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NWF Policy Bulletin on Connecting Children with Nature
Thursday, January 29, 2009(National Wildlife Federation)
In This
Issue:
1.
Transition to Green Report and Obama Transition
Team Meeting
2. Economic
Recovery Package: Green Education,
3. 110th Congress Weighs an
“Education Allocation” for Climate Change
Education
4.
Children’s Eyes Benefit From More Than Just the
Beauty of Nature
5. Recess
an Important Part of Children’s
Day
----------------------------------------------------------
1. Transition to Green Report and Obama
Transition Team
Meeting
A large coalition of environmental organizations joined forces late last year to prepare a detailed report with recommendations for President-Elect Barack Obama’s transition team. These recommendations for the new Administration are captured in the report, Transition to Green, and include proposals on environmental education and other efforts to connect children to nature. While these proposals impact numerous federal departments and agencies, they are all incorporated into the Department of Education section of the report.
In order to advance the education concepts and ideas included in Transition to Green, the National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, and representatives from other organizations in DC met with numerous members of Obama’s Transition Team on Friday, January 16th. In the meeting participants discussed the future of environmental education, the need for education and training for green jobs, initiatives to promote green schools, and efforts to connect children to nature through recreation at our land management agencies.
Read the full Transition to Green
report:
http://ga3.org/soe/transition.html
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2. Economic Recovery Package: Green
Education,
For the past several months NWF and
other environmental organizations have been
advocating for a green economic recovery
package to create jobs and move
Investment in education and training is one of the best investments for short-term job creation and sustained, across-the-board economic growth. In October of 2008, Dr. Robert Pollin, Professor of economics and Co-Director of Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), testified before Congress on building an economic recovery package. In his testimony he stated that educational services generate the largest number of jobs per $1 million of spending, at 23.1 jobs for every million dollars spent. That is nearly five times more than jobs created with oil and natural gas sector spending.
On January 8th, NWF and its partners hosted a media teleconference to promote the Green Education, Green Jobs and Green Schools proposal. Robert Pollin was a keynote speaker and other experts included Judy Braus of National Audubon Society and Jim Elder of the Campaign for Environmental Literacy. At the time of publication, the House economic recovery package has passed the House and includes $500 million for education and training through the Green Jobs Act, nearly $5 billion for Green School improvements at K-12 and higher education, and more than $1 billion for energy sustainability and efficiency grants and loans at schools, institutions of higher education and local government.
Read the NWF Green Education, Green
Jobs, and Green Schools
Factsheet:
http://www.nwf.org/nwfwebadmin/binaryVault/Education_Fact_Sheet2.pdf
Read Robert Pollin’s Testimony before
Congress:
http://www.nwf.org/nwfwebadmin/binaryVault/Robert_Pollin_Congressional_testimony_10-24-2008.pdf
Read the NWF Press
Release:
http://www.nwf.org/news/story.cfm?pageId=BC15671F-5056-A868-A07D94005FF0EE4E
Read the NWF Teleconference
Transcript:
http://www.nwf.org/nwfwebadmin/binaryVault/NWF_Transcript_Education_Stimulus_1-8-2008.pdf
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3. 110th Congress Weighs an
“Education Allocation” for Climate Change
Education
During the 110th Congress, five bills and amendments were introduced in the House and Senate to advance and fund education about climate change and global warming. Then-Senator Barack Obama (and three co-sponsors) introduced the Climate Change Education Act (S. 1389) and Congressman Michael Honda and 27 co-sponsors introduced a “companion bill,” the Global Warming Education Act (H.R. 1728) sponsored by Congressman Michael Honda and 27 co-sponsors. While this legislation ultimately did not pass, the legislation outlined a bold plan for climate change education at the federal level through the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Climate change education was also advanced through three other bills and amendments in the context of broad “cap and trade” climate change legislation, allocating a percentage of the proceeds from the cap and trade systems to go to climate change education. During consideration of the Climate Security Act (also known as “Lieberman-Warner”), Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) filed an amendment (S.A. 4866) to allocate $1-4 billion dollars annually to implement climate change education. The Climate MATTERS Act (H.R. 6316) sponsored by Congressman Lloyd Dogget (D-TX), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), allocated $3.8 billion over seven years to be split evenly between the EPA, NOAA and the Department of Education for environmental education. Finally, the Investing in Climate Action and Protection Act (H.R. 6186), sponsored by Congressman Edward Markey, allocated $50 million annually towards climate change education.
The
introduction of these bills and amendments is a
step in the right direction and we continue our
advocacy efforts to ensure climate change
education is funded and implemented. It is
essential that the general public understand
climate change and global warming and the
implications these changes could have on their
lives as we move towards a cap and trade system
and a clean energy economy.
Take action on global
warming:
http://www.nwf.org/globalwarming/
----------------------------------------------------------
4. Children’s Eyes Benefit From More
Than Just the Beauty of Nature
Children who spend a greater amount of
time outside greatly reduce their risk to
develop myopia, more commonly known as
short-sightedness. Several recent studies
conducted in
The
study compared the vision and habits of six and
seven year old children from
Researchers believe sunlight triggers the release of chemicals that prevent the distortion of the eyeball. This distortion is ultimately responsible for short-sightedness. With rates of myopia in children reaching 80-90% in some East-Asian countries this information could be a great step towards combating this problem. This discovery adds to an already lengthy list of health benefits from increased time spent outdoors.
Read more about this
study:
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5. Recess an Important Part of
Children’s
Day
A new study released by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine has found that children given time for recess benefit in many ways. The study, published in February’s edition of Pediatrics, included more than 10,000 children between the ages of eight and nine years old and found that those children allowed fifteen minute breaks were more focused and better behaved in the classroom. The study also suggests that recess plays an important role in learning, social development, and health.
In an effort to keep up with the strict standards put forth by No Child Left Behind many schools have cut back on programs for the creative arts, physical education, and environmental education, and many have removed recess altogether. The study found that the majority of those affected tended to be African-American, inner-city children from poorer neighborhoods, often kept inside due to concerns for their safety. These children are being deprived of an opportunity to exercise and socialize. It is suggested in the article that children be allowed a minimum of twenty minutes of recess a day. This study further enforces the many health benefits of unstructured play and outdoor time.
Read the
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/01/26/recess-makes-for-better-students.html
Read the Reuters Article on This
Study:
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE50P0PK20090126