'Fear mongering': Internet split over resurfaced clip of Harris discussing ‘climate anxiety’ in youth

WASHINGTON, DC: A 2023 video of Vice President Kamala Harris resurfaced online where she claimed young people were undergoing "climate anxiety," forcing them to rethink their future regarding having children and buying a home due to the fear of the unknown.

Former president Donald Trump's elder son, Donald Trump Jr, shared the nearly-year-old video on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, July 27, with the caption, "Resurfaced video shows Kamala Harris suggesting that young people should not have children due to climate change."

The Democratic presumptive nominee made the comments to an audience at Reading Area Community College in Berks County, Pennsylvania, on September 19, 2023, during her national Fight for Our Freedoms college tour.

What did Kamala Harris say about 'climate anxiety' in resurfaced video?

Kamala Harris, who entered the 2024 presidential race a week ago after President Joe Biden suspended his re-election bid and endorsed her, had weighed in on the fight against the climate crisis. At the time, she noted the record young voter turnout for the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020 inspired the administration's student loan forgiveness plan, which the US Supreme Court recently blocked.

"We're not going to stop fighting for that. Because young people said, we're not leaving it to other people to decide how we're dealing with the climate crisis," Harris said in 2023, according to Fox News.

"You know, I've heard young leaders talk with me about a term they've coined, 'climate anxiety,'" she continued, defining the term as the "fear of the future and the unknown of whether it makes sense for you to even think about having children, whether it makes sense for you to think about aspiring to buy a home because what will this climate be?"

Donald Trump and Joe Biden's opposing views on climate crisis

Donald Trump and Joe Biden were poles apart regarding the climate crisis. While the 45th president dwelled on his belief climate change was a "hoax," the Biden administration made tackling the climate crisis one of the primary agenda.

For instance, the very first thing the 46th president did on his first day in office in January 2021 was to rejoin the Paris Agreement that his predecessor withdrew in 2017, claiming the accord was "very unfair at the highest level to the United States.

In addition, Biden committed to the cause in 2021, setting a new national goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to 52% from 2005 levels by 2030, as per the World Resources Institute.

On the other hand, a potential second term for Trump could jeopardize the octogenarian's climate change goals.

For example, Project 2025, a presidential transition plan launched by the Heritage Foundation if the real estate mogul wins in November, would prioritize reversing Biden's environmental agenda. It suggested an immediate flipping of the Democrat's "radical climate agenda" and "war on fossil fuels" and restoring the Trump-era policies along with revoking the Inflation Reduction Act, Clean Energy Corps, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.

Kamala Harris's 'climate anxiety' remarks in resurfaced video sparks online debate

Netizens were divided into two camps, responding to Kamala Harris's remark on "climate anxiety" among young people. While one group deemed it as "fear mongering," another group debated the significance of understanding the threats of the climate crisis.

"Fear mongering is what it is," a user argued. Whereas another wrote, "That’s not a lie. Young people are very anxious about this very issue."

"Kamala Harris blames 'climate anxiety' for young people not having kids or buying homes. But isn't it really about Biden's rising costs? We need real solutions, not fear-mongering," added a user.

While another response read, "She never called them childless cat ladies though. And climate change is a real threat."

"Deeply disturbing. Rooted in the climate change fear mongering is a post human, population control narrative which has done in a few interviews," someone else claimed.

On the other hand, an individual said, "Oh boy are we having trouble understanding again? Everyone who isn't in denial about global warming has had this debate. And then people who have made peace with that are choosing to not have kids cos you all destroyed the economy and they simply can't afford to have kids."

"This is how they control the masses: using Climate Change as a weapon to cause fear and despair about the future so that they can appear to be saviors by fighting it," read a remark.

While another user wrote, "Climate change is real. We just need to stop politicizing it."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.