journal Science, “Beyond the roots of human inaction: Fostering collective effort toward ecosystem conservation.” Her research focuses on how people respond to the climate crisis, and she is particularly interested in the psychological circumstances that motivate community-level climate action. As Director of Sustainability, Dr. Manning works with the faculty of Macalester College to increase the depth and breadth of sustainability within the curriculum. In her personal life, Christie likes to walk, learn about trees, ride her bike, and spend time with her two favorite climate justice activists – her daughters.

Additional prompts

Consider your thoughts, emotions, and behavior as you read about the various ecological and/or environmental justice issues created by humanity.  What were your reactions, and what did you learn about yourself as a result? Write a 1-2 page reflection with the following questions to guide you:

  1. Thoughts: Did you skim the material, thinking "I already know all this?" Did you question or doubt the content in the reading? Was your curiosity aroused: "Really? I need to look into that..."

  2. Emotions: What emotions were evoked by the reading?  Did you feel angry? Sad? Overwhelmed? Did you feel numb and paralyzed?  Or did the reading make you feel determined and energized? Did you feel excited by the potential for creating a more sustainable and justice-oriented community or world?

  3. Behaviors: What did you do with your reactions? Distract yourself with the internet, social media, TV, or your text messages? Did you crawl into a bag of potato chips or crack open a beer? Did you call a friend to talk about the thoughts and feelings you were having about the climate crisis? Did you investigate advocacy or activist groups you could join?

  4. Optional:  Draw an image that captures your response to the reading, the emotional dimension in particular.

Relevant academic articles

Chapter overview

The Emotional Impact Statement is a reflective assignment that invites students to express, share, and process feelings in response to environmental degradation and injustice. It stands in contrast to the legally-required Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) that are the first step for planned industrial developments. Where an EIS is neutral and detached in describing irreparable damage to natural and human communities, Emotional Impact Statements are outraged and personal. Those who have personally experienced the loss of a cherished natural space, be it a wild forest or small city park, find the creation of an Emotional Impact Statement clarifying, and the process of sharing their statements in a (trusted) group helps them feel less alone.

Excepts from the chapter

“Writing an emotional impact statement allows people to come to terms with their feelings rather than avoid them, to express their sadness, anger, grief, frustration, and other complex and sometimes conflicting reactions.”

“Creating an Emotional Impact Statement helped students realize the deep well of care they hold for nature and for humanity, and in many cases it spurred them toward greater action and activism.”

Resources about the Line 3 pipeline through Minnesota, its Federal Environmental Impact Statement, and the Indigenous-led resistance

Link (nymag.com) to David Wallace Wells’ The Uninhabitable Earth, 2017.

Contact details

Christie is interested in speaking to live audiences. You can contact her via this email.