Savannah Country Day School, one of the inaugural US Green Ribbon School Award winners as well as an Eco-Schools USA Green Flag recipient (Laura Hickey)

Seventy-eight schools representing 29 states were awarded the nation’s first U.S. Green Ribbon Schools Award for overall excellence in environmental literacy; environmental quality; and the health and wellness of students and faculty.

The announcement took place at the Stoddert Elementary School in Washington, D.C.  which is LEED Gold certified and the city’s first geo-thermal building.   Included in the roster of winners were 19 schools registered in the National Wildlife Federation’s Eco-Schools USA program.

During his speech, Secretary Duncan pointed out how important a holistic environmental education is for 21^st century employment:

 ”Science, environmental and outdoor education play a central role in providing children with a well-rounded education, helping prepare them for the jobs of the future […] U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools demonstrate compelling examples of the ways schools can help children build real-world skill sets, cut school costs, and provide healthy learning environments.”

The inaugural class of U.S. Green Ribbon School Award winners signals a shift in the understanding of environmental education as integral to our nation’s success.  “These Green Ribbon School award winners are taking outstanding steps to educate tomorrow’s environmental leaders, and demonstrating how sustainability and environmental awareness make sense for the health of our students and our country” said Chairwoman Nancy Sutley.

As host of the Eco-Schools USA program and a member of the U.S. Green Ribbons Schools Partnership, NWF continues to work tirelessly on the effort to ensure that all students receive a quality environmental education and develop an authentic relationship with the outdoors.  “America’s schools still lead the way in making our communities more efficient and environmentally literate,” said Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation in a statement.  “By cutting their expenses and recasting themselves as living laboratories for a sustainable future, these Green Ribbon awardees prove a great model for well-rounded 21^st century education.”

Senate Agriculture Committee Improves Farm Bill, but More Work Needed

April 26 – The National Wildlife Federation commends Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow and Ranking Member Pat Roberts for their leadership in crafting and moving out of committee a bipartisan reauthorization of the farm bill.

“It is important that we pass a farm bill this year, and we praise the committee leadership for their hard work in helping to make this happen,” said Julie Sibbing, director of agriculture and forestry programs at the National Wildlife Federation.

The Senate Agriculture Committee passed a farm bill today which seeks to minimize the effects of cuts to conservation and energy programs. However, the National Wildlife Federation believes vital improvements are still needed to ensure protection for wildlife and natural resources.

As Americans Mark the 40th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act, U.S. House of Representatives Takes Another Step Backward

April 26 – The Izaak Walton League of America, National Wildlife Federation, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, and Trout Unlimited issued the following statement today concerning the Rehberg Amendment to the House Energy and Water Appropriations Bill:

“We are deeply disappointed that some in Congress continue to block progress to restore Clean Water Act protections for streams, wetlands, and other waters. Once again, the House Energy and Water Appropriations bill includes a rider barring the Army Corps of Engineers from finalizing and implementing science-based Clean Water Act guidance. Unfortunately, the House is picking up where it left off last year by pushing policies that threaten our most important natural resource.”

National Aquarium, NWF Celebrate Maryland Partnership With Earth Day Tree-Planting

April 23 – The National Aquarium officially joined forces with NWF yesterday, becoming the first aquarium or zoo state affiliate of the 75-year-old organization at an Earth Day event featuring Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

During the event, Mayor Rawlings-Blake delivered remarks on the importance of the partnership and of the green initiatives taking place across the city, state and region before helping to plant a white dogwood tree in the aquarium’s new Certified Wildlife Habitat at the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Waterfront Park on the Inner Harbor. Visitors to NWF’s Earth Day tent were given the opportunity to take home their own ‘baby’ trees for planting later in the year.

Eco-Schools USA Congratulates Dept of Education’s U.S. Green Ribbon School Award Recipients

April 23 – The Department of Education has recognized 19 registered Eco-Schools among the 78 inaugural winners of the U.S. Green Ribbon School Awards Program, which recognizes schools for their commitment to an energy-efficient, sustainable and healthy school environment, and to ensuring the environmental literacy of their graduates.

The schools, which represent 14 states, were previously given the opportunity to utilize an alignment primer created by NWF’s Eco-Schools USA program as a stepping stone to winning a Green Ribbon. In all, schools from 29 states plus Washington, DC, were recognized.

Canada-New England Tar Sands Pipeline Hits Strong Opposition

April 23 – A proposal by Canadian Energy giant Enbridge, Inc. to partially reverse the flow of a Canadian pipeline received 41,000 comments in opposition. The reversal is the first step in an apparent scheme to ship tar sands oil through New England in order to access East Coast and overseas markets. Comments to the Canadian National Energy Board (NEB) expressed concerns about the environmental and public health impacts of the proposal.

