II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 966 

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 

MARCH 25, 2021 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. 

HIRONO, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. 

MURPHY, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. 

VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, 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) 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 in the United States 

22 each year, armed with attitudes, skills, and knowl23 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 3,000,000 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 nonformal and 

23 formal interdisciplinary learning at all age levels 

24 about— 


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1 (A) climate change, climate adaptation and 

2 mitigation, climate resilience, and climate jus3 tice; and 

4 (B) the effects of climate change, climate 

5 adaptation and mitigation, climate resilience, 

6 and climate justice on the environmental, en7 ergy, social, and economic systems of the 

8 United States. 

9 (2) CLIMATE LITERACY.—The term ‘‘climate 

10 literacy’’ means competence or knowledge of climate 

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

12 scientific, economic, and social dynamics of prom13 ising solutions. 

14 (3) CLIMATE JUSTICE.—The term ‘‘climate jus15 tice’’ means the fair treatment and meaningful in16 volvement of all people, regardless of race, color, cul17 ture, national origin, or income, with respect to the 

18 development, implementation, and enforcement of 

19 policies and projects to ensure that each person en20 joys the same degree of protection from the adverse 

21 effects of climate change. 

22 (4) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.—The term ‘‘en23 vironmental justice’’ means the fair treatment and 

24 meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of 

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


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1 respect to the development, implementation, and en2 forcement of environmental laws, regulations, and 

3 policies to ensure that each person enjoys— 

4 (A) the same degree of protection from en5 vironmental and health hazards; and 

6 (B) equal access to any Federal agency ac7 tion on environmental justice issues in order to 

8 have a healthy environment in which to live, 

9 learn, work, and recreate. 

10 (5) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY.— 

11 The term ‘‘environmental justice community’’ means 

12 a community with significant representation of com13 munities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal 

14 and indigenous communities that experiences, or is 

15 at risk of experiencing, higher or more adverse 

16 human health or environmental effects as compared 

17 to other communities. 

18 (6) GREEN ECONOMY.—The term ‘‘green econ19 omy’’ means an economy that results in improved 

20 human and economic well-being and social equity by 

21 significantly reducing environmental risks and eco22 logical scarcities. 

23 (7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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


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1 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

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

3 (8) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY; STATE EDU4 CATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms ‘‘local educational 

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

6 meanings given those terms in section 8101 of the 

7 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

8 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

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

10 means, with respect to learning, out-of-school edu11 cational programming carried out by nonprofit orga12 nizations and public agencies. 

13 (10) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

14 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de15 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

16 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under 

17 501(a) of that Code. 

18 SEC. 4. CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION PROGRAM. 

19 The Administrator of the National Oceanic and At20 mospheric Administration shall establish a Climate 

21 Change Education Program to— 

22 (1) increase the climate literacy of the United 

23 States by broadening the understanding of climate 

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


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1 consequences, disproportionate impacts of those con2 sequences, and potential solutions; 

3 (2) apply the latest scientific and technological 

4 discoveries, including through the use of the sci5 entific assets of the Administration, to provide for6 mal and nonformal learning opportunities to individ7 uals of all ages, including individuals of diverse cul8 tural and linguistic backgrounds; and 

9 (3) emphasize actionable information to help 

10 people understand and promote implementation of 

11 new technologies, programs, and incentives related 

12 to climate change, climate adaptation and mitiga13 tion, climate resilience, climate justice, and environ14 mental justice. 

15 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

17 Education Program established under section 4, the Ad18 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad19 ministration shall establish a program to make grants to 

20 the following: 

21 (1) State educational agencies, in partnership 

22 with local educational agencies and local nonprofit 

23 organizations, for the implementation of aspects of 

24 State climate literacy plans for grades 4 through 12 


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1 formal and informal climate change education 

2 that— 

3 (A) are aligned with State education 

4 standards; 

5 (B) ensure that students graduate from 

6 high school with climate literacy; and 

7 (C) include at least 1 of the following: 

8 (i) Relevant teacher training and pro9 fessional development. 

