Campaign for Environmental Literacy

New Environmental Literacy Study Ranks U.S. Students Below Most Other Countries

How environmentally literate are students in this country? While a number of prior studies have answered pieces of this question, the sad truth has been that we really don't know the answer.

Now some help is available. A truly groundbreaking study was released last month, called “Green at Fifteen?, How 15-year-olds perform in environmental science and geoscience in PISA 2006", which comes closer to answering this question than anything I've seen before.

It's a bit ironic that this study wasn't done by any U.S. agency or NGO; it was done by the international Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Green at 15? offers the "first comprehensive and internationally comparative database of students' knowledge about the environment and environment-related issues, including information on the sources of students' awareness of environmental science, their attitudes towards the environment and how these attitudes interrelate with their performance in environmental science."

There is a great deal of useful information in this study to consider as we design new programs and policies. Equally important is our ability to cite the report as an important environmental literacy benchmark when we educate policy-makers and decision-makers about the growing environmental literacy gap.

The bottom line? The average U.S. student scores only just above basic proficiency - not news to most of us, but solid confirmation for what our experience has been telling us.

From a policy perspective, the big take-home is that the USA ranks 34th out of the 57 countries surveyed in both environmental science and geoscience, and is consistently below the OCED averages in almost all categories. True, we beat out Uruguay and Thailand. But we fell below Estonia, Croatia, and the Slovak and Czech Republics as well as Canada, Japan, Australia, Russia, and the UK.

The study opens with the statement that "the challenge for education is not only to produce more and better trained environmental scientists, but also to support informed and motivated citizens who are capable of understanding, interpreting and acting upon sophisticated scientific theory and evidence." Yes, it only looked at environmental science, rather than the more comprehensive fields of environmental and sustainability education which also include the social sciences. But at least it looked at the ability of students to put their knowledge to use. Surprisingly, it did not include climate change as one of the key "environmental issues" that it directly assessed. One other take-home message worth nothing: "students with more disadvantaged socio-economic status are no less likely to be committed to tackling environmental issues."

This is a terrific first step. What we need next is to get the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, sometimes called "The Nation's Report Card") administered by the Department of Education to include environmental education in their schedule of subjects routinely assessed. Then we'll have a much better idea where our students stand in terms of environmental literacy.

I haven't had the chance to dig fully into the report with the attention it deserves, so I particularly welcome comments from those who find the time to review it in detail.  

Jim

FY09 Appropriations Bill has a few Surprises for Environmental Education

March 11 - Congress passed an “Omnibus Appropriations” Bill yesterday for the second half of FY 2009 that largely continued the level-funding of environmental education programs for the rest of the year. But there were a couple of surprises totaling about $15 million in new funds for the field:

 

A. NOAA:

1. Competitive Educational Grants - $8.5 million, of which $7.5 million is for a new ocean education grant program for non-profit aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The good news is that this is an increase of $3.5 million over last year. The bad news is that NOAA has historically been given latitude to grant these funds to a broader audience than just aquaria. 

   
2. BWET Regional Programs - $7.2 million for the Chesapeake Bay,New England,Pacific Northwest, and Gulf of Mexico programs, as well as $2.5 million for the California B-WET program (same as FY08).

B. EPA Environmental Education Program: $9.0 million (same of FY08)

 

C. NSF: $10 million for a new Climate Change Education program, to be developed in consultation with the National Academies (no further explanation).

 

D. NASA: $10 million for Global Climate Change Education. This is up slightly from the $8.5 million in FY08 (the program’s first year).

 

The Interior Department also received an unspecified increase in funds to “expand opportunities for youth education including internships to instill environmental awareness”. Unfortunately, neither the newly authorized University Sustainability Program or the new Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Grants and Loans program for k-12, higher education, and municipalities were funded in this budget. We will continue to press for funding these programs in the FY2010 budget which is currently being developed.

 

Jim Elder

 

Feb 20 Update on CEL’s Green Schools, Green Job Training, and Green Education Stimulus Bill Proposal

The following is the outcome of our Green Schools, Green Job Training, and Green Education proposal as relfected in the new stimulus bill signed by President Obama earlier this week:

 

1. Green Education: No requested funding included. However, the bill does include $2 billion for the National Science Foundation to “expand employment opportunities in fundamental science and engineering to meet environmental challenges and to improve global economic competitiveness.” NSF will decide how these funds will be spent.

