A fifth grader asked me if I thought humans had already messed up the planet so much with climate change that we could never fix it. I thought for a moment, wondering how to respond. I decided to just tell the truth.
It depends, I said. Some things we could probably never get back to the way they were before, I told her. Some coral reefs were probably lost and would be difficult to regenerate because ocean temperatures have already risen and are likely to rise more with the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere. Some species have already gone extinct, and others would likely face the same fate. That’s the bad news, I said.
But the good news is that we still have time to turn most things around, if we act now. And we have the technical and policy solutions to address climate change. We just need the political will. So it really depends on you and me, and everyone else, I said.
It wasn’t a feel-good response, or a blanket yes or no statement. It was a challenge to a fifth grader to take charge of her future. And she took it with grace and maturity. This is a kid who on her own volition (perhaps inspired by others in her orbit) printed and distributed flyers promoting recycling and reduction of plastic consumption. She now had a challenge on a grander scale to step up and work to prevent the very thing she apparently feared. She would be in good company, given all the young people who are leading in ways that I could never have imagined at that age: the Sunrise movement; the kid plaintiffs in the Juliana v. United States litigation; the Fridays for Future school strikers. If she wants to get involved -- and I will encourage her to do so -- she will have a lot of fellow travelers.
It may not have been the best answer or the only answer, but I think it was a good one.
What do you think? Have you had similar conversations? What did you say? What reactions did you get? I’d love to hear from you.
Joe Murphy is an attorney, environmental policy analyst and filmmaker.