Tell New York Senators to Support Historic Climate Education Legislation

A group of students gather around a microscope to observe aquatic organisms in New York harbor.

This year students across New York are seeing the effects of climate change firsthand, from severe wildfire smoke polluting the air to unprecedented rainfall and flash floods. Climate anxiety is on the rise for youth across the US and the globe. It is the responsibility of New York’s school system to educate and offer resources to students about the climate crisis, its effects, and how students, their communities, and their government can respond.

A historic new bill introduced in New York’s state Senate will integrate climate education across subject areas and grades in P-12 schools. It would create an Office of Climate Education and support educators to teach on topics including the causes and impacts of climate change, environmental justice, climate anxiety, and renewable energy. The bill would also establish green career and technical education programs to train New York’s workforce for the jobs of the future.

Urge your state senators to support and cosponsor legislation for climate education in New York schools.

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Dear Senator,

From warmer winters, to poor air quality from wildfires, to flash flooding, climate change is here and directly impacting our communities in New York. We have a responsibility to teach New York’s 2.5 million students about climate change so they can understand how it is impacting their lives and what we can do to prevent it.

A recent study found that 84% of New York residents agree that global warming should be taught in school. And New York students have demonstrated that they care deeply about the climate crisis – about 250,000 students from New York’s largest school district alone took to the streets in the 2019 global youth climate strike. Offering comprehensive climate education in schools will not only help students understand the present moment, it will also provide them with the tools they will need to live and work in a changing climate.

The historic senate bill S278A was recently introduced to integrate interdisciplinary climate education across all grades in P-12 public schools. New curriculum would cover everything from the causes and effects of climate change, to environmental justice and climate anxiety, to renewable energy and circular economies. The bill would also set up an Office of Climate Education, and new green career and technical education programs. Clean energy jobs pay workers more on average compared to similar jobs in other fields, and New York must prepare its students and new workforce for better-paying jobs as directed by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act - our state law.

I urge you to please support and cosponsor S278A so New York’s future generations are prepared to respond to a changing climate.

Sincerely,
{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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Tell New York Senators to Support Historic Climate Education Legislation

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