2. Green Job training: $500 million for a program of competitive grants for “worker training and placement projects that prepare workers for careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy as described in the Green Jobs Act of 2007”. This is a huge win, and congratulations to Green for All and Apollo Alliance for all the great work they did to help make this happen!

3. Green School Buildings: Despite the fact that both the House and Senate stimulus bills included billions for greening school buildings, these funds were eliminated in the final bill. However, $9.76 billion of the Stabilization Fund for States is allocated for “public safety and other government services, which may (underline added) include assistance for…modernization, renovation, or repair of public school facilities and institutions of higher education facilities, including modernization, renovation, and repairs that are consistent with a recognized green building rating system”. (See Title XIV-State Fiscal Stabilization Fund for details). So Governors may use some of their share of this $10 billion for green school buildings if they so choose – but the pressure to spend all these funds for other authorized purposes will be fierce.

Thank you all for your assistance and support with our effort to help move funds into these critical areas. We will continue to work hard to get education and specified green building funds into both the FY10 budget and a second stimulus bill if there is one.

Jim Elder

Six Programs for Energy Upgrades in K-16 School Buildings Are Included in the New House Stimulus Bill

Great News! THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009 (the newest stimulus bill) has been introduced in the House and is being marked up now. It includes six programs at the Departments of Energy and Education specifically for energy upgrades in k-12 and higher education buildings totaling at least $7.0 billion in grants and $.5 billion in loans (shared with k-12 and municipalities), similar to what we recommended.

 

The Senate is expected to release their stimulus bill on Monday, and passage could occur as soon as next week. These programs are required to spend their funds within 90 days, so be prepared for a very quick RFP process once the bill passes.

 

Unfortunately, the House did not accept our proposal to fund the new University Sustainability Program at the Department of Education or other existing “green education” programs. But we are pressing the Senate to include these funds.

 

Details of the House programs are below:

 

Grants and Loans to Institutional Entities for Energy Sustainability and Efficiency (Department of Energy)

 

This funding provides $1 billion (at least $500 million must go to higher education) for grants to “institutional entities” (institutions of higher education; public school districts; local governments; and municipal utilities) to identify, design, and implement sustainable energy infrastructure projects and grants for energy efficiency innovative technologies projects on grounds and facilities of institutions. This funding includes four programs:

 

1. Technical Assistance Grants: DOE will implement a program of technical assistance to assist in identifying, evaluating, designing, and implementing sustainable energy infrastructure projects in energy sustainability. The DOE may also make grants up to $250,000 to fund a portion of the cost of feasibility studies, analysis and implementation of strategies, and detailed engineering of sustainable energy infrastructure.

 

2. GRANTS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT: Grants of 60% of the total cost up to $1 million each will be made to institutions (not less than 1 grant to an institution of higher education in each State) to carry out projects to improve energy efficiency on the institution’s grounds and facilities. The institution must also agree to implement a public awareness campaign concerning the project in the institution’s host community. Funding criteria include: energy efficiency improvement; reduction in greenhouse gas and other air emissions and pollutants; increased use of renewable energy sources or thermal energy sources; reduction in fossil fuel use; active student participation; and the need for funding assistance.

 

3. GRANTS FOR INNOVATION IN ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY: Grants of 75% of the total cost up to $500,000 each will be made to institutions to engage in innovative energy sustainability projects (not less than 2 grants to institutions of higher education in each State). An innovation project must involve an innovative technology that is not yet commercially available; or an available technology in an innovative application that maximizes energy efficiency and sustainability; have the greatest potential for testing or demonstrating new technologies or processes; and (for higher education) ensure active student participation throughout the project.

 

At least half of the higher education funding for #3 and #4 above must go to institutions with an endowment of less than $100,000,000, and of that amount, at least half must go to institutions with an endowment of less than $50,000,000. DOE also may impose a cost-sharing requirement.

 

4. LOAN FUNDS: $500 million is provided for loans to institutional entities for identifying, designing and implementing sustainable energy infrastructure projects and grants for energy efficiency innovative technologies projects on grounds and facilities of institutions. Funding criteria include: improvement in energy efficiency; reduction in greenhouse gas and other air emissions and pollutants; increased use of renewable electric energy sources or renewable thermal energy sources; reduction of fossil fuel use; and need for funding assistance, including consideration of the size of endowment or other financial resources.

