II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2ND SESSION S. 4117 

To require the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a Climate Change Education Program, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 11 (legislative day, APRIL 10), 2024 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. BUTLER, Mr. 

CARDIN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, 

Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. PADILLA, 

Mr. SANDERS, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of 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) According to the Fifth National Climate As4 sessment, atmospheric carbon can be significantly 

5 reduced through conservation, by shifting to renew6 able energy sources such as solar, wind, tidal, and 

7 geothermal, and by increasing the efficiency of build8 ings, including domiciles, and transportation. 

9 (3) Providing clear information about climate 

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

11 and the sense of helplessness and encourage individ12 uals and communities to take action. 

13 (4) Implementation of measures that promote 

14 energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable en15 ergy will greatly reduce human impacts on the envi16 ronment. 

17 (5) Informing people of new technologies and 

18 programs as they become available will ensure max19 imum understanding and maximum effect of those 

20 measures. 

21 (6) More than 3,500,000 students graduate 

22 from high schools and colleges in the United States 

23 each year, armed with attitudes, skills, and knowl24 edge about the climate that inform their actions. 


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1 (7) The effect on the climate, positive or nega2 tive, of each of those 3,500,000 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 science 

16 teachers and 45 percent of high school science teach17 ers understand the extent of the scientific consensus 

18 on climate change. 

19 (11) Section 4002(a) of the America COM20 PETES Act (33 U.S.C. 893a(a)) requires the Na21 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to 

22 ‘‘conduct, develop, support, promote, and coordinate 

23 formal and informal educational activities at all lev24 els’’. 


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1 (12) The existing Environmental Literacy Pro2 gram of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad3 ministration was established in 2005 by the Bush 

4 administration as a backbone to an agency effort to 

5 advance sound environmental education for children 

6 and adults. 

7 (13) Expanding the popular Environmental Lit8 eracy Program (less than 5 percent of applications 

9 in 2020 received funding) to include climate edu10 cation for professional educators and students is 

11 within the established expertise of the National Oce12 anic and Atmospheric Administration and will effec13 tively leverage critical resources for foundational 

14 learning and career preparation. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION.—The term 

18 ‘‘climate change education’’ means nonformal and 

19 formal interdisciplinary learning at all age levels 

20 about— 

21 (A) climate change, climate adaptation and 

22 mitigation, climate resilience, and climate jus23 tice; and 

24 (B) the effects of climate change, climate 

25 adaptation and mitigation, climate resilience, 


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1 and climate justice on the environmental, en2 ergy, social, and economic systems of the 

3 United States. 

4 (2) CLIMATE JUSTICE.—The term ‘‘climate jus5 tice’’ means the fair treatment and meaningful in6 volvement of all people, regardless of race, color, cul7 ture, national origin, or income, with respect to the 

8 development, implementation, and enforcement of 

9 policies and projects to ensure that each person en10 joys the same degree of protection from the adverse 

11 effects of climate change. 

12 (3) CLIMATE LITERACY.—The term ‘‘climate 

13 literacy’’ means competence or knowledge of climate 

14 change, its causes and impacts, and the technical, 

15 scientific, economic, and social dynamics of prom16 ising solutions. 

17 (4) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.—The term ‘‘en18 vironmental justice’’ means the fair treatment and 

19 meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of 

20 race, color, culture, national origin, or income, with 

21 respect to the development, implementation, and en22 forcement of environmental laws, regulations, and 

23 policies to ensure that each person enjoys— 

24 (A) the same degree of protection from en25 vironmental and health hazards; and 


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1 (B) equal access to any Federal agency ac2 tion on environmental justice issues in order to 

3 have a healthy environment in which to live, 

4 learn, work, and recreate. 

5 (5) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY.— 

6 The term ‘‘environmental justice community’’ means 

7 a community with significant representation of com8 munities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal 

9 and indigenous communities that experiences, or is 

10 at risk of experiencing, higher or more adverse 

11 human health or environmental effects as compared 

12 to other communities. 

13 (6) GREEN ECONOMY.—The term ‘‘green econ14 omy’’ means an economy that results in improved 

15 human and economic well-being and social equity by 

16 significantly reducing environmental risks and eco17 logical scarcities. 

18 (7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

20 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

21 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

22 (8) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY; STATE EDU23 CATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms ‘‘local educational 

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

25 meanings given those terms in section 8101 of the 


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1 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

2 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 (9) NONFORMAL.—The term ‘‘nonformal’’ 

4 means, with respect to learning, out-of-school edu5 cational programming carried out by nonprofit orga6 nizations and public agencies. 

7 (10) 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 sec11 tion 501(a) of that Code. 

12 SEC. 4. CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION PROGRAM. 

13 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

14 of this Act, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 

15 Atmospheric Administration shall establish a Climate 

16 Change Education Program within the Office of Edu17 cation of the Administration to— 

18 (1) increase the climate literacy of the United 

19 States by broadening the understanding of climate 

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

21 consequences, disproportionate impacts of those con22 sequences, and potential solutions; 

23 (2) apply the latest scientific and technological 

24 discoveries, including through the use of the sci25 entific assets of the Administration, to provide forVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:52 Apr 21, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4117.IS S4117

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1 mal and nonformal learning opportunities to individ2 uals of all ages, including individuals of diverse cul3 tural and linguistic backgrounds; and 

4 (3) emphasize actionable information to help 

5 people understand and promote implementation of 

6 new technologies, jobs, career training, programs, 

7 and incentives related to climate change, climate ad8 aptation and mitigation, climate resilience, climate 

9 justice, and environmental justice. 

