by The man-made climate crisis is driving record heat, rising sea levels, more extreme weather and more.
It doesn’t feel like a great time to raise children, or to have them in the first place. But maybe it still is, if we can fight fear with knowledge and hope.
I spoke with Bill Weir, CNN’s Chief Climate Correspondent and host of CNN’s Original Series “The Wonder List with Bill Weir,” about these topics, and about his new book, “Life As We Know It (Could Be): Stories People, Climate, and Hope in a Changing World,” written as an open letter to his own children.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
David Allan: Are you an optimist or pessimist by nature?
Bill Weir: It depends on the day. I find that my mood is directly proportional to what I’m focused on, covering this beat. Some days it’s a hodgepodge of peer-reviewed horror and just more signs of the ways in which humanity is destroying the planet.
But the days when I focus on the solved problems, the dreamers, the doers, the people who know that there is a better future, (those days) heal the soul.
When I sat down to write this book, we were in a very dark place nationally. And I got a lot of positive stories, I saw a lot of momentum going in the right direction, most days I wake up now with more wonder than worry.
The fight has just begun, and so much can be saved. And so much is worth saving. That’s the ethic I’m trying to pass on to my children: to be clear about the challenges, but full of courage and hope for the solutions.
Alan: On one hand, you wrote “The United States of America I knew and loved is gone … eaten from the inside by metastasized lies fed to mad people in forgotten places.” On the other hand, you have had a child on purpose for the past few years. What would you say to someone who is feeling conflicted about having a baby right now?
Weir: I would say we need all the good help we can get. And if you believe your child will be a positive for humanity, go for it. I think our basic purpose in life is to procreate. Nature requires replication and hopes that the next generation will improve.
Thinking about whether you have children or not is a first world problem. It’s tough on people, and I fully understand the psychology of this kind of thing, because we haven’t really dealt with the mental stress of climate change. We have not processed the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) as they relate to the climate for realizing what we have lost. And we have to accept what we have to take to survive and thrive.
There are family counselors who deal with parents struggling with this grief. They still want to expand their family (but) they are so worried about what the future might hold. I think that’s a valid concern, and there was a time when I completely understood where those people were coming from. But I’m glad my little boy is here. It gives me inspiration that I wouldn’t have otherwise. It gives me perspective. I think I believe that people can be a net positive for the planet. And most people want to be, and it really comes down to the stories we tell ourselves.
Alan: Young people are worried about the climate. About 84% of 10,000 people aged 16 to 25 across 10 countries were moderately or extremely concerned about climate change, according to a 2021 survey published in the Lancet Planet Health. More than 50% in the study said they felt sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless and guilty about it. And more than 45% said that their feelings on the subject negatively affect their daily life and functioning. You mention a similar study in your book. What would you say to these teenagers and young adults? Or what do you say, because your daughter is in that age range, right?
Weir: She’s 20. Well, I say “I’m sorry” first. We regret that our intended and unintended consequences have overwhelmed their future. They cannot take for granted the things I have taken for granted – air, water, temperature, how you build shelter, how you grow food – they do not choose to ignore those things.
My father used to tell me, anytime I had problems, “It’s a good thing you’re tough.” And so I think we need to raise a generation of resilient children and model for them what that looks like. We must always be alert to unexpected natural disasters. And we need to talk to each other in communities about the following 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 is that adults don’t have honest conversations about what we’re losing, what’s worth saving, the decisions we have to make, because there are no easy decisions anymore. We have to do a brutal math of what is worth saving and what is worth letting go. I think it’s only through those conversations that we go through the five stages of climactic grief and reach the end, which is acceptance.
Alan: I love this detail about the birth of your son, River, that he was conceived in a lighthouse during the pandemic. It’s a perfect metaphor, a ray of light, hope in the dark. To carry that metaphor a little further, another aspect of lighthouses is that they are built to withstand the worst of nature, and are often isolated in that they must be self-sufficient. Are self-sufficiency and resilience qualities that you think parents need to emphasize more now?
Weir: Yes, absolutely. My father was a bit of a misanthrope who loved to be alone. And he raised me with that sense of John Muir’s romanticism about living in a cabin in the woods. But John Muir was using an ax made in a factory somewhere, by other people who didn’t have the luxury of going off the grid. We need everyone. We all have hands on deck together these days.
In terms of teaching resilience and independence, as a personality trait, I think that’s key. But I want my children to be plugged into their communities, to participate civically as well. To be aware of their power as citizens and conscious consumers. To be the kind of neighbor who makes everyone around them stronger, come as you can.
Alan: I have two children myself, aged 12 and 16. And when I talk to them about the climate crisis, I feel that I want to twist it a little, to oppose the doom with hope the course we are on, the government that reversed. action, scientific progress, stories of people making a difference. How do we find that balance in the daily conversation with our children from being honest, but not hopeless?
Weir: I’m trying to achieve that balance all the time. The best advice I’ve ever received about navigating a climactic blow in this part of my life came from Mr. Rogers, who famously said that he saw a frightening event on television when his mother told him to “get helpers ;” helpers are always rushing into the scene. And this book is dedicated to the helpers, not only the first responders who come together in these disaster zones, but the many people living a life of quiet service and moving us in a more positive direction.
The helpers lift me up – the idea that the same frontal lobes that created the problem when we exploded as a species can solve it when we come together. There is so much that can be done. There is so much that can be saved.
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