Push for climate education brings students hope for future

Several dozen young people wearing light blue T-shirts imprinted with “#teachclimate” filled a hearing room in the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul in late February. The high school and college students and other advocates called on the Minnesota Youth Council, a liaison between young people and state lawmakers, to support a bill requiring schools to teach more about climate change. “Sometimes within like the youth community, it can be hard to hear from people, from older generations making decisions for you on an issue that is so near and dear to you,” said Lucia Everist, an Edina High School student pushing for the bill. In places that teach to standards formulated by the National Science Teachers Association, state governments, and other organizations, many kids learn about air quality, ecosystems, biodiversity, and land and water in Earth and environmental science classes. But students and advocates say that is insufficient. They are demanding districts, boards, and state lawmakers require more teaching about the planet’s warming and would like it woven into more subjects. Some places are adding more instruction on the subject. In 2020, New Jersey required teaching climate change at all grade levels. Connecticut followed, then California. More than two dozen new measures across 10 states were introduced last year, according to the National Center for Science Education. Where some proposals require teaching the basic science and human causes of climate change, the Minnesota bill goes further, requiring state officials to guide schools on teaching climate justice, including the idea that the changes hit disadvantaged communities harder. The bill didn’t advance in the 2023 session. This year, the Minnesota Youth Council supported the bill, but it’s likely it won’t pass and will be reintroduced next year. But students say being involved in the process gives them hope, despite legislative setbacks. “For me personally, I get a lot of hope from working with other young people and seeing that other people care about the same things and that, you know, we all kind of have each other’s back working towards climate solutions,” said University of Minnesota freshman Libby Kramer. This article was provided by The Associated Press.