How can children learn the truth about climate change when many of them arrive in classrooms already carrying misinformation, anxiety, and a mental image of a polar bear stranded on an iceberg?

On this episode of Four Generations Talk Climate, host Dan Delurey (Boomer) is joined by Jono Anzalone (Gen X), Managing Director at Yale Program on Climate Change Communication; Suzie Hicks (Millennial), climate educator and media producer AKA “Suzie Hicks the Climate Chick”; and Hannah Testa (Gen Z), longtime climate advocate and Yale graduate student.

Together, they explore what climate education actually looks like for kids today, and why the classroom is only one part of the equation.

The conversation ranges from kindergarten climate lessons and misinformation on social media to the challenges teachers face when they don’t feel prepared to cover the subject. It also explores climate narratives in children’s media, AI, industry-funded messaging and the surprisingly powerful influence kids can have on their parents.

Ultimately, the group asks how climate can become less of a political or cultural flashpoint and more of an ordinary part of how we understand the world around us.

Timestamps

00:00 Meet this episode’s four generations

05:50 What are kids actually learning about climate change?

07:40 Teaching climate without telling kids the world is ending

10:25 Why climate education needs to be everywhere

13:50 Can kids change how their parents think?

17:00 Climate communication meets the AI dilemma

23:55 Misinformation has been in classrooms for generations

25:10 What climate education mandates need to get right

28:20 Climate, culture wars and finding common ground

31:55 How do we make climate part of everyday life?

Quotes

“A lot of the stuff that I do with kids is I have to be like, ‘No, the world isn’t ending. No, we’re not all going to die.’ First of all, where did you hear that?” – Suzie Hicks

“I think one of the most hopeful signs is there’s great empirically backed evidence that when kids talk to a parent, an elder, fill in the blank about something, it changes the adults’ attitudes, beliefs and behaviors.” – Jono Anzalone

“We’ve been trying to unravel that narrative since then, that it’s not something happening super far away, but it is part of our day-to-day lives.” – Hannah Testa

“I’m having trouble breaking through to other boomers, even boomers with kids.” – Dan Delurey

“My whole goal as a teacher is to also become a character that they relate to when they think of climate.” – Suzie Hicks

“I’ve had so many teachers that have truly built me up as a person and believed in me. And they are a huge support system.” – Hannah Testa

“I want to believe that we are all imperfect and don’t all have the solutions and just feel rest assured that we can point all of our energy towards the root cause of the issue and not tear ourselves apart.” – Jono Anzalone

“I just think we need to find a way to get the kids talking to their parents. And I think we need to exploit every way we can do that.” – Dan Delurey

Links

• Check out more from Four Generations Talk Climate

• Follow host and Boomer, Dan Delurey on LinkedIn

• Don’t forget the Gen Xer, Jono Anzalone

• Millennial Suzie Hicks needs her participation trophy

• Is Gen Z even on LinkedIn? Hannah Testa is!

Climate change may not always appear at the top of an election ad, but what about utility bills, data centers, energy prices and the future voters are leaving behind? Are we in need of a rebrand?

On this episode of Four Generations Talk Climate, host Dan Delurey (Boomer) is joined by a familiar cast of characters including Heather White (Gen X), Anna Broughel (Millennial), and Hannah Testa (Gen Z).

The group starts with elections, voter turnout and climate hushing, but quickly comes to the conclusion that climate is already embedded in many of the issues voters are discussing every day. From utility bills and data centers to diesel prices, AI, generational leadership and political messaging, the conversation asks whether climate advocates need a different way of telling the story.

Then the generations turn the spotlight on Boomers: if older generations hold significant wealth, influence and institutional power, what would it look like to put more of those resources toward the future now? Maybe we’ll find out this November.

Timestamps

00:00 Meet this episode’s four generations

04:10 Why climate voters need to show up

07:05 Is climate hushing hurting the message?

09:35 Utility bills, data centers and the climate connection

14:45 Are data centers the biggest issue this election?

17:05 Why voters think short term about a long-term problem

22:15 Is it time for a generational change in leadership?

