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- [00:02]
Emily Gracie
Last week, we talked about how to have difficult and honest conversations with your kids about climate change. Today we're continuing our Science Moms discussion, but with a call to action. Now that your child understands what's happening to our planet, they may want to know if there's anything they can do to make a difference. You as a parent might also be wondering, is there a way my kids and I can get involved together? Can I raise an engaged and civic minded child who wants to save the world? And the good news is today's episode is a resounding yes to all of the above. No matter what the age of your child may be, there are ways to inspire them to make a difference. Climate change solutions aren't an easy one, size fits all answer. It's going to require a whole generation of people committed to making the world a better place. Fortunately, a lot of kids naturally want the world to be better. Today we're going off the radar with three moms making a difference in their communities and homes. We'll be talking with Lindsey, a middle school science teacher and single mother of two. She'll tell us how she approaches the subject in the classroom and at home with her own kids. We'll also be chatting with Tracy and her son, Scout. Tracy's an author and conservation journalist whose passion for raising outdoor kids led to some firsthand exposure, exposure to the destructive powers of drought and wildfire, and helped inspire Scout to follow in his mother's footsteps.
- [01:29]
Lindsey
This earth and what we're surrounded by has become more precious as it becomes more threatened and we have to embrace it.
- [01:39]
Emily Gracie
And finally, we'll hear from Kate, a lifelong climate activist in Charleston, South Carolina. Kate and her 17 year old son Noah have witnessed the rising sea levels impacting their hometown. Now Noah has taken a cue from his mother and recently stood up at his local county council meeting where he pushed politicians to adopt Charleston's climate action plan.
- [01:58]
Tracy
I think sometimes we're in that place of like, we want to protect our kids from things that might feel sort of scary, but they're going to find that information somewhere. I think it's really important as parents that we give them the correct information.
- [02:12]
Emily Gracie
If you spend time online, the climate crisis can easily feel hopeless and disempowering. But all of our guests today will remind you to hold on to hope. They're optimistic, empowered, and they're raising kids to approach climate change with that same enthusiasm. And most importantly, they want you to know that you can do the same.
- [02:32]
Scout
Have a lens of hope kids are. They're able to think about things in different ways, opposed to adults that are stuck in a pattern and kids can create new patterns for us.
- [02:44]
Emily Gracie
I'm meteorologist Emily Gracey, and you're listening to off the Radar, a production of the National Weather Desk. On the show, we dig deep into topics about weather, climate, the oceans, space, and much more. Our goal is to help you better understand the weather and to love it as much as we do. Hey prime members, have you heard? You can listen to your favorite podcasts ad free. Good news. With Amazon Music, you have access to the largest catalog of ad free top podcasts included with your prime membership. To start listening, download the Amazon Music app for free or go to Amazon.com adfreepodcast that's Amazon.com adfreepodcast to catch up on the latest episodes without the ads.
- [03:27]
Kate
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- [04:06]
Emily Gracie
Hi Lindsey.
- [04:07]
Scout
Hey, Emily.
- [04:09]
Emily Gracie
I'm so happy to have you on today.
- [04:11]
Scout
Thanks for having me, a fellow science.
- [04:14]
Emily Gracie
Mom, and you know, my roller skating buddy and Ride or Die when it comes to just friendship and parenthood. So I'm thrilled to have you on the show and to talk to you a little bit about work stuff because we do a lot more than raise our kids. We have these whole lives, too. And you have a really cool story, so I want to talk to you about that and tell everybody else about it. So you're obviously fellow mom, but also a scientist. When you and I first met, you were like in the aquarium world, right?
- [04:44]
Scout
That's right. I was. I was developing programs for the aquarium, helping them make programs for their online, online program curriculum and for their school programs.
- [04:57]
Emily Gracie
And your undergraduate work was in what, physical geography. And then. And then you went back to school and now you're in the educational world. So when you went back to school, what were you learning then?
- [05:10]
Scout
I was learning how to apply the science that I learned in my undergraduate degree to kids. So went Back and got certified in teaching science. I can teach K through 12 and have since gone back and got my master's degree in science education to help guide kids to think about science in real life ways and inquire more about the natural world.
