Dear Mr. Prime Minister, and all those it may concern,
This is the 21st a string of weekly letter’s I’ve sent you about the climate crisis. Wow! Has it really been that many? In any case, with COVID-19, we’ve seen a spike in the levels of anxiety in Canada. In this letter I’m going to tell you a little about climate anxiety, an anxiety that drives many activist including myself.
Imagine this: you’re doing a math quiz, you can’t figure out the answer and you wonder vaguely what actually would happen if you failed math. Would it really effect your future life? Then you start to think about that future life and then you start to think about the climate crisis. And suddenly this weight descends on your mind as you think about all the things won’t be able to do in a climate crisis future. Won’t be able to travel to Florida; it will be under water! Won’t be able to buy a house in certain places, because the likelihood of a flood or forest fire is too great! Won’t be able to have kids… And then you can’t think about math or do anything else because of the weight of those thoughts on your mind. So you might end up failing that math quiz. Maybe the math class.
I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that the situation above is not great, and something that you’d like to prevent. So what can be done about climate anxiety? We could send kids to therapy! But what could a therapist tell them? Most children’s (not all) climate anxiety comes from facts and is very rational. A therapist can’t tell the kids that the adults are dealing with this issue and it’s going to be ok when many leaders around the world deny the crisis and most others continue to delay radical action. So here’s another solution: we don’t tell kids about climate change. That way there isn’t a possibly for them to be scared. But that’s not an option, because children have a right to know this stuff. By concealing this information, you’re basically lying to them. Besides, who would protest in the streets and hold you to account for your inaction?
So I guess that only leaves one option… Stop Climate Change.
If you take the necessary steps to address this global catastrophe, adults can tell youth, “Look. We’re going to fix this. We’re going to be ok.” Youth can look at statistics showing how close we are to getting to net zero, and feel better. Youth can look to you, and your action and know that it’s going to be ok, and there is no need to be frightened. At the moment, we can’t. All we can look at is the statics about how this isn’t enough.
There you go. That’s why I write letters.. That’s why so many children protest on Fridays. We’re scared, and you should be too. So get anxious and carry the burden of fear so we children don’t have to.
I hope you are having a wonderful day!
Amelia Penney-Crocker