Climate change doesn’t care about our politics, but we all care about our children (Guest Opinion)
Mike Hoffmann is Professor Emeritus, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and faculty fellow with the Atkinson Center for Sustainability at Cornell University. He is lead author of “Our Changing Menu: Climate Change and the Foods We Love and Need.” Hoffmann lives in the Ithaca area.
In a cherished photograph, I stand proudly between my parents wearing my Marine Corps uniform. My mother is looking down, my father at the camera, but neither appear to be in the present — their thoughts … elsewhere. It is difficult to fathom what they are thinking as they send a son off to war. The Vietnam War death toll was over 40,000 U.S. servicemembers, including several thousand Marines. The rising death toll was daily news. Today, relatively few of us face the nightmare experienced by my parents.
But alas, our children now face a different, but an increasingly dangerous, threat. The safe and healthful world we wanted for them is slipping away fast and you don’t need to be a scientist to see it. Our climate is changing. Over 70% of Americans believe that global warming is happening—only 14% believe that it is not. Among Republicans who experienced severe weather, almost two-thirds indicate that climate change contributed to it a lot or a little. Over 90% of American’s who experienced unusually long stretches of hot weather indicate that climate change contributed to it. None of this is normal and should not be surprising since scientists have been predicting that our planet would warm for decades.
The consequences are dire for children, regardless of their parents’ political affiliation. They will experience more smoke-laden days because of increasing wildfires and a lifetime of extreme heat like never seen before. Scientists predict that there will be nearly two million excess deaths between the years 2026-2055 from wildfire smoke fine particulate matter. Texas, Pennsylvania and California will experience some of the highest increases in deaths. In as little as 20 years, deadly heat and humidity could lead to a mass migration from Republican-dominated Southern states to better climes in the North. In addition, this same region could experience serious declines in yields of major crops. In the Midwest, a mix of red and blue states, the $2 billion wheat crop is predicted to be hit by extreme heat every six years; it used to be every 100. Everyone’s food prices are on the rise in part because of climate change. Likewise, home insurance, if available, is getting much costlier. Climate change doesn’t care about politics. This is not the world we envisioned for our children and grandchildren.
The United States was leading the way to tackle this grand challenge with the largest investment in climate change solutions in history. But effective Jan. 20, 2025, that all changed profoundly. In a seemingly daily onslaught of regressive actions on climate change, the Trump administration is imperiling the future of our children, grandchildren and the many generations that follow.
President Donald Trump, his adherents in Congress and those leading federal agencies are making climate change denialism a federal policy and helping to ensure that climate change will only get worse for our children and theirs. Even before the election, 75% of those aged 16-25 in the US believed that their future was frightening because of climate change. Many expressed powerlessness, despair, sadness, anger, and doom. How do they feel now given the actions taken by the administration?
My parents could not protect me from what awaited me in a conflict over 8,000 miles away, but today, and despite the mounting challenges, we must help shape a better future for those who will inherit this planet from us.
We love our children and love is by far the most powerful motivator for action on climate change. Love for my children, who are in midlife, inspires me to press on whenever I waiver. Let’s tap these intense feelings and act — the antidote to despair.
Start by getting informed from a credible and easy to understand source such as United Nations Climate Action. A lot of it is common sense. Talk about climate change with your family, friends and neighbors. It’s one of the most important things we can do. Join up with others in the fight for the future of generations to come. Take the chance and try extending a hand across the political divide both ways, since Republicans and Democrats do agree that family and children give meaning in life.
Most importantly, let elected officials who are in the climate change denial camp, whether they are local or national, know how you feel about what lies ahead for your children. Remind them that nearly three quarters of Americans feel that they have a moral responsibility to address climate change for the sake of their children, grandchildren and future generations.
Make it personal. Ask them if they realize the effects their policy decisions are having on their own children and grandchildren. Remind them that scientists correctly predicted the multitude of obvious ways our climate is now changing and that their ability to predict what’s next is much better now. And let them know that climate change doesn’t care about politics.
Climate change is not a hoax and it is not partisan. It is blatantly obvious, has arrived with a vengeance, and will get worse if we fail to act. Raise your voices — scream — and support and join those who want to tackle climate change. Our children’s lives depend on it.