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Why isn’t it easier for all of us to talk about climate change?
On this episode of Four Generations Talk Climate, host (and Boomer) Dan Delurey is once again joined by environmental lawyer Heather White (Gen X), longtime climate and news producer Tracy Wholf (Millennial), and climate activist Kevin J. Patel (Gen Z). Together, they discuss how climate concern can be at an all-time high while real conversations about what can be done are seemingly disappearing.
In a world with so many different methods of communication, the conversation covers lived experience, generational language barriers, climate disinformation and the exhaustion of experiencing one crisis after another. Kevin argues that young people need true power-sharing rather than a token seat at the table, Tracy explains why climate has professionally and politically been harder to discuss in recent years, and Heather makes the case that anger might be the best common ground for intergenerational collaboration.
Then, Dan discovers he may have touched a generational nerve by asking “what is the message that will get more Gen Z out to actually vote in the coming election?”
Timestamps
00:00 Meet this episode’s four generations
02:50 Why aren’t we talking about climate change?
04:50 Articles, podcasts and 30-second TikToks
08:45 Where Gen Z gets its climate information
11:45 Lived experience, tokenism, and power sharing
15:00 The political cycles of climate discussion
19:55 Does Gen Z know how much power it has?
23:45 Language barriers between us all
26:05 Climate exhaustion and the new disinformation problem
30:50 Dan asks a very boomer question about voting
Quotes
“Can we act without speaking on it? Because acting on it is the real thing that we need to do.” – Dan Delurey
“My kids, my Gen Zers, are sick and tired of all the praise. They don’t want to hear about how brilliant and amazing they are. They want action.” – Heather White
“We are living in a political time where we don’t feel like we’re allowed to speak about it anymore because it’s so toxic.” – Tracy Wholf
“Putting one young person on a panel with seven leaders isn’t automatically an intergenerational conversation. A real conversation means young people help make the decisions.” – Kevin J. Patel
“There is an utter exhaustion with the reality that we’re facing. We are seeing climate impacts, and there’s also a massive disinformation campaign happening.” – Tracy Wholf
“If you look at the polls today, the ratings are high on climate concern, climate anxiety, and all sorts of other questions that are asked. But the one question that ranks really low is: ‘Are you talking to other people about climate change?’” – Dan Delurey
“If 10-year-olds cannot imagine a healthier, greener, more just future, it is a call to action for all of us to start painting that picture of what is possible.” – Heather White
“It’s not whether we’re having the conversation, but whether we’re participating in the same conversation.” – Kevin J. Patel
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