27:10 How older generations can open doors for younger ones

31:00 What would actually motivate Boomers to act?

34:15 Why climate philanthropy matters right now

Quotes

“We can’t just talk about this election in the context of solving climate change, but about these short-term issues that impact people.” – Hannah Testa

“There’s this idea that the American voter can’t hold multiple truths at once. And we can.” – Heather White

“What people want to make sure is that data centers are paying their fair share.” – Anna Broughel

“What is the message that causes Boomers to wake up to the fact that what they do or don’t do now is important to future generations?” – Dan Delurey

“I always ask people, Gen X and Boomers, to ask the young people in your life how they feel about the future we’re leaving them, and then pause. Pause and listen.” – Heather White

“If there’s a time for philanthropists to step up, it is now, because so many of these climate nonprofits and groups are struggling to help continue their operations.” – Hannah Testa

“I want the political narrative to be more of some good stuff… I want a positive message.” – Anna Broughel

“I don't think you're putting any pressure on my generation to do anything right now in terms of putting their money to work now as opposed to later. I don't think there's any messaging out there.” – Dan Delurey

Links

• Check out more from Four Generations Talk Climate

• Follow host and Boomer, Dan Delurey on LinkedIn

• Don’t forget the Gen Xer, Heather White

• Millennial Anna Broughel needs her participation trophy

• Is Gen Z even on LinkedIn? Hannah Testa is!

Do we need revolutionary new technology to solve climate change, or is our time better spent rallying political and social support to deploy the innovations we already have?

In this episode of Four Generations Talk Climate, host (and Boomer) Dan Delurey is joined by Adam Browning (Gen X), Founder of Vote Solar and longtime clean energy advocate; Justin Brodie-Kommit (Millennial), investor, founder and Co-Organizer of DC Climate Week; and Hannah Testa (Gen Z), climate activist and graduate student at the Yale School of the Environment.

Together, they take on one of society’s biggest questions today: how much faith should we put in technology?

Hannah pushes back on the idea that the world needs to wait for a technological silver bullet, Adam reflects on what decades of solar commercialization can teach us, and Justin makes the case for a new wave of climate technologies becoming competitive simply because they work better and cost less.

Along the way, the group debates AI and data centers, corporate sustainability promises, NIMBY opposition, climate activism, generational communication gaps, and whether subscribing to a newsletter counts as saving the planet.

Timestamps

00:00 Meet this episode’s four generations

03:25 Can technology save us from climate change?

06:10 What solar taught us about commercialization

08:25 Why climate tech gives some Millennials hope

10:55 How Gen Z chooses where to work

11:45 Technology needs activism too

16:35 Can we trust corporate sustainability promises?

18:25 Bridging communication gaps between generations

21:25 Finding meaning in climate work

24:35 The evolution of protest and modern day “slacktivism”

26:00 Are people still engaging with their community?

Quotes

“We don’t need to wait for new climate tech inventions to come solve the climate problem. We know what we need to do.” – Hannah Testa

“People want to be a part of something larger than themselves. They want to find meaning in what they do.” – Adam Browning

“What I’m seeing more and more of every day is companies that don’t need to care about climate or the climate crisis, just doing what’s good for the bottom line.” – Justin Brodie-Kommit

“We’re not doing deployment fast enough.” – Dan Delurey

“Young people do want to be engaged, but there is this gap between information and who it's getting to. And technology helps to bridge that gap, but even [then] there are these silos that exist with algorithms.” – Hannah Testa

“We don’t necessarily need to invent new technology. We need to commercialize. We need to make this work. We need to bring this into the mainstream.” – Adam Browning

“If we don’t do it fast enough and at a large enough scale, then we’re not really in good shape going forward.” – Dan Delurey

“There’s this next generation of industrial technology that I think is about to take hold.” – Justin Brodie-Kommit

Links

• Check out more from Four Generations Talk Climate

• Follow host and Boomer, Dan Delurey on LinkedIn

• Don’t forget the Gen Xer, Adam Browning

• Millennial Justin Brodie-Kommit needs his participation trophy

• Is Gen Z even on LinkedIn? Hannah Testa is!