The NEB, the Canadian federal agency that oversees permitting interprovincial pipelines, is reviewing Enbridge’s proposal to reverse the flow direction of a portion of its aging 62-year-old pipeline to move tar sands crude approximately 125 miles from Sarnia to the Westover Oil Terminal, outside of Hamilton, Ontario. Pipeline companies have sent clear signals that the real intent is a long-range plan to ship tar sands oil further on through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine to tankers in Portland harbor for Eastern U.S. and overseas markets.

And here are highlights from NWF in the News:

• The New York Times: As Bison Return to Prairie, Some Rejoice, Others Worry
• UPI: Advocates protest Maine oil sands plan
• Mashable: Craigslist Founder Will Donate $1 if You Tweet About Squirrels
• Education Week: Obama Sends Mixed Signals on Environmental Education

For more, visit www.nwf.org/News

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Human activity isn’t changing the climate…CO2 is harmless!…People can’t change the weather…A scientist will say anything if you pay them.”

Then, the coup de grace: “Of course it’s true. I learned it in school.”

Climate Reality is referring to the coal, oil and auto industry-funded Heartland Institute’s plan to “change the science taught in our public schools” by way of an under-development curriculum that purports to teach that climate change is scientifically “controversial.” Climate Reality asks: “Is the truth really for sale?” NWF and other organizations have posed similar questions in the last few weeks, only to be bombarded with cease-and-desist letters and vague threats.

To the untrained eye, Heartland is spitting in the wind. After all, American education is getting greener all the time. Witness the State Board of the Maryland Department of Education’s landmark new policy requiring high school students in the state to attain a basic level of environmental literacy before graduation, or the inclusion of environmental education provisions in an amendment to the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), marking the first time environmental education has been formally included in federal K-12 education policy. More significant still are the purely elective efforts, evidenced by an increase in environmental science Advanced Placement exams and ‘greening’ recognition across geographical and political lines (34 states have now opted in to the U.S. Green Ribbon Schools Award, and half of them have Republican governors and are generally viewed as ‘red’).

But Heartland didn’t get where it is by scrapping for half measures or lost causes. The “climate controversy” plan is actually incredibly canny—and highly cynical. Heartland senses that the decision-makers of generations to come are getting informed and chooses to exploit that awakening: sowing doubt under the pretense that more information, no matter the source, necessarily means a fuller understanding.

Basically, just as schools, teachers and students alike are starting to seek a clearer picture of how the world works and how they affect it, contrarian shysters are scrambling to smear the whole thing with Vaseline.

NWF cares about this issue. We support federal environmental education programs, many of which are in jeopardy. We are the U.S. host for the prestigious Eco-Schools program, which certifies schools that green their physical structures and curricula. We can use your help in making sure that America’s environmental education renaissance doesn’t drown in misinformation posing as legitimate “curriculum.”

If you’d like to help America’s kids learn accurate, balanced environmental science, ask Congress to pass the No Child Left Inside Act, a bill to help states develop stronger K-12 environmental literacy programs.

For more information on environmental education, check out Eco-Schools USA’s Climate Change pathway on incorporating global warming education into the curriculum in a practical and instructive way. You can also see the Guidelines for Excellence developed by the North American Association for Environmental Education or the reworked  Framework for K-12 Science Education, from the National Academies’ Board on Science Education.

President Obama at the first White House Science Fair in 2010. No presidents ever came to my science fairs. Just sayin'. (flickr | cerebus19)

Exhibits will include designs for a future energy-efficient city, an ‘environmental cleanup’ video game and a more economical way to collect solar energy modeled on the natural design of tree limbs.

The fair is part of the commitment the president made in his Educate to Innovate campaign to inspire students to excel in math and science. On the occasion of the first fair, in 2010, he likened the honorees to our best amateur athletes:

 “If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you’re a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too.”

The president’s metaphor is apt: these STEM champs, like the players cutting down the nets each March, have positioned themselves well for a future in the pros. (Corny!)

That’s partly why we mention ‘STEM’ so often on Wildlife Promise. Sure, a young populace better versed in science is more likely to coalesce around sound conservation practices, but perhaps even more significantly, environmental education can actually help drive a more complete understanding of STEM by connecting core concepts to our actions on earth—an area of need for America’s students and our economic prospects.