 

SCHOOL MODERNIZATION, RENOVATION, AND REPAIR (Department of Education)

 

5. K-12: This program provides $14 billion for school modernization, renovation, and repair, to be allocated to States based on their FY 2008 allocation under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Act. State educational agencies will distribute these funds to school districts for health and safety repairs, access for disabled students, educational technology infrastructure upgrades, and energy efficiency projects. A school shall use not less than 25% of the funds for modernization, renovation, or repairs that are certified, verified, or consistent with LEED, Energy Star; the CHPS Criteria; Green Globes; or an equivalent program standards.

 

6. HIGHER EDUCATION: This program provides $6 billion for institutions of higher education for modernization, renovation, and repair projects. The funds will be distributed to States in proportion to the State’s share of full-time equivalent undergraduate students. Funding will then be allocated by States to institutions based on the demonstrated need of each institution for facility modernization, renovation, and repair, with priority given to institutions that serve high numbers of minority students, institutions impacted by a major disaster; and institutions proposing to improve energy efficiency. Again, a school shall use not less than 25% of the funds for modernization, renovation, or repairs that are certified, verified, or consistent with LEED, Energy Star; the CHPS Criteria; Green Globes; or an equivalent program standards.

 

What Might the New Obama Administration Mean for Environmental Education?

President-elect Obama declared many times during his campaign that a clean-energy/green economy would be “my number one priority when I get into office.“, noting that this “can be the engine that drives us into the future in the same way the computer was the engine for economic growth over the last couple of decades." Plowing significant money now into the transition to a green economy would be a smart move, giving Obama a triple word score: immediate economic stimulus, action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and long term sustainable development.

 

If Obama takes this direction (as many think he will), it will be a major and unprecedented step in our direction. But so far, he has stopped a half step short of us. Obama asserts that his plans would create five million new "green" jobs – but who exactly will fill these new green jobs? Our current workforce is unprepared and unqualified to take on many of them. While Obama’s statements make clear that he understands the need for a great deal of green job training, he has been relatively quiet about the corresponding need for “green” education. And that’s exactly where our challenge and our opportunity lie.

 

Can we convince the Administration and Congress to support “education for a green economy"? With a few well crafted position papers and some time on the Hill talking to leaders – and assuming that the federal government does take an epoch-making move towards a green economy, “education for a green economy" seems like a relatively easy pitch. Unlike the perception of environmental education in many quarters as being a worthy subject but not as relevant and urgent as subjects like science, math and reading, it directly addresses our top national priority in good times and bad: economic development.

 

In other words, the term “education for a green economy” potentially has greater mainstream societal appeal than the term “environmental education”. Making a serious commitment to global competitiveness and innovation appeals to a wide range of stakeholders, including Americans concerned with security and energy independence issues, economic development, climate change, and the environment; those blue-collar workers and citizens calling for increasing investment in new green jobs; parents, students, and teachers; clean technology and green venture capital firms; and the academic community.

 

What is “Education for a Green Economy" and what would it look like?

It would be the study of interconnected economic, environmental and societal systems. It would be a somewhat bigger frame and tent than the term “environmental education”, at least as the term is commonly understood. It would include key concepts and components of what most people understand to be environmental education, as well as energy education, climate education, ocean education, environmental economics education, and even geography education. It would put the focus on understanding a big part of the solution (a green economy), rather than just understanding the problems (global warming, pollution, loss of habitat and biodiversity, etc).

 

“Education for a green economy” would be similar to sustainability education in many respects, but a bit more sharply and clearly defined. And it would avoid the difficulties and misunderstandings inherent in the term “sustainability” by putting focusing attention on the outcome: preparing people with the knowledge and understanding to make this great transition.

 

This moment is a truly unparalleled opportunity for environmental education – if we can make the easy connection between a green economy and green education for those who have yet to connect these dots, and if we can more widely align the current theory and practice of EE with a green economy.  

 

Comments are welcome.

