This September, thousands of youth will march through the streets of Manhattan to call on President Biden to end the era of fossil fuels and declare a climate emergency. But will their parents join them?
As a mother and daughter who both spend our free time on climate activism, we are unusual in the climate movement: a teen climate organizer with Fridays for Future and a parent organizer with Climate Families NYC, under one roof. While one of us — Helen — organizes high school students for school climate strikes or heads to Albany to lobby for climate legislation, the other — Eliza — organizes parents of younger children to pressure elected officials and protest financial institutions that continue to fund new fossil fuel projects. We’ve found hope, purpose, and family closeness by doing this work alongside each other. But the reason we do climate organizing is that we’re both deeply worried about the future, disappointed, and angry.
We are disappointed that President Biden has not yet declared a climate emergency — a step that would unlock vast resources to mitigate the crisis — even as over a hundred million Americans have been exposed to extreme weather this summer. We’re angry that Biden continues to approve new fossil fuel projects like Willow and the Mountain Valley Pipeline while Hawaii burns and the skies in New York and elsewhere fill with wildfire smoke. And we’re frustrated that all too many adults watch the youth — their children and their children’s friends — fight to save the world from climate chaos while they act as if nothing is wrong or there is nothing they can do about it.
Although the two of us do most of our climate organizing separately (what teenager wants their mom hovering as they plan a protest?), our whole family has attended Fridays for Future’s twice-annual strikes for the past couple of years. Helen is always at the front of the march, leading the way with her fellow Fridays activists. Mom and dad walk somewhere in the middle with her two sisters and whichever other family members and friends they’ve been able to corral. We find each other at the end to hug and check in. But when we look around, we don’t see other families doing the same. In fact, we see very few parents at all. We look at all the passionate New York City high school students striking for a liveable future and ask ourselves, where are their parents? Their grandparents? Where are their teachers, their coaches, all the adults who love them?
Young people are on the front lines of the climate crisis and also at the forefront of the climate movement. As we know in our household, the world of youth climate activism is non-stop. There’s always a call to join or an action to attend. It’s a big time commitment and can be emotionally draining. For many young people, it can also be isolating when their parents don’t understand why they’re spending their evenings and weekends organizing climate strikes instead of getting a job or joining a school club. Without the support and understanding of their families, some of these kids get burnt out. Or they turn to more typical extracurriculars that look good on a college application.
In our house, climate activism connects us. Our shared commitment strengthens our sense of purpose. It also gives us so much to talk and even laugh about, and has become an everyday part of our family life. Our apartment is littered with the paraphernalia of activism: cardboard signs, t-shirts and buttons, banners and flyers, a bullhorn in the entryway. The teenagers from Friday for Future from different high schools around the city come by the apartment to hang out and eat snacks and watch bad TV after protests. They play with the youngest climate activist in our family, 5 year old Margaret, who knows them by name. Often we discuss activism at the dinner table; we also joke about the endless Zoom meetings that climate organizers seem to love, and laugh about how Margaret loves to interrupt them. We smile when Margaret asks Helen if she is “going to do climate?” every time she leaves the house.
Kids and teenagers are showing tremendous leadership facing the climate crisis. Frontline and Indigenous youth are leading fights against pipelines and drilling sites. Greta Thunberg sat outside the Swedish parliament each Friday and youth around the world followed suit, starting a global movement. Young people in Montana recently won a landmark climate case against the state government. Young people have founded lasting organizations like Sunrise Movement, Youth vs. Apocalypse, Zero Hour, Fridays for Future, Treeage and more. Teenagers around the world continue to organize protests that mobilize thousands of young people. They need and deserve support. They need parents and caregivers to show up, not just at their sporting events and graduations, but also in this critical moment for their futures and the future of humanity.
We know that not all families have the resources or ability to devote significant amounts of time to climate activism. Parents juggling jobs and finances and children are very often just trying to make it through the day. But we also know that the burden of saving the world should not fall primarily on kids’ shoulders. It is simply wrong to stand by and leave the hard work of organizing and resistance to youth when they have done the least of any generation to cause the crisis.
And many parents and caregivers currently on the sidelines do have the resources to do more. There are a wide range of ways to get involved in the climate movement from joining one of the hundreds of organizations sponsoring the march to end fossil fuels to taking small actions from home. In our family’s experience, joining the climate movement is as simple as showing up, and being part of an activist community is hopeful and empowering. People of all ages are needed to build the political and societal momentum for rapid and meaningful progress.
After a summer of record-breaking climate disasters, the March to End Fossil Fuels could not be more urgent. On September 17, we’ll join thousands of people to call on President Biden to end fossil fuel expansion and declare a Climate Emergency. This time, we hope to see not just young people, but also, parents, grandparents, educators and all adults who care out on the streets, demanding a liveable future for all.
The climate future is uncertain and scary for all of us, but especially for young people. The best reassurance families can give their kids is to show up with them and fight for the future.
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