Despite the view that California is progressive in addressing climate change, one of the key problems among youth in California is their lack of environmental education. In order to develop novel solutions to environmental problems, students should have a sufficient amount of knowledge about the world around them so that they can take steps to stop its deterioration. Therefore, to actively combat the fundamental environmental illiteracy in California youth, our initiative proposes the following:

Vision:

To increase the standard of environmental education in counties throughout California.

Approach:

Propose new legislation that will allow for increased awareness of environmental problems amongst the youth of California.

We have a 3-step strategy:

Each county in California should be required to develop specialized environmental councils with experts on the board

These established environmental councils should discuss their plans to address climate change and specifically implement and develop environmental education curriculums for primary and secondary schools

If possible, youth should be given a voice and should be included in Youth Environmental Councils

According to Forbes, California ranks 14th on their list of America’s Greenest States, while other places in the Pacific Northwest including Oregon and Washington rank 2nd and 3rd respectively on the list.

Scroll through the list to find your state!

Rank State Score
1 Vermont 43.6
2 Oregon 43.6
3 Washington 43.4
4 Hawaii 41.3
5 Maryland 40.4
6 Connecticut 39.8
7 New Jersey 39.5
8 Rhode Island 38.7
9 New York 38.1
10 Arizona 37.9
11 Massachusetts 37.8
12 Idaho 37.2
13 Colorado 37.2
14 California 37.1
15 Minnesota 36.3
16 Wisconsin 35.7
17 Nevada 35.1
18 New Mexico 34.7
19 New Hampshire 33.7
20 Florida 32.9
21 South Dakota 32.6
22 Montana 31.5
23 Virginia 30.5
24 Michigan 30.3
25 Maine 29.9
26 North Carolina 29.5
27 Illinois 28.6
28 Utah 28.5
29 Georgia 28.2
30 Delaware 28
31 Kansas 27.7
32 Pennsylvania 27.5
33 Nebraska 27.5
34 Texas 26.5
35 Iowa 26.4
36 South Carolina 25.3
37 Wyoming 24.8
38 Oklahoma 24.2
39 Ohio 23.4
40 Alaska 22.7
41 Missouri 22.6
42 North Dakota 22.2
43 Tennessee 22.2
44 Arkansas 20.8
45 Kentucky 20.4
46 Mississippi 17.6
47 Louisiana 17
48 Alabama 15.8
49 Indiana 15.3
50 West Virginia 14.2

Source: Forbes.com

So, what does California need to change in order to compete with its other environmentally friendly neighbors? The answer lies in the adoption of more green regulation and legislation.

Once California enacts more environmental policies, it will not only become a pioneer of change, but also will undoubtedly influence other states and countries to do the same. As Cympie Payne (Associate Director of the California Center for Law and Policy) expresses, “Other states find it easier to model their own laws on those that another state has already put into effect.”

Source: NCBI.nlm.nih.gov