10 (ii) Integration of key climate change 

11 concepts into State education standards 

12 for science, technology, engineering, and 

13 mathematics (STEM), civics and social 

14 studies, and other relevant subject areas 

15 during the next revision of such standards. 

16 (iii) Development of climate change 

17 education educational frameworks and 

18 model curricula and curation and dissemi19 nation of existing climate change cur20 riculum materials. 

21 (iv) Creation of applied learning 

22 project-based models, such as models mak23 ing optimum use of green features im24 provements to school facilities, such as en25 ergy systems, lighting systems, water manVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S966.IS S966

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1 agement, waste management, and school 

2 grounds improvements. 

3 (v) Incorporation of climate change 

4 mitigation and green technologies into new 

5 and existing career and technical education 

6 career tracks and work-based learning ex7 periences, including development of part8 nerships with labor organizations, trade or9 ganizations, and apprenticeship programs. 

10 (2) Institutions of higher education and net11 works or partnerships of such institutions to engage 

12 teams of faculty and students to develop applied cli13 mate research and deliver to local communities di14 rect services related to local climate mitigation and 

15 adaptation issues, with priority given to projects 

16 that— 

17 (A) foster long-term campus-community 

18 partnerships; 

19 (B) show potential to scale work beyond 

20 the grant term; 

21 (C) are inclusive for all segments of the 

22 population; and 

23 (D) promote equitable and just outcomes. 

24 (3) Professional associations and academic dis25 ciplinary societies for projects that build capacity at 


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1 the State and national levels for continuing edu2 cation by practicing professionals and the general 

3 public in green economy fields. 

4 (4) Youth corps organizations to engage in 

5 community-based climate mitigation and adaptation 

6 work that includes a substantive educational compo7 nent. 

8 (b) CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION OFFICE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be, within the 

10 Office of Education of the National Oceanic and At11 mospheric Administration, an Office of Climate 

12 Change Education to administer the grant program 

13 required by subsection (a). 

14 (2) CONSULTATION.—The Office of Climate 

15 Change Education shall annually consult with other 

16 relevant agencies of the Federal Government to de17 termine ways in which grant making under sub18 section (a) can enhance and support other national 

19 climate education and training and environmental 

20 justice goals. 

21 (3) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITIES.— 

22 The Office of Climate Change Education shall en23 sure that 40 percent of all funds appropriated for 

24 grants under paragraphs (2) and (4) of subsection 


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1 (a) are directed into environmental justice commu2 nities. 

3 (4) COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE.—The Office of 

4 Climate Change Education shall establish commu5 nities of practice with respect to each of paragraphs 

6 (1) through (4) of subsection (a) in order to accel7 erate learning. 

8 SEC. 6. REPORT. 

9 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact10 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Adminis11 trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis12 tration shall submit to Congress a report that evaluates 

13 the scientific merits, educational effectiveness, and broad14 er effects of activities carried out under this Act. 

15 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro17 priated to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis18 tration to carry out this Act $50,000,000 for each of fiscal 

19 years 2021 through 2026. 

20 (b) ALLOCATION OF AMOUNTS FOR GRANT PRO21 GRAM.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts appropriated to 

23 carry out the grant program required by section 5(a) 

24 shall be allocated as follows: 


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1 (A) 50 percent for grants made under 

2 paragraph (1) of such section. 

3 (B) 30 percent for grants made under 

4 paragraph (2) of such section. 

5 (C) 10 percent for grants made under 

6 paragraph (3) of such section. 

7 (D) 10 percent for grants made under 

8 paragraph (4) of such section. 

9 (2) EXCEPTION.—If amounts appropriated to 

10 carry out the grant program required by section 5(a) 

11 do not exceed $5,000,000 in any fiscal year, the Na12 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may 

13 use in that fiscal year— 

14 (A) 60 percent of such amounts for grants 

15 made under paragraph (1) of such section; and 

16 (B) 40 percent of such amounts for grants 

17 made under paragraph (2) of such section. 

Æ 


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