New Bill Could Help Teach Young People About Climate Change

In a push to improve climate education across the country, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced a bill to create the Climate Change Education Program on Friday.  The program would help educate the public on climate change solutions, the dangers caused by climate change, and small changes people can make in their daily lives to help combat the environmental problem.

“The focus of the content would be the basics of climate change, how it works, the impacts it has, as well as the solutions to climate change — which include clean energy,” Giselle Barry, the spokesperson for Markey’s office, told ThinkProgress.

The program would include “formal learning” in classroom curricula as well as “informal learning” opportunities.  The informal learning would include public service announcements or campaigns and outreach to post-secondary schools, community centers, and community groups, according to Barry.  Further, the program would include information on climate change’s impact on human health and safety, as well as on new technologies, programs, and incentives related to energy conservation, renewable energy, and greenhouse gas reduction. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would establish the program.

Using the latest science in a national education program could help overcome the problem of inaccurate science being taught in U.S. classrooms.  One survey earlier this year found that 30 percent of teachers teach their students that climate change is “likely due to natural causes,” while another 31 percent teaches climate change as unsettled science.  The same survey found that many teachers were unaware of the undeniable consensus on climate change.

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