No babies till climate justice

It’s a question as old as environmental fearmongering: Should would-be parents have children despite climate change ? This is the trendy version of the age-old worry, “How can I bring a child into a world with so much evil?” The latter rests on a significant, if ultimately baseless, philosophical concern, while its modern iteration stems simply from a misunderstanding of our environment.

Even so, this question is keeping millennials and Generation Z up at night. Over one-third of young people report they are “hesitant” about having children because of climate change.

This month, the Harris campaign hired a new climate engagement director, self-proclaimed “climate hype girl for democracy” Camila Thorndike. Previously a legislative assistant to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Thorndike has frequently questioned whether she would be willing to have children given the state of the world’s climate.

“I want to protect [my hypothetical child] from suffering,” she said in a 2022 Washington Post article . “Not that life is ever free from suffering, but … what of the joys and peace and goodness that make me happiest to be alive will be accessible in 20, 30, 40 years?”

She also mulled over this idea back in 2019.

“I have always been someone who enjoys children and loves the idea of a family, and that’s why I have wrestled with this, because my logical mind and the facts of the future I can see bearing down on us are not supportive of the life I would want for them,” she told Yahoo News.

Seeking the best for one’s hypothetical children is noble, even proof that such a person will make a good parent. But it is possible that for some, the ubiquitous climate excuse is a nobler way to express a sentiment that wrestler John Cena recently shared on a podcast.

“As somebody who’s driven, many times stubborn and selfish, I try to approach the world with kindness and curiosity,” the 47-year-old said, “but I don’t think I’m personally ready, nor will I ever be, to invest the time [needed] to be a great parent.”

The media often remain mum when climate doomsday predictions fail to materialize , instead hyping up the next round of alarmism. So rather than being based on reality, the fear that children and climate change don’t mix is a cover for broader anxieties about parenting. And luckily, parenthood has some unlikely defenders.

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Bill Weir, CNN’s chief climate correspondent, provided a surprisingly good answer to this question in April, saying in an interview, “It’s a very first-world problem to think about whether or not you have children.”

“I think our basic purpose in life is to procreate,” he suggested. “Nature wants replication and hopefully improvement for the next generation.”