A Letter to My Sons About Climate Change

Dear Soren and Emerson,

I am writing you this letter in 2024, but presumably you are reading it many years later, if for no other reason than neither of you can read right now since you’re 3 and 5 years old, respectively. I asked you to open this letter when you found yourselves angry or sad or despondent about the current state of the Earth. At the time of writing, the planet has already changed a lot. We no longer have reliably warm or cold, wet or dry seasons. The first climate refugees have already started moving from their homes; people in Pakistan, Tuvalu, and right here in the United States, in coastal Louisiana are relocating as natural disasters, droughts, and sea level rise threaten their livelihoods, homes, food supplies, and lives.

When you read this, I wonder what the world will be like. Where will you live? Were your decisions influenced by climate change? Dad is from Michigan, did you move there to be close to family and away from the coastline? Are you going to have children, or, more importantly, give us grandchildren, or have you chosen not to bear children, because you don’t want to bring more people into a planet that’s becoming uninhabitable for humans? I know several people who have chosen not to have children because of climate change, I wouldn’t be surprised if one or both of you made the same choice. You grew up learning about animals such as the polar bear, the monarch butterfly, and the northern white rhino. Are those species still alive or have they gone extinct with the other millions of species that have died off? I had the wonderful opportunity to snorkel in beautiful places like Belize, Thailand, and Mexico.

What are the coral reefs like these days? Are any of them still vibrant and colorful or have they all been bleached because of ocean acidification?

I asked you to open this letter only if you were mad or sad about the condition of the Earth, so presumably you’re feeling pretty awful right now, since you’re reading this message. First of all, as your mom, I wanted to say, “I’m sorry.” None of the generations that came before you did enough; dad and I, our friends and community members, we all could have done more. But to be honest, we are comfortable, just as you like being comfortable, so do we. It’s hard to change habits and behaviors when nobody is forcing you and when it may cause discomfort, inconvenience, or cost more money. These aren’t excuses, just hard and shameful truths.

I also want you to give you a little context and explain what Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and even Gen Z have done to fight climate change. I know you’re angry, and it might not seem like enough, but millions of people around the world have committed themselves to the task of protecting the earth. I am currently one of the pastors at Naples United Church of Christ, the incredible church where we raised you. I was also raised in a wonderful church, the one you know as ‘Grandma Kim’s Church,’ Lakewood United Church of Christ. Just as dad and I, and your four grandparents, love you in a way that defies description, the people of these churches, they love their families just as much. I hear stories about their children and grandchildren, their nieces and nephews, their jobs, where they go to school, where they go on vacation, who just had a baby, who got a great internship. They love their families beyond measure.

I tell you this because just as we have spent our lives trying to make choices which protect the Earth, for your sake, so have they. Many of the people we know in the church and beyond drive hybrid and electric cars, recycle, turn their thermostats up when they aren’t home, put solar panels on their homes, landscape with plants that are native to Florida, use reusable bags, and conserve water. They also donate money to environmental organizations which are working to protect the Earth, they call and write emails to their representatives, they show up at city council meetings and county commissioner meetings.

They worry too. They’re afraid too. We all are. Please don’t think that in 2024 everyone was blissfully unaware or willfully ignoring the facts in front of us, we aren’t.

I told you about two churches that I love, but there are people of faith in churches all around the world who are committed to following Christ through helping to care for the planet. The people in those churches have children and grandchildren, and we’re all worried, that’s why we are all doing what we can to save the planet for you and your generation, and those who will come after you.

Some of the grownups in 2024 have lived through Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy. We’ve repaired our homes and replaced our cars which were destroyed by natural disasters. We have coughed and wheezed and felt our eyes water because of red tide, we’ve seen our favorite restaurants and businesses affected by hurricanes. But we’ve also seen the world come together. People alive today remember rationing during WWII so the soldiers could have the supplies they needed to fight fascism. We harnessed the knowledge of the most brilliant scientists, and we huddled around our TV’s as we witnessed the first people set foot on the moon. We watched in horror as the planes hit the twin towers on 9/11; we grieved, and we loved, and we helped, and we came together in the aftermath of that horrific tragedy. We stayed home to protect each other from the Coronavirus in 2020.

