HuffPost’s new parent-child interview series Talk To Me examines the close and often complex relationships between parents and their kids, and encourages sons and daughters around the world to make time to interview their parents.
In the latest episode, fashion model (and TED Talk-er) Cameron Russell interviewed her mom Robin Chase, an author and successful transportation entrepreneur who co-founded Zipcar. Both are environmental advocates in their respective fields, and in time for Earth Day they discussed how the generational impacts of climate change have played into their thinking about starting families.
"A couple years ago," Cameron recalled to her mom, "you told me that you didn't think I should bring any children into the world because of climate change." Both laughed, and Chase admitted it was a "bad parenting moment."
But she lamented the fact that her kids have been forced to reckon with the burden of rising global temperatures.
"Many generations – and my generation – have put us in a position where the planet is totally unsustainable," Chase said. "When I chose to have children, I didn't think about...what's their life going to be like when they're 25?" But thanks to the climate crisis, that question looms over today's prospective parents. "I feel terrible putting that burden onto you."
Russell acknowledged the difficult road ahead but said she isn't dissuaded. "Lots of people have grown up looking at a future that is bleak and [filled with] insurmountable odds," she said. "I don't think that this is the first time that people have faced that. So just out of that, I don't want to … give up hope and I don't want to live that way."
We’d love for you to be part of Talk To Me, and have your own conversation with your child or parent featured on HuffPost. Creating a video is easy; see our guide to making one here, or watch a compilation of great #TalkToMe moments below.
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