I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1961 

To authorize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to 

establish a Climate Change Education Program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2015 

Mr. HONDA (for himself, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, 

Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, and Ms. LOFGREN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

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

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 finds that— 


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1 (1) the evidence for human-induced climate 

2 change is overwhelming and undeniable; 

3 (2) the United States is the second highest 

4 emitter of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse 

5 gases in the world; 

6 (3) atmospheric carbon can be significantly re7 duced through conservation, by shifting to renewable 

8 energy sources such as solar, wind, tidal, and geo9 thermal, and by increasing the efficiency of build10 ings, including domiciles, and transportation; 

11 (4) providing clear information about climate 

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

13 and the sense of helplessness, and encourage individ14 uals and communities to take action; 

15 (5) implementation of measures that promote 

16 energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable en17 ergy will greatly reduce human impact on the envi18 ronment; and 

19 (6) informing people of new technologies and 

20 programs as they become available will ensure max21 imum understanding and maximum impact of those 

22 measures. 

23 SEC. 3. DEFINITION. 

24 In this Act, the term ‘‘climate change education’’ 

25 means informal and formal interdisciplinary learning at 


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1 all age levels about climate change and its effects on envi2 ronmental, energy, social, and economic systems. 

3 SEC. 4. CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION PROGRAM. 

4 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra5 tion shall establish a Climate Change Education Program 

6 to— 

7 (1) broaden the understanding of human in8 duced climate change, possible long-term and short9 term consequences, and potential solutions; 

10 (2) apply the latest scientific and technological 

11 discoveries to provide formal and informal learning 

12 opportunities to people of all ages, including those of 

13 diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds; 

14 (3) emphasize actionable information to help 

15 people understand and to promote implementation of 

16 new technologies, programs, and incentives related 

17 to energy conservation, renewable energy, and green18 house gas reduction; and 

19 (4) inform the public of impacts to human 

20 health and safety as a result of climate change. 

21 SEC. 5. PROGRAM ELEMENTS. 

22 The Climate Change Education Program shall in23 clude— 

24 (1) a national information campaign to dissemi25 nate information on and promote implementation of 


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1 the new technologies, programs, and incentives de2 scribed in section 4(3); and 

3 (2) the grant program described in section 6. 

4 SEC. 6. GRANT PROGRAM. 

5 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra6 tion shall establish a program to make grants— 

7 (1) to support national public education, out8 reach, and communication programs to engage sub9 stantial numbers of the public in understanding cli10 mate change while developing educated and empow11 ered consumers, investors, and citizens; 

12 (2) to encourage and support statewide plans 

13 and programs for climate change education, includ14 ing relevant teacher training and professional devel15 opment, STEM (science, technology, engineering, 

16 and mathematics) education, and multidisciplinary 

17 studies to ensure that students graduate from high 

18 school climate literate, with a particular focus on 

19 programs that advance widespread State and local 

20 educational agency adoption of climate change edu21 cation, including funding for State education agen22 cies to— 

23 (A) integrate key principles of climate 

24 change education into existing K–12 State aca25 demic content standards, student academic 


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1 achievement standards, or State curriculum 

2 frameworks; 

3 (B) create model State climate change cur4 ricula; or 

5 (C) create State green school building 

6 standards or policies; 

7 (3) to improve the quality of and access to 

8 higher education in green collar industries and green 

9 economy-related fields such as green business, tech10 nology, engineering, policy studies, and sustainability 

11 science, with a particular focus on programs that ad12 dress restructuring institutional incentives and re13 ducing institutional barriers to widespread faculty 

14 adoption of interdisciplinary teaching of climate 

15 change education; 

16 (4) for institutions of higher education to en17 gage teams of faculty and students to develop ap18 plied climate research and deliver to local commu19 nities direct services on climate mitigation and adap20 tation issues impacting such communities, with a 

21 priority on distressed communities; and 

22 (5) for projects that build capacity for climate 

23 adaptation at the State and national level includ24 ing— 

25 (A) career education; 


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1 (B) expanding green collar workforce 

2 training; 

3 (C) secondary school preparation or work4 based experiences in green collar fields; and 

5 (D) continuing education needed for prac6 ticing professionals for green economy-related 

7 fields. 

8 SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

9 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

10 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the National Oceanic 

11 and Atmospheric Administration shall transmit to Con12 gress a report that evaluates the scientific merits, edu13 cational effectiveness, and broader impacts of activities 

14 under this Act. 

15 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na17 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

18 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020 

19 for carrying out this Act. 

Æ 


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