2022 -- H 7275

========

LC003664

========

     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022

____________

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- THE CLIMATE LITERACY ACT

     Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, Carson, Bennett, Kislak, Donovan, Caldwell,
Speakman, Amore, Fogarty, and Tanzi

     Date Introduced: February 02, 2022

     Referred To: House Education

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Title 16 of the General Laws entitled "EDUCATION" is hereby amended by

adding thereto the following chapter:

CHAPTER 112

THE CLIMATE LITERACY ACT

     16-112-1. Short title.

     This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Climate Literacy Act."

     16-112-2. Legislative findings.

     The legislature finds and declares that:

     (1) The evidence for human-induced climate change is overwhelming and undeniable, and

the heaviest burden of climate change impacts will fall on the next generation.

     (2) Nearly ten thousand (10,000) students graduate from Rhode Island high schools each

year, armed with skills and knowledge about the climate that inform their actions, and the effects

on the climate, positive or negative, of each of those ten thousand (10,000) students lasts beyond a

lifetime.

     (3) Those students need to be prepared to implement changes in professional and personal

practices, to support and help develop new technology and policy, and to address the coming social

and economic challenges and opportunities arising from a changing climate.

     (4) It is thus essential that each of these graduates are climate literate and understand key

environmental, climate, and sustainability principles;

     (5) A study published in Nature demonstrated that children who take a climate education

curriculum foster climate change concern among their parents;

     (6) According to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communications, over seventy-six

percent (76%) of the people of Rhode Island support teaching students about the causes,

consequences, and potential solutions to climate change;

     (7) According to a recent national public radio poll, eighty-six percent (86%) of teachers

in the United States feel that climate change should be taught in schools;

     (8) A survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that sixty-one percent

(61%) of American teenagers say the issue of climate change is very or extremely important to

them personally;

     (9) A survey by the University of Bath and the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global

Health showed that nearly two-thirds (2/3) of young people (ages sixteen to twenty-five (16-25))

are extremely worried about climate change, and more than half (1/2) feel "sad, anxious, angry,

powerless, helpless, and guilty." Sixty-eight percent (68%) of youth in the United States said that

the "future was frightening" and nearly half (1/2) believe they will have "less opportunity than

[their] parents." More than a third (1/3) of young people in the United States are "hesitant to have

children" because of climate change and more than half (1/2) feel that the government is "failing

young people" and "betraying me/future generations." A 2020 study by Wu et al. notes that stress

and anxiety related to climate change may negatively impact the overall and long-term mental

health of young people who are at particular risk during a crucial physical and psychological

developmental period;

     (10) The National Science Teaching Association, the National Association of Geoscience

Teachers, and the National Association of Biology Teachers, as well as other professional education

organizations, have all called for greater support for science educators in teaching climate science

and climate change. In a recent paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,

scientists picked climate education as one of six (6) key societal transformations needed to address

the climate crisis;

     (11) The Resilient Rhody Report recommends that kindergarten through grade twelve (K-

12) education be expanded to include education on environmental literacy, including climate-

related emergency preparedness, by developing resources for school use and identifying how these

concepts can be incorporated into existing state standards; and

     (12) The United States Congress is considering an active bill in the House of

Representatives and the Senate called the Climate Change Education Act which would, if passed,

provide competitive grants totaling twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) annually to state

LC003664 - Page 2 of 5

departments of education which have a climate education plan in place.

     16-112-3. Purpose.

     The purpose and intent of this chapter is to ensure that all students attending public schools,

or other schools managed and controlled by the state, become environmentally and climate literate

by the time they graduate from twelfth grade.

     16-112-4. Implementation.

     The Rhode Island department of education shall:

     (1) In consultation with a wide representation from the environmental and climate

education community as well as practicing teachers, principals, and superintendents, develop a set

of key environmental, climate, and sustainability principles and concepts to be integrated into all

science, civics and social studies courses throughout kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) no

later than August 31, 2023;

     (2) In consultation with a wide representation from the environmental and climate

education community as well as practicing teachers, principals, and superintendents, identify and

disseminate lessons, activities, and materials related to the environment, including potential career

paths and “green jobs”, which are based on these key environmental, climate, and sustainability

principles and concepts while meeting the learning standards and grade span expectations to all

Rhode Island schools no later than August 31, 2024;

     (3) Produce and disseminate models and examples of how to incorporate climate change

into math, career and technical education, and English language arts to teachers and schools no

later than August 31, 2024;

     (4) Review and highlight these key environmental, climate, and sustainability principles

and concepts where they exist in the current learning standards in science and the kindergarten

through grade twelve (K-12) Rhode Island grade span expectations for social studies where

appropriate no later than August 31, 2025;

     (5) Ensure that all RIDE teacher professional development in science, civics, and social

studies includes these key principles and concepts no later than August 31, 2026; and

     (6) Establish a “Climate Smart” award program to recognize high performing schools

based on the metrics of the US Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools program and a

“Green Apple” award program to recognize kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) teachers

who develop and implement high-quality instruction that addresses these key environmental,

climate, and sustainability principles and concepts no later than August 31, 2023.

LC003664 - Page 3 of 5

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

========

LC003664

========

LC003664 - Page 4 of 5

EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- THE CLIMATE LITERACY ACT

***

     This act would require that the Rhode Island department of education (RIDE) implement a

plan to ensure that all students enrolled in public schools or other schools managed and controlled

by the state in grades kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) become environmentally and

climate literate by the time they graduate from high school.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

========

LC003664

========

LC003664 - Page 5 of 5