In contrast to this view others (mainly natural
scientists) look for more immediate influence on the
political agenda, concentrating on core messages
regarding the seriousness of the environmental situation
and trying to come up with illustrative
numbers. To give weight to these messages it is
important to form alliances with influential academics
and to attract many members to the society. When
some influential neoclassical economists are aware of
the seriousness of environmental problems and support
at least some of the messages of ecological
economics, they are natural allies and their view can
carry more weight than the view of relatively
marginalized economists outside the mainstream (If
you can convert the pope, you have made a big step,
as Daly describes this way of reasoning).