II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2740 

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 

APRIL 24, 2018 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Ms. HARRIS, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. SANDERS) 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: 

8 (1) The evidence for human-induced climate 

9 change is overwhelming and undeniable. 


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1 (2) Atmospheric carbon can be significantly re2 duced through conservation, by shifting to renewable 

3 energy sources such as solar, wind, tidal, and geo4 thermal, and by increasing the efficiency of build5 ings, including domiciles, and transportation. 

6 (3) Providing clear information about climate 

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

8 and the sense of helplessness, and encourage individ9 uals and communities to take action. 

10 (4) Implementation of measures that promote 

11 energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable en12 ergy will greatly reduce human impact on the envi13 ronment. 

14 (5) Informing people of new technologies and 

15 programs as they become available will ensure max16 imum understanding and maximum effect of those 

17 measures. 

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

19 from high schools and colleges each year, armed 

20 with attitudes, skills, and knowledge about the cli21 mate that inform their actions. 

22 (7) The effect on the climate, positive or nega23 tive, of each of those 3,000,000 students lasts be24 yond a lifetime. 


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1 (8) Those students need to be prepared to im2 plement changes in professional and personal prac3 tices, to support and help develop new technology 

4 and policy, and to address the coming social and 

5 economic challenges and opportunities arising from a 

6 changing climate. 

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

8 the United States overwhelmingly support teaching 

9 students about the causes, consequences, and poten10 tial solutions to climate change in all 50 States and 

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

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

13 percent of high school science teachers understand 

14 the extent of the scientific consensus on climate 

15 change. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION.—The term 

19 ‘‘climate change education’’ means informal and for20 mal interdisciplinary learning at all age levels 

21 about— 

22 (A) climate change, climate adaptation and 

23 mitigation, and climate resilience; and 

24 (B) the effects of climate change, climate 

25 adaptation and mitigation, and climate resilVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:21 May 01, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2740.IS S2740

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1 ience on the environmental, energy, social, and 

2 economic systems of the United States. 

3 (2) GREEN COLLAR JOB.—The term ‘‘green col4 lar job’’ means a job— 

5 (A) in a business that produces goods or 

6 provides services that benefit the environment 

7 or conserve natural resources; or 

8 (B) in which the duties of the worker in9 volve making the production processes of the 

10 employer more environmentally friendly or use 

11 fewer natural resources. 

12 (3) GREEN ECONOMY.—The term ‘‘green econ13 omy’’ means an economy that results in improved 

14 human well-being and social equity by significantly 

15 reducing environmental risks and ecological scar16 cities. 

17 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

19 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

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

21 (5) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY; STATE EDU22 CATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms ‘‘local educational 

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

24 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 (6) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

4 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de5 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

6 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under 

7 501(a) of that Code. 

8 SEC. 4. CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION PROGRAM. 

9 The Administrator of the National Oceanic and At10 mospheric Administration shall establish a Climate 

11 Change Education Program to— 

12 (1) increase the climate literacy of the United 

13 States by broadening the understanding of climate 

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

15 consequences and potential solutions; 

16 (2) apply the latest scientific and technological 

17 discoveries, including through the use of the sci18 entific assets of the Administration, to provide for19 mal and informal learning opportunities to individ20 uals of all ages, including individuals of diverse cul21 tural and linguistic backgrounds; and 

22 (3) emphasize actionable information to help 

23 people understand and promote implementation of 

24 new technologies, programs, and incentives related 


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1 to climate change, climate adaptation and mitiga2 tion, and climate resilience. 

3 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

5 Education Program established under section 4, the Ad6 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad7 ministration shall establish a program to make grants— 

8 (1) to States to encourage and support plans 

9 and programs for kindergarten through grade 12 

10 formal and informal climate change education— 

11 (A) to ensure that students graduate from 

12 high school with high climate literacy, includ13 ing— 

14 (i) relevant teacher training and pro15 fessional development; 

16 (ii) science, technology, engineering, 

17 arts and design, and mathematics edu18 cation; and 

19 (iii) interdisciplinary studies; and 

20 (B) with a particular focus on programs 

21 that advance widespread State and local edu22 cational agency adoption of climate change edu23 cation, including funding for State educational 

24 agencies in partnership with local educational 

25 agencies and local nonprofit organizations to— 


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1 (i) integrate key principles of climate 

2 change education into existing kinder3 garten through grade 12 State academic 

4 content standards, student academic 

5 achievement standards, or State cur6 riculum frameworks; 

7 (ii) create model State climate change 

8 curricula; 

9 (iii) develop and implement State 

10 teacher training programs; and 

11 (iv) support secondary school prepara12 tion or work-based experiences in green 

13 collar jobs; 

14 (2) to institutions of higher education to— 

15 (A) improve the quality of and access to 

16 training, certification, and higher education for 

17 green collar jobs in the future green economy, 

18 such as green construction, design, technology, 

19 health, engineering, business, and policy stud20 ies, including sustainability science, and with a 

21 particular focus on programs that address re22 structuring institutional incentives and reducing 

23 institutional barriers to widespread faculty 

24 adoption of interdisciplinary teaching of climate 

25 change education; and 


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1 (B) engage teams of faculty and students 

2 to develop applied climate research and deliver 

3 to local communities direct services related to 

4 local climate mitigation and adaptation issues, 

5 with a priority focus on communities impacted 

6 by climate change; and 

7 (3) to professional associations for projects that 

8 build capacity at the State and national levels for 

9 continuing education by practicing professionals and 

10 the general public in green economy fields. 

11 (b) CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION OFFICE.—There 

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

13 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a Climate 

14 Change Education Office to administer the grant program 

15 required by subsection (a). 

16 SEC. 6. REPORT. 

17 Not later than one year after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Adminis19 trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis20 tration shall submit to Congress a report that evaluates 

21 the scientific merits, educational effectiveness, and broad22 er effects of activities carried out under this Act. 

23 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na25 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 


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1 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2024 

2 to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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