STEM in Dire Need of Growth

If you don’t believe me that this is a problem, check the numbers: in 2002, the National Science Foundation reported that that 80%-90% of students opt out of science education before entering high school. The most recent assessment by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) found that American students ranked 17th and 25th in science and math, respectively, among 34 countries measured. The National Assessment of Educational Progress’s (NAEP) 2009 science survey found that less than one-half of U.S. students perform at or above the ‘proficient’ level in science in grades four, eight and 12. A 2007 National Academies report raised the specter that “the scientific and technological building blocks critical to our economic leadership are eroding at a time when many other nations are gathering strength.” (Also over the last decade, the National Environmental Education & Training Foundation reported (PDF) that Americans don’t understand the environment as well as they assume).

Help and Learn More

Last winter, the president issued a call to action for nascent American innovators in all fields, calling this “our generation’s Sputnik moment.” The Center on Education and the Workforce forecasts (PDF) 8 million STEM-related jobs for which Postsecondary education is typically required by the year 2018, making it the third fastest-growing employment area in that category—and a prime staging area for that drive to all-around excellence.

• If you think environmental education should be a major part of that, you can ask Congress to pass the No Child Left Inside Act, a bipartisan bill intended to assist states in the development and implementation of stronger environmental literacy programs for K-12 students.
• Learn about the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee’s decision to include environmental education provisions in an amendment to the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
• Research the Eco-Schools USA program, which features curricula and activities to help educators engage students in math, science and critical thinking (more academic benefits (PDF)) and can help prepare schools for the U.S. Green Ribbon Schools Award Program.

Teachers link what they already teach to Eco-Schools USA pathways (Jennifer Hammonds)

Case in point: the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) voted to include environmental education provisions in an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 2011, marking the first time environmental education has been formally introduced in federal K-12 education policy.

Another example of federal support has come from the Department of Education, as they introduced the prestigious Green Ribbon Schools award in 2011:

The U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools will recognize schools that save energy, reduce costs, feature environmentally sustainable learning spaces, protect health, foster wellness, and offer environmental education to boost academic achievement and community engagement.

Green school support is not only evident at the federal level, but in the work of many states supporting efforts to green the school community. Here in Texas, for example, the state awards its schools through their Texas Green Ribbon Schools program.

Green Ribbon Schools:

• promote healthy living for students, parents and staff
• connect students to nature
• take steps to create an environmentally-friendly campus, encourage physical activity and cooperative outdoor play, foster healthy habits and use nature as a learning tool
• create their own vision and plan and improve over time

Locally, the Houston Independent School District (HISD), the largest in Texas and seventh largest in the nation, is setting its sights on a sustainable future for its students and staff by broadly promoting green efforts, providing professional development for its teachers and working with community members like the Katy Prairie Conservancy, Houston’s  Outdoor Education Center and Urban Harvest.

Recently I had the pleasure and privilege to participate in the 5th Annual Houston Environmental Education Summit, sponsored by many wonderful organizations and community partners including NWF, the University of Houston Downtown and the City of Houston.  There, I was thrilled to hear Dr. Gavin Dillingham, Houston’s Energy Manager, share his ‘outdoors in nature’ experiences from childhood and how he now shares the outdoors with his own children. Dr. Dillingham shares NWF’s passion for getting students outside to experience nature as well as Eco-Schools USA‘s passion for greening the school facilities.

He also described HISD’s recent initiative, the Green School Challenge. After providing participating schools with baseline data, they will then work to reduce energy and increase recycling (both energy and recycling are found as sustainable pathways through the Eco-Schools program, and educators were surprised to see the natural links between their curricula and what Eco-Schools USA already offers).

As evidenced by the support of the federal government, national organizations, state programs and local initiatives, the green school movement gets stronger every day as we work to sustain our precious resources for generations of students to come.

Smokey the Bear on the job...but not for long, if one member of Congress gets his way (Wikimedia Commons)

This week, that’s being targeted for elimination as part of the House Republicans’ YouCut program, led by Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN).

YouCut, a year-old attempt by Majority Leader Eric Cantor and colleagues to cut government programs as selected by public internet voting, designates the Forest Service ‘green school’ curricula as an example of “issue-oriented advocacy” that is “inappropriate” for public funding.  This is at a time when Republican and Democrat governors nationwide have opted in to the U.S. Green Ribbon Schools Award Program. Odd, no?