10 SEC. 5. GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, as part of the Climate 

13 Change Education Program established under section 4, 

14 the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos15 pheric Administration shall establish a program to award 

16 grants to, or establish cooperative agreements with, the 

17 following: 

18 (1) State educational agencies, in partnership 

19 with local educational agencies and local nonprofit 

20 organizations, and, subject to subsection (c), local 

21 educational agencies— 

22 (A) for the development and implementa23 tion of aspects of climate literacy plans for 

24 grades 4 through 12 formal and nonformal cli25 mate change education that— 


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1 (i) are aligned with State education 

2 standards; and 

3 (ii) ensure that students graduate 

4 from high school with climate literacy; and 

5 (B) for the implementation of projects 

6 that— 

7 (i) in the case of State educational 

8 agencies, include— 

9 (I) relevant training and profes10 sional development for educators, 

11 which may include tiered mentorship 

12 frameworks; 

13 (II) integration of key climate 

14 change concepts into State education 

15 standards for science, technology, en16 gineering, and mathematics (STEM), 

17 civics and social studies, career and 

18 technical education, and other rel19 evant subject areas during the next 

20 revision of such standards; 

21 (III) development of climate 

22 change education frameworks and 

23 model curricula and curation and dis24 semination of existing such frame25 works and curricula; 


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1 (IV) creation of applied learning 

2 project-based models, particularly 

3 those that allow for student leadership 

4 in project development and applied 

5 field work, such as models making op6 timum use of green features improve7 ments, such as low-cost environmental 

8 monitoring sensors, to school facilities 

9 such as energy systems, lighting sys10 tems, food systems, water manage11 ment systems, waste management sys12 tems, and school grounds; and 

13 (V) incorporation of climate 

14 change mitigation and green tech15 nologies into new and existing high16 quality career and technical education 

17 career pathways and work-based 

18 learning experiences in high-demand 

19 climate-related jobs, including devel20 opment of partnerships with labor or21 ganizations, trade organizations, and 

22 apprenticeship programs; and 

23 (ii) in the case of local educational 

24 agencies— 


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1 (I) develop, modify, or implement 

2 district-level plans to advance climate 

3 change education that consider facili4 ties, curriculum, environmental health, 

5 professional development for edu6 cators, student experiences, and eq7 uity; and 

8 (II) support community partner9 ships among local educational agen10 cies, nonformal education providers, 

11 community-based organizations, and 

12 other partners to advance climate 

13 change education priorities. 

14 (2) Institutions of higher education and net15 works or partnerships of such institutions to engage 

16 teams of faculty and students to develop applied cli17 mate research and deliver to local communities di18 rect services related to local climate mitigation and 

19 adaptation issues, with priority given to projects 

20 that— 

21 (A) foster long-term campus-community 

22 partnerships; 

23 (B) show potential to scale work beyond 

24 the term of the grant or cooperative agreement; 


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1 (C) involve significant student input in the 

2 project development process; 

3 (D) are inclusive for all segments of the 

4 population; and 

5 (E) promote equitable and just outcomes. 

6 (3) Professional associations and academic dis7 ciplinary societies for projects that build capacity at 

8 the State and national levels for continuing edu9 cation by practicing professionals and the general 

10 public in green economy fields. 

11 (4) Youth corps organizations to engage in 

12 community-based climate mitigation and adaptation 

13 work that includes a substantive educational compo14 nent. 

15 (b) COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE.—The Climate 

16 Change Education Program shall establish communities of 

17 practice with respect to each of paragraphs (1) through 

18 (4) of subsection (a) in order to accelerate learning. 

19 (c) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—The Adminis20 trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis21 tration may not award a grant to, or establish a coopera22 tive agreement with, a local educational agency in any fis23 cal year under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) unless 

24 amounts appropriated for grants and cooperative agreeVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:52 Apr 21, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4117.IS S4117

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1 ments under such subsection for that fiscal year exceed 

2 $5,000,000. 

3 (d) ALLOCATION OF AMOUNTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para5 graph (2), amounts appropriated for grants and co6 operative agreements under subsection (a) shall be 

7 allocated as follows: 

8 (A) 50 percent for grants and cooperative 

9 agreements under paragraph (1) of such sub10 section. 

11 (B) 30 percent for grants and cooperative 

12 agreements under paragraph (2) of such sub13 section. 

14 (C) 10 percent for grants and cooperative 

15 agreements under paragraph (3) of such sub16 section. 

17 (D) 10 percent for grants and cooperative 

18 agreements under paragraph (4) of such sub19 section. 

20 (2) EXCEPTION.—If amounts appropriated for 

21 grants and cooperative agreements under subsection 

22 (a) do not exceed $5,000,000 in any fiscal year, the 

23 Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos24 pheric Administration may use in that fiscal year— 


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1 (A) 60 percent of such amounts for grants 

2 and cooperative agreements under paragraph 

3 (1) of such subsection; and 

4 (B) 40 percent of such amounts for grants 

5 and cooperative agreements under paragraph 

6 (2) of such subsection. 

7 (3) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITIES.— 

8 40 percent of all amounts allocated for grants and 

9 cooperative agreements under paragraphs (2) and 

10 (4) of subsection (a) shall be directed into environ11 mental justice communities. 

12 (e) GRANT AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT MIN13 IMUM.—If amounts appropriated for grants and coopera14 tive agreements under subsection (a) exceed $5,000,000 

15 in any fiscal year, any grant awarded to, or cooperative 

16 agreement established with, an entity under paragraph (1) 

17 of such subsection shall provide the entity a minimum of 

18 $1,000,000 in that fiscal year. 

19 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT. 

20 Not later than 2 years 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 is authorized to be appropriated to the Na3 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry 

4 out this Act $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 

5 through 2030. 

Æ 


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