- [05:38]
Emily Gracie
So obviously climate change is a part of that. And I'm curious in your because you were in graduate school rather recently, was that a part of the curriculum and then is that part of your curriculum when you teach kids now?
- [05:53]
Scout
Yes. Yeah. You came as a guest speaker, do you remember that?
- [05:56]
Emily Gracie
Yeah, I do.
- [05:59]
Scout
So my sixth grade class, they study weather and climate and their final project that they show their parents and work a good, a good portion of the trimester on a good maybe four weeks is about climate change. They focus primarily on the flooding that is here in Charleston since that's so applicable in real life situations and their that they see on a daily basis. But instead of focusing on like the doomsy part of climate change, I have the kids understand how the climate is changing due to carbon emissions human induced and then they are given the challenge to come up with solutions. So rather than focusing on how much damage we've done, I want them to think on a more proactive way and actually think about ways that they can make a difference and lifestyle changes that they can make and just think about the future and a new lens in which the climate is changing, but they can make a difference.
- [07:11]
Emily Gracie
Did you ever feel unsure teaching this to kids? Where does your knowledge of climate change come from? And did you ever. Were you ever unsure of that knowledge?
- [07:21]
Scout
I've been a teacher for a really long time, but yeah, I mean there's some topics that you kind of have to. When you're first starting out as a teacher, you're a little bit hesitant on talking about certain topics that could be seemed political or to sway someone's beliefs like theory of evolution and the big bang. I mean climate change was up there a while ago. I feel now it's not as political as it used to be. Where it is a science based there's enough evidence to show kids what humans are doing is impacting the amount of greenhouse gases. And because in my class they understand how the greenhouse effect works, they're able to apply that and understand how more carbon emissions is making the climate change.
- [08:21]
Emily Gracie
Do you ever hear stories of them teaching their parents about climate change?
- [08:26]
Scout
Yes. Yeah. A lot of conversations come out of our discussions at school. That's the goal as a teacher.
- [08:35]
Emily Gracie
But okay, so you're doing this all as a teacher, but then you come home and you have these two amazing kids at home. How do you talk to them about climate change? And does the weight of it ever.
- [08:45]
Scout
Get to you again? I feel like just understanding that, understanding the science about it allows adults and children to think about ways that they can make an impact in reducing the amount of carbon that's released, even just the amount of plastic that they use, which is obviously a, you know, petroleum based product. I don't like to ever make it doomsy. It's not, I, I don't, that's not the lens in which I take. It's more of. There's a lot of problems in the world and I don't ever want to make my kids afraid, but I do want them to know that they have the ability to make a difference and that knowledge is power and being ignorant to a problem is not going to help the world in any way.
- [09:36]
Emily Gracie
Do you ever witness anything with your own kids or with the kids at school that gives you a lot of hope about the future and their future?
- [09:44]
Scout
Yes. Yeah. No, we're going to be okay. We're going to be okay.
- [09:53]
Emily Gracie
Keep saying it, Keep saying it.
- [09:55]
Scout
Lindsay.
- [09:55]
Tracy
Here we are.
- [09:56]
Scout
Comfort Ziggura. No, we'll be okay. No, kids are really, especially this generation. I think that another part about climate change and the kids that I teach and my own children is that they've grown up in this environment where it is so easy to be an influencer in a way that you and I didn't have. Right. And so the activism part and just knowing that there's different platforms in which you can reach an audience gives kids more, maybe autonomy in just being part of a solution, even at a younger age. Like I, they, I, I play that Greta Thunberg TED Talk before my students make their own TED talks about climate change solutions just to show that you can make a difference at any age. Your son, too. Just seeing our kids together where they are, they're always thinking and inquiring and wanting to know more and have a, have a lens of hope. Kids are, they're able to think about things in different ways, opposed to adults that are stuck in a pattern. And kids can create new patterns for us.
- [11:17]
Emily Gracie
Next up, I'm talking to Tracy Ross and her son, Scout. Tracy's a journalist that writes about climate change, and now her son, a recent college grad, is hoping to follow the same path. Tracy talks about how where she lives has made a huge difference in how she lives.
- [11:35]
Lindsey
We live north of Boulder, Colorado, in the Roosevelt National Forest. We live on a few acres that Borders National Forest land. And we have a small house and a big outdoors.
