Happy #EarthDay 🌎

We know things aren’t going well, but remember you can still make a difference at the grass roots level. For inspiration you can read how school districts around the US are leading on #ClimateAction! Maybe you can lead in your schools too?

This new book, “Students, Schools and our Climate Moment” by Laura A. Schifter and Jonathan Klein is out now on Harvard Press. They write of sucessful climate action in schools around the County, including our work right here in Prince George’s County.  You can order it here.

Students, Schools, and Our Climate Moment Book Cover

On February 6 we spoke at the PGCPS Budget Hearing in support of continued funding for climate action in our schools including solar installation, hiring crossing guards, finding state and private funding for school climate action, funding student environmental learning, and more in the FY26 operating budget.  You can watch our testimony below.

We submitted testimony concerning proposed updates to COMAR-14.39.02 that the Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC) is considering to implement HB 19, the Safe Walk To School Act, and HB 566, which requires new schools to have multi-stream waste streams. The regulation are straight forward and implement Maryland law.

You can read the testimony here.

We submitted comments on the final recommendations proposed by the Prince George’s Council School Pedestrian Task Force. Overall their recommendations were great, but some tweaks were needed. Some of our suggestions were adopted by the the task force as well. If implemented this will make our children’s walks to school safer and more sustainable.

You can read the comments here.

We joined numerous groups, including Progressive Maryland and PG Change Makers, at the August 29, 2024, Prince George’s County Board of Education in the call to install solar on existing school buildings, in particular in overburdened and underserved communities such as Fort Washington and Oxon Hill.  We also called for strong leadership on climate-friendly, healthy school foods and thanked the Board for all of the progress that has been made on the Climate Change Action Plan Implementation.

 

Many voices unite to create the first school district climate action plan in Maryland

 

Generation 180 has a piece out today on how our coalition of elected officials, students, parents, and advocates came together to work with PGCPS to be a national leader in school climate action.