A clean energy policy consultant is joining the cast of the hit Netflix reality show “Love is Blind.” Season 7 cast member Taylor Krause, a manager at the clean energy think tank RMI, could bring the subject of climate change into her dates — and to the forefront for the show’s huge and devoted audience
“Love is Blind” is a reality dating show where contestants spend 10 days chatting with potential romantic partners from small, soundproof rooms complete with plush rugs and West Elm pillows. Once they’ve decided on their pick, they only see the object of their affection if the pair agrees to be married. The couples then leave the “pods” to spend four weeks together before they decide to say “I do” or “I do not” at their wedding.
The show considers itself more an experiment than a traditional dating show, but it’s hard to imagine that a scholarly article about “Love is Blind” would ever make it through peer review. It’s trash TV, but trash TV can be great. It can even be a great place to talk about climate change.
And how convenient that the cast of Love is Blind season 7, made up of people from Washington D.C., includes a clean energy policy consultant. At RMI, Krause specializes in policies that cut climate pollution from the manufacturing of materials like steel and cement. She also previously worked at Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a grassroots climate nonprofit that aims to create the political will for climate action, and has a master’s degree in energy policy and climate from Johns Hopkins University.
Krause says this is the key to her heart: “Loving me for my mind.” It seems like a good bet that she is probably looking for a partner who aligns with her values on climate change.
Romantic couples often have similar climate beliefs and behaviors, according to research led by Matt Goldberg at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, the publisher of this website. But the study also found that it is fairly common for couples to differ, leaving ample room for partners to influence each others’ viewpoints.
Krause has the unique position of not only being able to influence romantic partners but also the climate beliefs and behaviors of “Love is Blind” viewers.
With that in mind, I sat down with my colleague Mallika Talwar — a “Love is Blind” enthusiast and the deputy director of partnerships at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication — to discuss what we hope Krause says about climate change on the show.
1. We hope she talks about her job.
Mallika: I would really like her to be super loud and proud about the work that she does and not shy away from it. You don’t have to get into the weeds and talk about policy and stuff, but about why the work is important for our society, for people.
Sam: There does seem to be a sort of hesitancy to talk about climate change in popular media and there seem to be incorrect assumptions that people don’t want to hear about it, or people don’t want to have these conversations. But all the research shows that the majority of people in the U.S. are worried about climate change.
2. We hope Krause tries to connect with potential partners on shared concerns and visions for the future.
Mallika: I think that she should talk about how she would hope that her partner is similarly concerned about climate change — concerned about the future for their potential children, about where they live, about impacts, things like that. There’s something to be said about building a life together and planning for the future.
Sam: In the show you’re making your partnership based on, ideally, shared values, since you’re making a connection just talking through a wall.
Mallika: They talk a lot about what kinds of lives they want to live. Of course, we know that personal behavior change is not enough, but I think it would be cool to talk about things like how they could live sustainably as a couple.
3. She shares her personal climate story.
Mallika: She should talk about her own personal journey to where she’s at, why she does what she does, and why it’s important to her. We know that personal stories can be super persuasive and can move people along that spectrum towards being more engaged on climate change issues. She has a platform that so many people tune into.
Sam: I think that’s spot on.
4. We hope Krause hits on some key climate communication messages.
Sam: I was thinking about the five key messages that the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication survey team has identified and how it’s really important to keep hitting those points: Climate change is real, it’s human-caused, it’s bad for us, scientists agree, and there is hope. It could be meaningful for viewers to see that and normalize that.
Mallika: It’s much harder to talk about the nitty-gritty details of policy, and she doesn’t need to get into that. But I think being able to say that there’s a reason that she does this work: because this is real, this is happening, and she worries about her future, and the life she’s going to be building with her partner, and all of those things. I think those are all ways to normalize it without getting too in the weeds.
5. We hope Netflix leaves climate conversations in the show’s final edit.
Sam: I wish her the best, I hope she finds love, and I do hope that the editors and producers keep climate stuff in. There was an interview with the director of the new “Twisters” movie where he was like, “I don’t want to politicize my movie,” and so there’s no talk about climate change in it, and it just seems like that is still part of where we’re at. So it’ll be really interesting to see what happens.
Mallika: It doesn’t need to be a charged political conversation, especially if she really makes it personal. And it also doesn’t need to be the thing that she talks about all the time.
Sam: Totally. We have full lives outside of work.
Mallika: Clearly, we are two people who also enjoy dating shows in our free time.
Bonus: Some funny ideas for ways Krause could sneak in climate change, courtesy of Mallika and her partner.
- “I love food. Do you cook? And if you do, electric stoves or methane gas stoves?”
- “What are your thoughts on [whispers] community engagement?”
- “Love is a lot like clean energy. It needs investment, long-term thinking, and a spark.”
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