Aside from the idea that teaching kids about the world and their impact on it (and helping their schools save money through energy efficiency measures to boot) is “inappropriate,” here’s the funny part: the drive to defund Smokey’s family is being led by a Congressman from a state that has suffered 1,126 wildfires claiming about 12,875 acres of land so far in 2011 alone (PDF). Maybe he’d like the Great Smoky Mountains to more aptly live up to their name (they and Cherokee National Forest both happen to be highly forested and subject to significant fires).

The U.S. Forest Service’s conservation education programs include efforts to get kids outdoors, healthy and connecting with the natural world.  Do we really want to say farewell to Smokey Bear at a time in our nation’s history where kids spend less time outdoors than any generation in human history?

Take Action to Save Smokey

If the conservation education program ‘wins’ the vote and the cuts are eventually enacted by Congress, the “Starve Smokey” effort would likely completely eliminate the (already cash-strapped) Conservation Education office at USFS.

If you think Congress should leave Smokey alone and recognize the importance of conservation education, sign the Twitter petition in defense of Smokey or post the following on your Facebook wall:

Dear U.S. Representative @Scott DesJarlais: Please keep Smokey the Bear and his family off the federal budget chopping block. He’s not to blame for the budget problems our country faces today.

This seems to confirm that, whether “red” or “blue,” every state has a stake in environmental stewardship and sustainable living.  Teaching K-12 students about the environment and its connection to economics, health, and wellness—-with a strong ‘STEM’ emphasis—is the first step toward driving that common cause home and creating the next generation of environmentally informed and responsible Americans.

The Green Ribbon Schools Award models itself after the highly acclaimed Blue Ribbon program, nearly 30 years old, which recognizes schools for academic progress.  Now, following the May 3^rd announcement by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairwoman Nancy Sutley, schools across the country that save energy, reduce costs, feature environmentally sustainable learning spaces, protect health, and offer environmental education to boost academic achievement and community engagement will be awarded for their great work.

This is an especially exciting initiative for NWF because it lines up with our work of helping more than 4,000 schools go green over the last 15 years through Certified Schoolyard Habitats and the Eco-Schools USA program. The latter, which boasts registered schools in all but four states, will act as a stepping stone for many schools to work their way up to Green Ribbon status.

A Green Shift in American Education

Green Ribbon—-together with initiatives like Eco-Schools USA—signifies a great shift in American education.  In order for the U.S. to remain competitive within the 21^st century global green economy, students need curricula that promote critical thinking and innovation.  Studies have shown that schools with an environmental focus help to shape such programs, and may improve  test scores and graduation rates to boot.  Perhaps most importantly, students need to understand their impact on the natural world now more than ever—preferably in a formal school setting–if we are to stem the tide of environmental degradation and misuse. The U.S. Green Ribbon Schools Award recognizes these trends and promotes its integration with all aspects of the school—from the buildings, to the surrounding grounds to the students’ learning experience.

The U.S. can’t lead if it’s lagging behind the pack, and the U.S. Green Ribbon Schools program signals that we recognize green schools as a key to catching up and winning the future.

Green Ribbon states:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota , Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island (Independent), Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Italics indicate states with Republican governors. Rhode Island is Independent.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Today is a fantastic day for the environmental education movement!   The U.S. Department of Education alongside the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency launched the U.S. Green Ribbon Schools Award.  This program will recognize and award schools that make exemplary efforts in greening schools in the following 3 areas: Environmental Impact and Energy Efficiency; Healthy School Environment; and Environmental and Sustainability Education.

The effort to get the U.S. Green Ribbon program adopted by the Department and working in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Council on Environmental Quality, has been strongly supported by the Campaign for Environmental Literacy (CEL), alongside Earth Day Network, the National Wildlife Federation and the U.S. Green Building Council. These organizations, along with the greater NGO community, have worked with many interested parties and stakeholders to build a robust and comprehensive awards program that will celebrate the innovative greening efforts of the nation’s schools.

NWF’s Eco-Schools USA program has been helping schools in the U.S. since 2009 integrate sustainable principles throughout schools and curriculums across the country. The Eco-Schools USA program will act as the stepping stone needed for many schools interested in pursueing the nation’s first  U.S. Green Ribbon Schools Award.   

Recognizing schools for their environmental and sustainability efforts is a tremendous step forward in making our schools healthy green living laboratories that will provide students with the skills necessary to innovate and excel in the 21^st Century global green economy.  The country that invests in environmental and sustainable education will be the country to lead in the 21^st Century.   We cannot build the innovators of tomorrow with the inefficient, unhealthy, education system from yesterday and with the announcement of the U.S. Green Ribbon Schools Award we know that that the U.S. is headed down the right green path!

We hope you will learn more and apply to become a U.S. Green Ribbon School today!