I’ve been around a little longer than you have, which means I have seen more of what humanity is capable of, and I just want to remind you that if the human species specializes in one thing, it’s taking on the impossible. We are constitutionally equipped to address climate change. We have already made some good progress; you’ll remember that I was born in Cleveland. The Cuyahoga River used to be terribly polluted and was known for catching fire. It has been cleaned up through the efforts of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), Cleveland’s city government, and partners along the river. The river has become cleaner than it’s been in 150 years, with more than 60 fish species thriving in the water. There was a huge hole in the Ozone layer, and after a successful international agreement, it’s almost completely repaired.

When humanity comes together, we can do great things, so don’t give up hope.

Your dad and I raised you in the church, so remember that however grim things may seem, your current reality cannot undermine the hope that God offers us. The wise saint Oscar Romero once said, “There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.” So, cry, yell, be angry, be sad, grieve, feel all the feelings, but never give up hope. Our hope comes from God, who loves us and loves this Earth that God entrusted to our care.

Remember that fear is not what motivates us to work for change, love does. Love is the most powerful motivator- love of God, nature, beauty, children, love of the impossible way in which this planet provides all living things with everything we need to flourish. When we allow ourselves to love creation in these and other ways, and when we allow ourselves to face the extent to which humanity has threatened all that we love, we find the courage to respond to the crisis at hand.

Dad and I knew when we were choosing to have children that we’d probably be leaving you a planet worse off than the one we were born into, and we truly wrestled with the ethical implications of having children at all. But we also knew that if we had children, we were going to do everything we could to instill in you, a deep love and respect for the Earth; two people who would be taught that they had the power and the responsibility help protect it. We figured that since more people were being born into the world anyway, we might as well have kids whom we’d raise to be forces for good.

So, my dear sons, find what you love about creation, and work to protect it. If you need help remembering what you love, Soren, you love sharks, so maybe you can help protect the oceans, and Emerson, you love birds, you’re always pointing to the birds in the sky, maybe you can help protect them. You can’t do it all, but you can trust that others are working to protect other parts of the planet. You can also get engaged with politics, an effective way to protect the Earth is through policy change. We have taught you how to reach out to your representatives. Your elected officials matter, so help work to elect people who want to protect the world- or you can run for office! Your dad loves working on political campaigns, he can help you. Once you win, fight for the planet like your lives depend on it.

Here in 2024, a young woman named Greta Thunberg inspired a whole generation of young people to fight climate change and to hold adults accountable. She’s spoken to gatherings of the most powerful people in the world, even the General Assembly of the United Nations.  Another group of youth, 169 of them, including some kids from UCC churches, sued the government saying they had violated their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, as well as failed to protect essential public trust resources. Don’t ever think that you’re too young or too inexperienced or too busy to make a difference. The truth is that nobody has time to address to climate change. Dad and I are busy with our jobs and raising the two of you; middle-aged people are busy at the height of their careers and launching their kids into college, retirees may not have the energy or the resources. Everyone has an excuse, and yet everyone is faced with grave choices. We all live on this planet, and we all rely on the food, the water, the air that it provides. We all want beautiful places to recreate, and we want the animals and plants to thrive.

Do what you can, carve out the time you can, in your daily decisions, make the Earth-friendly choices that you can, and don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Remember, a little bit better is better than no progress at all.

You may be angry at the generations who came before you, and rightfully so, but we didn’t do nothing. We are trying, and we are committed to doing better because we know that our legacy matters. As people born in the 20^th century, we care about the world we are leaving you, our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. We want you to inherit a better world than the one into which we were born, and hopefully, in many ways, it will be better, more peaceful, and more prosperous; but the environment will probably be in worse shape. Each generation is a steward of the Earth while they’re alive.  Your dad and I could shake our fists at those who came before us, but it wouldn’t do any good. Instead, we’re focused on what we can do, because we want the Earth to be safe for you and your generation. We love you both very much, and we expect you to do what you can for those who will come after you.

Love,

Mom

Rev. Angela Wells-Bean is the Minister for Congregational Care at Naples UCC.