 

Jim Elder, Campaign for Environmental Literacy

 

 

Hill Update for Environmental Education Legislation

President Bush recently signed a six month "Continuing Resolution" that funds almost all existing federal programs from the beginning of the 2009 fiscal year (October 1) until March 31 at the same level of funding as they received for FY2008.

Thus, for at least the first half of FY2009, NOAA and EPA environmental education programs will be funded at the current levels, and NASA’s new $8.5 million global climate change education program will presumably continue. However, the new "University Sustainability Program" (formerly the Higher Education Sustainability Act) and the "Energy Sustainability and Efficiency Grants and Loans for Institutions" will not receive any funding. And with Congress now done with business for 2008, the "No Child Left Inside" and the "21st Century Green High-Performing Public Schools Facilities" Acts passed by the House will die and need to be reintroduced next year.

2008 marks a truly unprecedented and historic year for gains in federal environmental and sustainability education:

· the new University Sustainability Program is the first new federal grant-making program for environmental education in 18 years

· the Energy Sustainability and Efficiency Grants and Loans for Institutions program promises to provide critical financing for schools to reduce their carbon footprint

· Passage by the House of the No Child Left Inside and the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public Schools Facilities Acts are significant steps toward eventual passage

· NOAA and NASA environmental education funding increased by over $10 million dollars in total.

Three years ago when virtually no advocacy work at the federal level was being done, we founded CEL on the assumptions that:

1) with issues such as climate change and "nature deficit disorder" receiving much broader public attention, environmental education’s time had come, and could generate significant and bi-partisan support from Congress and the public, and

2) significant opportunities had been missed simply because no one was asking Congress to support environmental education.

Thanks to your help and that of many thousands of others, we have clearly demonstrated these assumptions to be true. I hope those of you who have invested your time and effort feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment, and I look forward to working with you on achieving even greater advances in 2009.

Jim Elder, Director, Campaign for Environmental Literacy

U.S. House to Vote on the "No Child Left Inside Act" On Tuesday

Ask Your Representative to Vote YES on the No Child Left Inside Act on September 9  

Please take a few minutes between now and next Monday to click here

to contact your Representative to urge them to vote YES on the No Child Left Inside Act (H.R. 3036) when it comes to a vote next Tuesday.  Even better, call your representative’s office (click here to find their phone number) and simply say “I’m calling to ask Congressman/Congresswoman xx to please vote yes on the No Child Left Inside Act (H.R. 3036) when it comes to a vote on September 9”.

NCLI reauthorizes the long expired - though still funded - National Environmental Education Act of 1990 (NEEA) for one year only at the original 1995 appropriation level of $14 million. The NEEA is the oldest, and until recently, the only federal legislation dedicated to directly supporting environmental education. Since 1990, the NEEA has provided well over $100 million of funds for thousands of k-12, higher education and informal environmental education programs across the country.   

This new version of NCLI is very different from the original No Child Left Inside Act, due to significant changes made by the House Education and Labor Committee that they felt were needed in order to get broad bipartisan support within the Committee to secure passage. 

Nonetheless, it is an important bill to try to pass in the House so we can clearly demonstrate broad support in Congress for environmental education and build momentum for next year. For more information about the NCLI Act, click here.

Remember, your email is very likely to count, and sometimes a few extra emails can influence a member’s vote. So please contact your Representative now by clicking here. With your help, we got the Higher Education Sustainability Act passed recently, and with your help, we can help pass NCLI in the House too. Thank you for your support!

Sincerely,

 

Jim Elder, Director

Campaign for Environmental Literacy

Bush Signs New Law to Fund the Sustainability Movement in Higher Education

WE DID IT! Yesterday, President Bush signed into law all provisions of the Higher Education Sustainability Act (HESA) as part of the new Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HR 4137). HR 4137 creates a pioneering “University Sustainability Grants Program” at the Department of Education. It will offer competitive grants to institutions and associations of higher education to develop, implement and evaluate sustainability curricula, practices, and academic programs.

This is the first new federal environmental education grant-making program authorized in 18 years. Endorsed by over 220 colleges and universities, higher education associations, NGOs and corporations, this grant program will provide the catalyst for colleges and universities to develop and implement more programs and practices around the principles of sustainability. The bill also directs the Department of Education to convene a national summit of higher education sustainability experts, federal agency staff, and business leaders to identify best practices and opportunities for collaboration in sustainability.