- [11:48]
Emily Gracie
And this is where you grew up, Scout?
- [11:49]
Noah
I grew up playing in the woods out here and riding my bike and skiing and running a lot and walking dogs and doing firewood and chores for my dad and hanging out with my sister and brother. It's been a good time. I'm a lucky guy.
- [12:05]
Emily Gracie
Can I ask how old you are, Scout?
- [12:07]
Noah
I'm 23 years old.
- [12:09]
Emily Gracie
Tracy, what do you do for a living?
- [12:11]
Lindsey
I am a journalist. I've been in magazines for a really long time. I was the editor of Skiing and Backpacker and was a correspondent for Outside magazine for a long time. I wrote a book called the Source of All Things, and now I work for the Colorado Sun. I'm the rural economic development reporter.
- [12:30]
Emily Gracie
Scout, in your childhood, do you have memories of seeing signs of climate change or witnessing things in your region that made you think about nature and what was happening?
- [12:44]
Noah
Oh, absolutely. So, as I said, I grew up skiing very luckily, which was awesome. But as a skier who that was kind of all you did in the winter and all you thought about in the summer. In the off season, you really had to think about snow a lot. So, you know, there were a lot of years growing up. I can remember a couple Christmases where my parents would go on, like, mountain bike rides because there would be no snow here. But then there would be times, like in 2022, around the same time, where that crazy polar just cold snap came through, and it was, like, negative 15 degrees up here. And, you know, we had to work super hard to keep the house warm and keep the pipes unfrozen stuff. And that was always really just weird because it was never super consistent. It was never, like, snowy and cold. It was, like, either way too warm or insanely cold like that. And then the summers, depending on, you know, how much snow we got during the winter or, you know, how much precipitation we were getting during the summertime. You know, there would be wildfires. Right. And thankfully, we've only been. Or I was only here when we were evacuated one time, and that was for a couple days, and it was super hot and super dry. And this. I forget which fire was that.
- [14:13]
Lindsey
Cold Springs.
- [14:14]
Noah
Yeah, the Cold Springs fire came, and, like, we had to get evacuated from here because it was getting too close. So definitely there were signs growing up, and they became more frequent as I got older of rapid warming and changing climate here in Colorado.
- [14:34]
Emily Gracie
Tracy, do you remember your children asking questions about what was happening? And do you remember how you answered and how you spoke to them about this.
- [14:42]
Lindsey
So this is kind of what's interesting for me is I have Scout and his brother Hatcher, Scouts, 23, as he said, Hatcher's 22. And then I have Hollis, who just turned 13. So there's this huge gap between them, you know, this 10 year gap. And in that 10 years, climate acceleration, you know, happened. And also that was the advent of like forward facing cell phones. And so the technology thing happened at the same time. And I look at these things as weaving together very tightly and I can think of a couple of examples. So Scout, all my kids are smart. All kids are great and smart. These guys are really smart. And Hatcher specifically, he's been a news junkie from the time he was, I swear, in like fifth grade. You know, he would hear about a. He would hear about shooting, you know, a mass shooting before me and come out and tell me about it. And it was very, very alarming. And so the same thing kind of went with climate. It's like these guys knew what was happening in a way that I didn't even know because I wasn't paying close enough attention to it. And they were, and they wouldn't ask me, you know, specifically like, mom, what's happening? The world's going to burn up. It was like, it was like, there's something scary out there. It's called climate change. I know it's happening. It sounds like it's going to happen to me one day. What can we. How can we live our life in a way that, that will keep us safe was their question. Because, you know, they're thinking about themselves. So, you know, we would, and then we would have those conversations. And I've never been really intense about it, although I am a really intense person, you know, so I had to watch myself from being too doomsday about things and just, you know, we tried to do the most basic things and, you know, recycle a little bit of activism here and there. I took Hatcher to the Women's March in Washington and, and we went to the inauguration and his platform was kind of climate. When he was 14, that's what he marched for. It was really amazing, actually. And Scout and I have traveled around to different places reporting and doing stories as well. But to talk to little kids, it's like for us specifically, it's all about embracing nature and enjoying nature so that we know what we're fighting for when the time comes. So. And we're very lucky because we live in a place where we can do that every Single day Scout.
