Record-breaking temperatures, rising sea levels, increasingly extreme weather and more are fueling the man-made climate crisis.
It doesn’t feel like a good time to raise or have children. But perhaps it still is, if we can respond to fear with knowledge and hope.
I chatted with Bill Weir, CNN’s Chief Climate Correspondent and host of the CNN Original Series “The Great List with Bill Weir,” about these issues and his new book, “Life as We Know It (It Could Be: People’s Stories).” He wrote his book titled “Climate and Hope in a Changing World” as an open letter to his children.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
David Allan: Are you basically an optimist or a pessimist by nature?
Bill Weir: It depends on the day. I think my mood is directly proportional to what I focus on while listening to this rhythm. Some days this turns into a firehose of peer-reviewed horror and more signs of how much humanity is ruining the planet.
But the days (those days) when I focus on the problem solvers, the dreamers, the doers, the ones who know there is a better future, heal the soul.
In fact, when I started writing this book, we were in a very dark place across the country. And I’ve found enough positive stories, seen enough momentum moving in the right direction, that I now wake up most days with more curiosity than anxiety.
The fight has just begun and much can be saved. And many things are worth saving. This is the ethic I try to pass on to my children: to be alert to challenges, but full of courage and hope for solutions.
Allan: On the one hand, you wrote: “The United States of America that I knew and loved is gone…eaten from within by metastasized lies fed to angry people in forgotten places.” On the other hand, you have consciously had children for the last few years. What would you say to someone who is currently feeling conflicted about having a baby?
Sluice: I would say we need all the good help we can get. And if you believe your child will make a net positive impact for humanity, do so. I think our main purpose in life is to reproduce. Nature wants to reproduce and hopefully thrive for the next generation.
Considering whether or not you have children is a first world problem. It’s a tough situation for people and I completely understand the psychology of these things because we haven’t yet dealt with the mental stress of climate change. We have not progressed through the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance) as it relates to climate to realize what we have lost. We must accept the things we must build to survive and thrive.
There are family counselors who deal with parents in the grip of this pain. They still want to expand their family (but) they’re very worried about what the future may bring. I think it’s a valid concern, and I once completely understood where these people were coming from. But I’m so glad my little boy is here. It gives me inspiration that I wouldn’t normally have. It gives me perspective. I believe people can be a net positive for the planet. And most people want to be that way, and it really depends on the stories we tell ourselves.
Allan: Young people are worried about the climate. About 84% of 10,000 people aged 16 to 25 in 10 countries are moderately or extremely concerned about climate change, according to a 2021 survey published in Lancet Planet Health. More than 50 percent of those surveyed said they felt sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless and guilty about this issue. And more than 45% said their feelings about the issue negatively impacted their daily lives and functioning. You mention a similar study in your book. What would you like to say to these teenagers and young adults? Or what do you say because your daughter is in that age range, right?
Sluice: He is 20 years old. At the beginning I say “I’m sorry”. We are sorry that our intended and unintended consequences have complicated their future. They cannot take for granted the things I take for granted (air, water, temperature, how you build shelter, how you grow food); They do not have the luxury of ignoring them.
Whenever I had problems, my father would tell me, “I’m glad you’re strong.” So I think we need to raise a generation of resilient kids and show them what it’s like. We need to be constantly alert for unexpected, unnatural disasters. And we need to talk to each other in communities about these things.
I think a big reason for these spikes in climate concern in these polls is that we’re not talking about it. The result of adults not talking honestly about what we’ve lost, what’s worth saving, the decisions we need to make, because there are no easy decisions anymore. We have to do some brutal math on what’s worth saving and what’s worth letting go of. I think it’s only through these conversations that we can get through the five stages of climate grief and reach its end: acceptance.
Allan: I love this detail about your son River being born in a lighthouse during the pandemic. It’s a perfect metaphor, a beacon of hope, a beacon of light in the darkness. To take this metaphor a little further, another characteristic of lighthouses is that they are built to withstand the worst of nature and are often isolated enough to be self-sufficient. Are there virtues of self-sufficiency and grit that you think parents should now place more emphasis on?
Sluice: Yes definitely. My father was a misanthropic person who liked to be alone. And it raised me with a sense of the John Muir romance of living in a cabin in the woods. But John Muir was using an ax made by others in a factory who didn’t have the luxury of going off-grid. We need everyone. These days we need everyone to be on task together.
I think this is vital in teaching resilience and independence as a personality trait. But I also want my children to be connected to their communities and engage in civic activities. Knowing their power as citizens and consumers of consciousness. Being the kind of neighbor that makes everyone around them stronger, no matter what.
Allan: I also have two children, ages 12 and 16. When I talk to them about the climate crisis, I find myself trying to turn it around with the optimism of the government reversing course. action, scientific discoveries, stories of people making change. How can we find the balance between being honest but not hopeless in our daily conversations with our children?
Sluice: I always try to achieve this balance. The best advice I received about leading on climate change during this chapter of my life came from Mr. Rogers. Mr. Rogers said his mother told him to “call the helpers” when he saw a horrific event on television; There are always deputies rushing to the scene. And this book is dedicated to helpers, not just the first responders who meet in disaster areas, but also the countless people who live a quiet life of service and point us in a more positive direction.
The assistants lift me to my feet; the idea that the same frontal lobes that create problems when we explode as a species can solve them when we come together. There are so many things that can be done. There is so much that can be saved.
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at CNN.com