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the original Senate sponsor of HESA, explained: "Colleges are a natural breeding ground for the kind of innovation we need to move to new, environmentally-friendly energy sources. Our young people know the stakes. They know that developing sustainable energy programs will affect their lives, their economic well-being, and the planet they are inheriting. These grants will help college students take the reins of the movement to make energy last longer and have less of an impact on our environment."

“As the world’s population increases, so does our impact on the environment, which makes it more vital than ever to invest in training the next generation of scientists, engineers, planners and business professionals,” said Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), one of the three original sponsors of HESA in the House of Representatives. “By providing grants to universities and institutions to develop sustainability programs, we can protect the planet while helping maintain America’s economic competitiveness.”

Congressman Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), another original House co-sponsor, added: "What better way to promote sustainability than to encourage our institutions of higher learning to create academic programs to teach its concepts, and to implement sustainable practices themselves. Society will reap the benefits of the excellent return on investment gained by educating students in sustainable practices."

As we begin to connect the dots among our nation’s many challenges in energy, national security, sustainable economic development, environmental protection, and social justice, it is imperative that our schools incorporate this fundamental perspective in their teaching and practice.  Higher education is embarking upon a major and highly ambitious transition to accomplish this, and we gratefully applaud Congress for recognizing the need to help.

Jim Elder, Director

July 30 Capitol Hill Update for Environmental Education

There has been truly unprecedented attention by Congress over the past eight to twelve months to environmental education. The chances are high that 2008/09 will see passage of at least one of the bills below – making it the first new environmental education bill passed in 18 years.

Higher Education Sustainability Act:

The President signed S.3180 on June 30 which extended the existing Higher Education Act through July 31, 2008 to give the House and Senate conference committee more time to finish its work on the new higher education act. All indications are that the HESA provisions included in the House version of the higher education act will be included in the final conference bill.

Lieberman-Warner-Boxer Bill (S 3036):

With our support, Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) introduced an amendment (SA 4866) to this climate change “cap and trade” bill that allocated 1% (increasing to 4% over time) of the auction proceeds to climate change education. Unfortunately a Republican filibuster effectively killed this bill. However, Congressmen Doggett and Blumenauer have also introduced a climate change “cap and trade” bill (HR 6316, the Climate MATTERS Act) in the House which directs .4% of the proceeds to climate change education. We are continuing to work with both sets of sponsors to advance this important idea.

No Child Left Inside Act:

The House Education and Labor Committee approved an amended version of the No Child Left Inside Act (HR 3036) on June 18, 2008 in a relatively bipartisan vote. NCLI originally amended the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). But with reauthorization of NCLB stuck in both the House and Senate, the Committee stripped all but a few provisions from the original bill introduced by Congressman John Sarbanes so that it no longer amends NCLB. Instead, it reauthorizes the long expired (but still funded by Congress) National Environmental Education Act of 1990 for one year, with the 1995 appropriation level of $14 million.

The two significant provisions left in the new version from the original NCLI bill by the Committee are:
1. the National EE Capacity Building Grants program, which will be administered by the Department of Education and which the new bill allows Congress to fund outside the $14 million cap for the rest of the bill’s programs. States as well as NGOS and schools may apply for these grants; however, to receive these funds, a state must have an approved environmental literacy plan in place or use the funds to create one.
2. Some of the original uses of teacher training funds have been incorporated into the purposes of the NEEA’s Environmental Education and Training Program.

The bill will go shortly to a vote in the full House of Representatives. While chances of subsequent Senate action and passage on this bill are slim, it is nonetheless important to rally support for this bill to build momentum for next year.

Please click here now to let your representatives know how important it is to support the new NCLI bill when it comes to a vote soon.

National Environmental Education Act:

In light of the above, the House Education and Labor Committee has indicated that no further action will be taken on the NEEA in 2008, but they say they intend to take up a more thorough updating of the NEEA in 2009.

