Bear No Children - Stolen Future, Broken Present: The Human Significance of Climate Change - page 158

way and continues to live this kind of life, the last thing to worry about
is how we'll do after we retire; at that rate, having kids will help destroy
our chances for a peaceful old age. These reflections apply as well to the
argument often cited in the United States that we need to raise children
so they can pay into Social Security and Medicare. But why would we
worry about one version of the future—the financial support for us after
we retire—if we will not trouble ourselves about another—the conse-
quences of climate change? It would be far more ethical for us to put the
interest of all humanity above our own, not have children, and save up
enough money over our working years to support ourselves in old age. If
we're truly self-interested, let's do the work ourselves. And if we're look-
ing for personal support as we age, we should build an active, loving com-
munity of friends and neighbors where we live.
Ecologically minded parents might insist that their kids will grow
up as good citizens of the Earth. hey will use less energy than others,
recycle carefully, and do all they can to support the environmental cause.
All that may be true, but even responsible adults in the United States still
cause more damage to the climate than nearly anyone elsewhere in the
world, far more than the biosphere can sustain. Even when we are doing
our best, we do very badly indeed. Adding more people to the equa-
tion won't help.
But these parents have one more idea. What if one of their kids turns
out to be a genius who comes up with the technological invention that
will save the world? But this rationale falls apart almost immediately.
The very notion that we should wait for such an invention is part of the
problem in the first place; it encourages us to keep going with business as
usual while engineers come up with clever schemes to get us out of our
dilemma. That plan will get us nowhere fast. Moreover, any child born in
2015 won't be ready to reveal her invention until, say, 2040—far too late
to prevent serious harm to the planet.
Some potential parents might ask whether it would be ethical not
to reproduce but to adopt children. Wouldn't it be fine to raise chil-
dren that others brought into the world? Judging by basic principles,
it might be. But because American couples are increasingly adopting
children from around the world, where the average carbon footprint is
relatively small, in effect they are greatly increasing the lifetime impact