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Washington, DC – Moms Clean Air Force, EcoMadres, and nearly two dozen partners sent a letter today to the United States Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, urging him to acknowledge the impact of climate change on parents’ mental health. The letter responds to the recent publication of the Surgeon General’s Parents Under Pressure report, which outlines the many stressors of modern parenting, but does not include a mention of climate change or extreme weather.
“For many parents, the challenges of everyday caregiving can be overwhelming – and I’m grateful to the Surgeon General for calling attention to this in the recent Parents Under Pressure report,” says Moms Clean Air Force Senior Policy Analyst Elizabeth Bechard. “But as the devastation of hurricanes Helene and Milton has made clear, parenting in a time of escalating weather extremes is and will continue to be harder. It’s essential that a policy response to the parental mental health crisis be grounded in climate reality.”
The letter identifies climate change as a threat multiplier that will continue to exacerbate many of the financial, social, and emotional challenges that parents are already facing, while also adding new ones. Moms and partners are therefore asking the Surgeon General to acknowledge the impact of climate change on parents’ mental health in future communications and reports to the public, and to consider adding a climate-focused addendum to Parents Under Pressure.
READ THE FULL LETTER AND LIST OF SIGNATORIES HERE.
Learn more about climate and mental health HERE.