II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 477 

To authorize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to 

establish a Climate Change Education Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2019 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. WARREN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. 

SHAHEEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. 

WYDEN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To authorize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a Climate Change Education Program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Climate Change Edu5 cation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The evidence for human-induced climate 

2 change is overwhelming and undeniable. 

3 (2) Atmospheric carbon can be significantly re4 duced through conservation, by shifting to renewable 

5 energy sources such as solar, wind, tidal, and geo6 thermal, and by increasing the efficiency of build7 ings, including domiciles, and transportation. 

8 (3) Providing clear information about climate 

9 change, in a variety of forms, can remove the fear 

10 and the sense of helplessness, and encourage individ11 uals and communities to take action. 

12 (4) Implementation of measures that promote 

13 energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable en14 ergy will greatly reduce human impact on the envi15 ronment. 

16 (5) Informing people of new technologies and 

17 programs as they become available will ensure max18 imum understanding and maximum effect of those 

19 measures. 

20 (6) More than 3,000,000 students graduate 

21 from high schools and colleges each year, armed 

22 with attitudes, skills, and knowledge about the cli23 mate that inform their actions. 


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1 (7) The effect on the climate, positive or nega2 tive, of each of those 3,000,000 students lasts be3 yond a lifetime. 

4 (8) Those students need to be prepared to im5 plement changes in professional and personal prac6 tices, to support and help develop new technology 

7 and policy, and to address the coming social and 

8 economic challenges and opportunities arising from a 

9 changing climate. 

10 (9) It has been demonstrated that the people of 

11 the United States overwhelmingly support teaching 

12 students about the causes, consequences, and poten13 tial solutions to climate change in all 50 States and 

14 more than 3,000 counties across the United States. 

15 (10) Only 30 percent of middle school and 45 

16 percent of high school science teachers understand 

17 the extent of the scientific consensus on climate 

18 change. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION.—The term 

22 ‘‘climate change education’’ means informal and for23 mal interdisciplinary learning at all age levels 

24 about— 


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1 (A) climate change, climate adaptation and 

2 mitigation, and climate resilience; and 

3 (B) the effects of climate change, climate 

4 adaptation and mitigation, and climate resil5 ience on the environmental, energy, social, and 

6 economic systems of the United States. 

7 (2) GREEN COLLAR JOB.—The term ‘‘green col8 lar job’’ means a job— 

9 (A) in a business that produces goods or 

10 provides services that benefit the environment 

11 or conserve natural resources; or 

12 (B) in which the duties of the worker in13 volve making the production processes of the 

14 employer more environmentally friendly or use 

15 fewer natural resources. 

16 (3) GREEN ECONOMY.—The term ‘‘green econ17 omy’’ means an economy that results in improved 

18 human well-being and social equity by significantly 

19 reducing environmental risks and ecological scar20 cities. 

21 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

22 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

23 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

24 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 


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1 (5) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY; STATE EDU2 CATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms ‘‘local educational 

3 agency’’ and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the 

4 meanings given those terms in section 8101 of the 

5 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

6 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

7 (6) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

8 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de9 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

10 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under 

11 501(a) of that Code. 

12 SEC. 4. CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION PROGRAM. 

13 The Administrator of the National Oceanic and At14 mospheric Administration shall establish a Climate 

15 Change Education Program to— 

16 (1) increase the climate literacy of the United 

17 States by broadening the understanding of climate 

18 change, including possible long-term and short-term 

19 consequences and potential solutions; 

20 (2) apply the latest scientific and technological 

21 discoveries, including through the use of the sci22 entific assets of the Administration, to provide for23 mal and informal learning opportunities to individ24 uals of all ages, including individuals of diverse cul25 tural and linguistic backgrounds; and 


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1 (3) emphasize actionable information to help 

2 people understand and promote implementation of 

3 new technologies, programs, and incentives related 

4 to climate change, climate adaptation and mitiga5 tion, and climate resilience. 

6 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—As part of the Climate Change 

8 Education Program established under section 4, the Ad9 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad10 ministration shall establish a program to make grants— 

11 (1) to States to encourage and support plans 

12 and programs for kindergarten through grade 12 

13 formal and informal climate change education— 

14 (A) to ensure that students graduate from 

15 high school with high climate literacy, includ16 ing— 

17 (i) relevant teacher training and pro18 fessional development; 

19 (ii) science, technology, engineering, 

20 arts and design, and mathematics edu21 cation; and 

22 (iii) interdisciplinary studies; and 

23 (B) with a particular focus on programs 

24 that advance widespread State and local edu25 cational agency adoption of climate change eduVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S477.IS S477

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1 cation, including funding for State educational 

2 agencies in partnership with local educational 

3 agencies and local nonprofit organizations to— 

4 (i) integrate key principles of climate 

5 change education into existing kinder6 garten through grade 12 State academic 

7 content standards, student academic 

8 achievement standards, or State cur9 riculum frameworks; 

10 (ii) create model State climate change 

11 curricula; 

12 (iii) develop and implement State 

13 teacher training programs; and 

14 (iv) support secondary school prepara15 tion or work-based experiences in green 

16 collar jobs; and 

17 (2) to institutions of higher education to— 

18 (A) improve the quality of and access to 

19 training, certification, and higher education for 

20 green collar jobs in the future green economy, 

21 such as green construction, design, technology, 

22 health, engineering, business, and policy stud23 ies, including sustainability science, and with a 

24 particular focus on programs that address re25 structuring institutional incentives and reducing 


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1 institutional barriers to widespread faculty 

2 adoption of interdisciplinary teaching of climate 

3 change education; and 

4 (B) engage teams of faculty and students 

5 to develop applied climate research and deliver 

6 to local communities direct services related to 

7 local climate mitigation and adaptation issues, 

8 with a priority focus on communities impacted 

9 by climate change; and 

10 (3) to professional associations for projects that 

11 build capacity at the State and national levels for 

12 continuing education by practicing professionals and 

13 the general public in green economy fields. 

14 (b) CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION OFFICE.—There 

15 shall be, within the Office of Education of the National 

16 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a Climate 

17 Change Education Office to administer the grant program 

18 required by subsection (a). 

19 SEC. 6. REPORT. 

20 Not later than one year after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Adminis22 trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis23 tration shall submit to Congress a report that evaluates 

24 the scientific merits, educational effectiveness, and broad25 er effects of activities carried out under this Act. 


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1 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na3 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

4 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2025 

5 to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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