The 21st Century Green High-Performing Public Schools Facilities Act:

The House passed this bill (H.R. 3021) on June 4, 2008 by a bipartisan vote of  250 to 164. HR 3021 directs the Secretary of Education to make grants and low-interest loans totaling up to $6.4 billion in funding for FY2009 to local educational agencies for the construction, modernization, or repair of public kindergarten, elementary, and secondary educational facilities, to help ensure that school facilities and learning environments are safe, healthy, energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, and technologically advanced. To further encourage energy efficiency and the use of renewable resources in schools, the bill requires that the majority of funds for school improvement projects meet widely recognized green building standards and would encourage states to help schools track their energy use and carbon footprints, among other things. It allows school districts to waive the green building standards where circumstances make them impracticable, but ensures that at least 90 percent of funds will be used for green projects by 2013. The Senate has yet to act on this bill.

FY09 Appropriations:

It now appears that like Congress is likely to punt on many FY09 appropriations by issuing a six month "Continuing Resolution". This means that most if not all agencies and programs will receive the same funding as they did in FY08, for at least the first half of FY09.

NOAA: CEL and partners requested $12 million for "Education Initiatives" including the Environmental Literacy Grants program and $12 million total for the BWET programs, for a total of $24 million. The good news is that the House Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee approved a total of $23 million for these programs and the Senate Subcommittee approved $29 million for these programs as well as one new program for aquaria. While these increases over FY08 probably will not affect the first half of FY09, there remains a good chance that the increases will be enacted for the second half of FY09, or for FY10

EPA: As of yet, neither the House or the Senate Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittees have issued their spending bills. While The President’s FY2009 budget released in February as usual zeroed out EPA’s $9 million Environmental Education Program, the likelihood of a Continuing Resolution means that the EPA program funding will continue at FY08 levels. 

NASA: NASA’s new $8.5 million global climate change education program, while not funded by the Senate CJS Subcommittee for FY09, may still continue into FY09 under the Continuing Resolution. 

Department of Energy: Due to the likelihood of a Continuing Resolution, the new “Energy Sustainability and Efficiency Grants and Loans for Institutions” program created by Section 471 of the Energy Independence and Security Act enacted earlier this year is unlikely to be funded for FY09. This new law authorizes up to $500 million in loans and up to $250 million in grants annually for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects to higher education institutions, public schools and local governments.

For more information on the above and to receive future updates, please visit www.FundEE.org and register now!

Jim Elder, Director                                                                                         Campaign for Environmental Literacy

February 8, 2008 Hill Update for Environmental Education

Higher Education Sustainability Act (HESA) – ANOTHER BIG STEP FORWARD!

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the College Opportunity and Affordability Act (HR 4137) this evening, and it includes all the provisions of the Higher Education Sustainability Act (HESA) with a few minor amendments! To all of you who endorsed HESA and reached out to your Representatives in the House, we sincerely thank you for your help. It definitely would not have passed the House without you.

Our attention now turns to building support for HESA in the conference between the House and Senate to create the final higher education act. This may begin as early as next week. Perhaps half of the 40 or so new programs that are created between the two versions of the act will be cut in the final version, so we need to insure that HESA is not one of those cut.

To date, Senators Kennedy, Dodd, Bingaman and Kerry have co-sponsored Senator Murray’s Senate version of HESA (S. 2444). We are working hard with many of you to expand this list of Senate co-sponsors over the next week as the best way to keep HESA in the final bill, and we are focused on the following Senators:

• Judd Gregg (R-NH)
• Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
• Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT)
• Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
• Wayne Allard (R-CO)
• Jack Reed (D-RI)
• Richard Durbin (D-IL)
• Susan Collins (R-ME)
• Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
• Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
• Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
• Herbert Kohl (D-WI)
• Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
• Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
• Arlen Specter (REP-PA) 

These Senators want to hear from colleges and universities in their states about the importance of HESA, so we need your help in getting schools in these states to contact them. For more detailed information on how to do this, click here.

And of course, if your school, association, or NGO has yet to join the impressive list of prominent HESA endorsers, please do so ASAP.

FY09 NOAA and EPA Appropriations – Bad If Not Surprising News

The President’s recently released FY2009 budget as usual zeroed out EPA’s $9 million Environmental Education Program, NOAA’s $9.7 million BWET (Bay Watershed Education and Training) programs, and NASA’s new $8.5 million global climate change education program.  The one small step forward is that the President’s budget did not completely eliminate NOAA’s $5 million Environmental Literacy Grants program; it funded it at $1 million. Efforts will begin soon to again restore these funds.

Jim Elder