- [17:26]
Emily Gracie
You're an adult now. What do you do?
- [17:29]
Noah
Well, I just graduated from Fort Lewis College, which is in Durango, Colorado. It was super rad. You know, I felt like I had a great education and also was lucky enough to spend a lot of time in the outdoors. Um, and now I am semi employed before I go and move to Truckee, California for the winter to be a big mountain ski coach. And I'm going to apply to a couple journalism fellowships and keep freelancing along the way.
- [18:04]
Emily Gracie
What are your goals for the future?
- [18:06]
Noah
I think it would be to land in a publication that, you know, allows me to write for more like long form storytelling that it really let me delve into like a really nuanced issue like climate change in a specific region or how, you know, politics are affecting climate policy, that kind of thing. Like, I really am into that, those fears, those spheres. And I'm really interested in like helping spread the word there, using journalism as a tool to do that and then personally, not professionally. I want to live in a place similar to here, you know, where you're immersed in nature. You know, I'm lucky because I have learned a lot of skills that would let me thrive here and, you know, maybe one day raise a family, depending on where the, the world is at that point. Kids are really a toss up because of climate and whether or not we can get a hold on it and of course the economy and stuff, but mostly climate change. So we'll see there. But definitely to live in a place like this and to live as low impact as possible, eating food that's local and seasonal and living in a small house below my means kind of just enjoying a simple existence out in the woods while working and riding, I don't know, stuff like that. And hopefully skiing for as long as I can walk.
- [19:47]
Emily Gracie
Tracy, I'm curious how, if you have any advice as far as how do you keep your children hopeful about the future rather than scared about what's to come.
- [20:01]
Lindsey
See this. I feel a little sheepish answering this question because we do have the outdoors, you know, and we, we go on extended raft trips where we are completely cut off from the world. And those are always, you know, whether I'm telling my kids to look forward to one of those or not. I know that we have that to look forward to, but I, I guess what I tell them is again, not profound at all. It's like, be in the moment as much as you can. Look around, see the beauty around you, because we don't know how long we're going to have it. And that's a hard thing to say to a 12 year old. That's completely different than talking to a 23 year old about it. But I think that's the general idea is the this earth and what we're surrounded by has become more precious as it becomes more threatened. And we have to embrace it. Even if that means going to a park five minutes from your house with your child and laying in the grass or going out at night and stargazing. If you could see the stars where you live and trying to sort of evoke or find that feeling of awe and having them tap into that and saying, this is out there for you and it will always be there for you in some form or another. But let's cherish what we have right this minute because we don't know how long we're going to have it.
- [21:36]
Emily Gracie
I want to finish today with the story of Kate Counts and her son, Noah. For Noah, climate change is not a future problem. It's something he sees and deals with every day as the water is rising around his home. He recently took his concerns to a county council meeting in his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, while his proud mother watched and recorded.
- [21:59]
Tracy Ross
And so I'm here to voice my support for the climate action plan, even though I know that y'all already voiced that last week at the Finance committee. And I applaud y'all for that.
- [22:08]
Emily Gracie
Kate, how old is your son?
- [22:11]
Tracy
My son Noah is 17 years old.
- [22:14]
Emily Gracie
And Noah recently went up to the County Council and made a plea.
- [22:21]
Tracy
Yeah, our county Council has been in the process of thinking about approving what they are calling the cap plan, which is a climate action plan for our county. NOAA went to the council basically plea for them to pass this plan and also to trust the people that put the plan together, which was a many, many different organizations here in our city of Charleston, the county of Charleston, that they put together about where we want to head as a county in the next 10 years.
- [22:58]
Tracy Ross
Charleston is a city that's grown, whether we like it or not. And this has provided the framework for us to grow in a sustainable and resilient way. Resiliency that we're going to need. Because whether you like or not, whatever we do in the next 10 years, climate change is still going to have some pretty awful effects.
- [23:14]
Emily Gracie
Was he nervous?
