The CCE Act establishes a grant program for state educational agencies, institutions of higher education, professional associations, and youth corps organizations to develop climate education programs and educational opportunities, funded at $50 million annually over five years.  It’s original endorsers are the Campaign for Environmental Literacy, American Federation of Teachers, U.S. Green Building Council Center for Green Schools, National Wildlife Foundation, Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, National Center for Science Education, Second Nature, and National Science Teaching Association.

This document, “Key Elements of a National Policy and Funding Strategy for Equitable Climate Literacy and Related Career and Workforce Development,” outlines how the Federal Government could develop a truly large scale and environmentally just climate change education and training platform. Kevin Coyle from the National Wildlife Federation spearheaded an effort to take a comprehensive look across all the federal agencies for the various ways each agency could further climate change education. While the Department of Education is the most obvious agency to consider, it may surprise you to see both the number of other agencies which could be engaged as well as the multitude of existing programs which could be infused with a climate education aspect. 

While the federal government can and must provide support to states and districts, real change happens at the state and district levels. So it is critical that we get sound state policies in place that will move the ball forward.