Did Vice President Kamala Harris suggest that young people "should not have children due to climate change," as implied by a post on X? No, that's not true: In the clip, she described how "young leaders" define climate anxiety. She did not suggest that young people "should not have children."
A version of the claim appeared in a post on X on July 27, 2024, (archived here) published by Donald Trump Jr. The caption read:
🚨WATCH: Resurfaced video shows Kamala Harris suggesting that young people should not have children due to climate change
She calls climate anxiety 'the fear of the future and the unknown of whether it makes sense for you to even think about having children.'
Here is how the post appeared on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken Thu Aug 1 06:32:00 2024 UTC)
In the 15-second clip above, Harris said the following:
I've heard young leaders talk with me about a term they've coined called 'climate anxiety,' right? Which is fear of the future and the unknown, of whether it makes sense for you to even think about having children.
However, Harris did not suggest that young people should not have children due to climate change. Lead Stories found that she discussed the Biden administration's actions to address climate change and increase adaptation and resiliency.
Lead Stories did a Google keyword search (archived here) and determined that the clip was recorded during an event (archived here) at Reading Area Community College in Reading, Pennsylvania, on September 19, 2023. The talk was part of Harris' "Fight for Our Freedoms College Tour," a monthlong tour in 2023 the White House described (archived here) as involving the vice president mobilizing "young people in the ongoing fight for fundamental freedoms and rights."
The clip shown in the post on X was taken from a video (archived here) the White House shared to YouTube on September 19, 2023, titled "Vice President Harris Participates in a 'Fight for Our Freedoms' College Tour Moderated Conversation."
At the 8:04-mark of the video, Harris said:
Because young people said we're not leaving it to other people to decide how we're dealing with the climate crisis.
You know, I've heard young leaders talk with me about a term they've coined called 'climate anxiety,' right? Which is fear of the future and the unknown, of whether it makes sense for you even to think about having children, whether it makes sense for you to think about aspiring to buy a home because what will this climate be?
But because people voted, we have been able to put in place over a trillion dollars in investment in our country around things like climate resilience and adaptation. Around focusing on issues like environmental justice ...
Climate or eco-anxiety is a well-documented concern over mounting stress related to environmental changes caused by humans and climate. Though climate anxiety isn't a medical diagnosis, the Cleveland Clinic (archived here) notes that climate anxiety:
... is a fast-growing popular term used to describe a collection of symptoms triggered by long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns. Also known as 'eco-anxiety,' 'eco-guilt' and 'eco-grief,' climate anxiety is characterized by a chronic fear of environmental doom that's often paralyzing and debilitating, and it can sometimes be exacerbated by existing anxiety disorders.
Studies indicate that various populations, especially young people, have higher rates of climate anxiety (archived here). For instance, a global survey published in The Lancet (archived here) in 2021 reported that among more than 10,000 people between the ages of 16 and 25, about 60 percent described themselves as being worried about the climate.
Climate change has prompted some young adults to reconsider having children. Of those surveyed in the 2021 Lancet study, 35 percent of U.S. teens and young adults said they were hesitant to have children due to climate change. Similarly, a 2022 poll conducted by market research company Ipsos found (archived here) that nearly a quarter of U.S. adults between 18 and 45 say that they are reconsidering having biological children because of climate change.
Lead Stories has fact checked other rumors surrounding Harris, which can be read here.
At the time of this publication, Media Matters had also fact checked this claim.