- [23:15]
Tracy
He was super nervous. And I sat down next to him and his legs were shaking. And at one point I put my hand onto his leg and I just said, take a deep breath. And I want to remind you that these county council members work for us. And it is really important that they hear your voice because you are a very, very critical part of our community. And you're going to be in this community hopefully way longer than I am going to be.
- [23:42]
Tracy Ross
And we got to be ready for that.
- [23:44]
Emily Gracie
All right?
- [23:45]
Tracy Ross
We can't just sit here and keep ignoring it. So we got to do something about it. We need to make Charleston an example of what the city can do. To call that correct, Hitch, not an example of what not to do.
- [23:58]
Emily Gracie
How did Noah get to this point where he's a climate activist? How is a 17 year old getting up in front of a group of adults and speaking on climate change? What did you do in his childhood, Kate?
- [24:11]
Tracy
He, from a very early age, we were constantly putting books into his hands. And of course he likes fiction, but he also really, really likes nonfiction as well. And he has this. This, like, thirst for knowledge around facts and science. And he's a big fact checker. And then also, unfortunately, we live near the coast and he has witnessed firsthand through his lived experience of the effects of climate change on our home. Our home floods even now when we have king tides. And so he has watched his. He's watched me and his father struggle to basically save our home. And we were very honest about why the waters were rising and talking to him that it was an effect of climate change and that it is affected by the choices that we make personally and also the choices and policies made by our legislators.
- [25:12]
Emily Gracie
Where do you suggest moms start? Where do you suggest parents when it comes to raising somebody to be climate conscious?
- [25:19]
Tracy
I think it's just being honest about, especially if you live in a city or live in a place in our country where we are seeing the effects and sometimes we'll hear people. I heard it this summer. Oh, it's hotter than it's ever been. Explain why it's hotter than it has ever been or why the water is rising more. And I think sometimes we're in that place of like, we want to protect our kids from things that might feel sort of scary, but they're gonna find that information somewhere. In this day and age with so much misinformation, I think it's really important as parents that we give them the correct information. Like Noah says he said when he spoke at the council, trust the experts.
- [26:02]
Tracy Ross
I really, really voice that if y'all have any doubts remaining in your heads, trust the experts. There are good people who have put so much work and so much time, so many organizations who dedicated their all to making this planet as good as it can possibly be.
- [26:20]
Tracy
And so giving him that information, I think really just empowered him to talk to other people, but to also talk to his peers about the science behind it. So just being honest with your kids and then really just like installing that appreciation for the earth, I think that is the foundation and the cornerstone of building a climate aware child.
- [26:49]
Emily Gracie
And you now are still leading efforts to bring people to the front lines, right?
- [26:55]
Tracy
Yes, here nationally, actually, my co founder Sarah Nelson and I have started an organization that's called Meet Us on the Front Lines and that is for adults that come together with a shared value and that could be around climate action, that could be around racial equity, that could be around reproductive justice. All these things are intertwined and we are building a cohort to help people bridge the gap between I care about this and then actually how to create action around what we care about in our communities. And so small sustainable actions. Because sometimes it can be overwhelming, like Noah sometimes gets so overwhelmed about climate change. It is overwhelming. And some of the people that I work with and meet us on the front lines, they get overwhelmed. And I say instead of looking at it as such a big thing to fix, go back to little small actions that you can take. And oddly enough, when Noah went to go speak at the county council, there was six other women with me, mothers. Majority of the mothers went to the county council meeting and they were too nervous to go speak in front of the county council. And here's the 17 year old that went and was leading by example to go speak in front of the county council. And I was like, that is that small little action that really, really has a makes a big impact.
- [28:29]
Emily Gracie
Off the Radar is a production of the National Weather Desk. Make sure you're following the show on Apple Podcast, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes publish every Tuesday. Make sure you rate and review us on those podcast platforms as well. You can also now listen to the show on YouTube. Just search the National Weather Desk and you'll find it under the podcast tab. This was part two in the Science mom series, so if you missed part one, make sure you go back and listen to that one too. Also, please share this episode with someone and start a conversation or even a movement. Thank you to Lindsey, Tracy, Kate and their amazing kids for sharing their stories today. Also thank you to Brian Petrus for all of his help on this entire series. For the National Weather Desk, I'm meteorologist Emily Gracie. Make it a great day.