tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-1683708 2012-11-06T15:10:27-05:00 news on federal environmental education appropriations, legislation, and policy TypePad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e5538524f08833017c332c2b3d970b 2012-11-06T15:10:27-05:00 2012-11-06T15:10:27-05:00

With the election upon us, it might be helpful for those in the environmental and sustainability education community to review our gains (and losses) in federal support over the past four years. We've experienced: 1. an unprecedented three new programs created by Congress: the University Sustainability Program (Department of Education - the first time in history that the Department has conducted sustainability education grant-making), the Climate Change Education Program (National Science Foundation) and Climate Change Education (National Space and Aeronautics Administration). 2. the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) B-WET program expanded from 3 regions to 7 regions. 3. a...

James Elder tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e5538524f088330168ea99b898970c 2012-04-23T12:14:41-04:00 2012-04-23T12:14:41-04:00

The nation's first Green Ribbon awards are being announced as I write. 78 schools (including 8 charter and 12 private) from 30 states - incredibly impressive schools! You can watch the 20 minute announcement by EPA, CEQ and ED here (skip the first 4 minutes): www.ustream.tv/recorded/22071533. Most notably, half of the public school award winners s are "disadvantaged", debunking the myth that only wealthy schools can be green. And we received two great endorsements recently. First President Obama issued a short Earth Day Proclamation yesterday (www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/20/presidential-proclamation-earth-day) which prominently mentions Green Ribbon (see excerpt below) - the first President since Nixon...

James Elder tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e5538524f0883301676265da4c970b 2012-02-15T12:37:38-05:00 2012-02-21T19:02:05-05:00

President Obama has cut the three biggest federal environmental education funding programs to almost zero in his FY13 budget request to Congress. NOAA's competitive environmental literacy grants program, which he budgeted at $5 million and Congress later funded at $8 million last year, has been eliminated completely in his FY13 budget this year. EPA's Office of Environmental Education, which he proposed to fund at $9.7 last year and Congress funded at that amount, was also eliminated. Finally, NOAA's Bay-Watershead Training (B-WET) program has provided about $7 million for the past two years, and the President's FY13 budget includes nothing for...

James Elder tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e5538524f088330162ffea5357970d 2012-01-20T17:22:08-05:00 2012-01-20T17:22:08-05:00

If your school resides in one of the 33 participating states, you can now apply to your state education authority to be one of up to four nominees from your state for the new U.S. Department of Education 2012 Green Ribbon Award! Most if not all schools who are nominated by their state are likely to win the Green Ribbon award, so consider applying now. General information on Green Ribbon can be found at: www2.ed.gov/programs/green-ribbon-schools/index.html While the award confers no immediate federal funds, winners of the Green Ribbon, like U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon award winners, are likely to...

James Elder tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e5538524f08833015393f95a85970b 2011-12-03T19:09:31-05:00 2011-12-03T19:09:31-05:00

34 states have announced that they are supporting the fast-growing green school movement by participating in the pilot year of the U.S. Department of Education's Green Ribbon School award program. These states represent 2/3rds of the nation, and are divided almost evenly between states with Republican Governors and those with Democratic Governors. Green schools are clearly a bipartisan issue: saving operating costs, improving the health of students, reducing negative environmental impact and improving student performance are issues which concern us all. The Green Ribbon program is the first comprehensive green school initiative to come from the federal government. More than...

James Elder tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e5538524f08833015436981528970c 2011-11-02T20:48:47-04:00 2011-11-02T20:48:47-04:00

The U.S. Department of Education released the proceedings report today from their “Sustainability Education Summit: Citizenship and Pathways for a Green Economy”, held back in September, 2010. The Summit was originally mandated by the 110th Congress in the Higher Education Opportunity Act (Public Law 110-315, enacted in 2008) as a result of efforts led by CEL and championed by many of you. This is the first report on sustainability education ever released by the Department of Education (or any other federal agency), and it provides an overview of Summit activities and recommends ways to advance sustainability education throughout the country....

James Elder tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e5538524f08833015435c8842f970c 2011-09-29T15:56:01-04:00 2011-09-29T15:56:01-04:00

It's now real, thanks to your help! The U.S. Department of Education (ED) opened the Green Ribbon Schools Award Competition for FY2011/2012 a few minutes ago by posting the finalized the award criteria, process, and timeline online (www2.ed.gov/programs/green-ribbon-schools) along with a video message from Secretary Duncan (www.ed.gov/blog/2011/09/final-plans-announced-for-green-ribbon-schools/). For this critical first year, ED will need our help in quickly enlisting state governments to participate in the program. So we're mounting a major push to get the word out to teachers and administrators across the country to contact their state departments of education and urge them to participate in the program....

James Elder tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e5538524f08833015431fb04d5970c 2011-04-27T11:07:30-04:00 2011-04-27T11:07:30-04:00

Thanks to your help, we did it: the Green Ribbon Award program is being launched! Here's a link to the White House blog talking about the announcement ceremony yesterday: www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/04/26/cultivating-seeds-knowledge-growing-greener-future-our-nation. Yesterday's event marks a significant milestone in the green school movement, and we applaud Secretary Duncan, Administrator Jackson, and Chair Sutley for taking this historic step forward. Green Ribbon is more than just another award program. It puts the weight of the federal government and in particular the U.S. Department of Education behind a comprehensive vision for green schools. And with a strong push from everyone, it will significantly accelerate...

James Elder tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e5538524f088330147e298e4cf970b 2011-02-15T15:42:30-05:00 2011-02-15T15:42:30-05:00

CEL is helping to organize the sign-on letter below urging the Department of Education to create a "Green Ribbon Award" program. Modeled loosely on their very successful Blue Ribbon Award, this new comprehensive award would set a comprehensive and high benchmark for green schools and will dramatically raise the visibility of green school concept across the nation. Please consider adding your organization's name to the attached letter by emailing me (Elder@FundEE.org) by February 28. We are confident that a strong response from the stakeholder community for this idea will convince the Department to take it on, so it is essentially...

James Elder tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e5538524f088330147e11e807b970b 2010-12-29T16:56:03-05:00 2010-12-29T16:56:03-05:00

2010 was an historic year for environmental and sustainability education (ESE), with more legislative and policy activity than ever before. However, we were only able to capitalize on some of this activity and turn it into hard support before year end. Appropriations: Congress has passed several "Continuing Resolutions" for FY2011 which fund a vast majority of federal programs at 2010 levels for the duration of the resolution (currently until March 4, 2011). This is mixed news: we should maintain our historic high levels of funding for environmental and sustainability education (see chart below), but we will have lost the additional...

James Elder