This is the time of the year when I notice a significant increase in the number of people bicycling to work and school. I consciously stop myself from smugly thinking, ‘where were you in January?’ and focus on sending ‘welcome to the bike path’ energy. The big jump in e-bikes is a double edged sword. I love that e-bikes make cycling accessible to those who have needs. I curse the danger created when those less responsible riders speed by without using any cycling etiquette. And, while I applaud the state offering rebates to folks who purchase an e-bike, some days I wonder where the subsidy is for those of us using pedal power year round?

You can’t play in the climate change world without following the push for more electric vehicles, more e-car infrastructure, and more affordable options in the e-vehicle universe. I try to hold the complexity and continue to wonder how we can seek fossil fuel free transportation strategies in ways that do not continue to cause harm, as the extraction of the minerals for e-vehicle batteries does.

I wish we could lean into models of urban (and even rural) development that center walkability and good public transportation, rather than continuing to center cars. I learned recently that Japan’s urban planning models center schools. Planning policies support low-traffic neighborhoods with people-centred streets. Mixed use zoning creates neighborhoods that are a blend of housing, retail and public services, while transit-oriented design means communities are built around public transport hubs. Street parking is prohibited in many Japanese cities, and as a result in Japan, roughly 98% of children walk or bike to school. I wish we could talk about effective, safe, and accessible public transportation and city walkability as climate solutions too.

For training purposes, I ride into the suburbs a lot. The sprawl of housing developments (grand houses with 4-car attached garages) begets new big 4 lane roads and highways, which is then followed by lots of big box stores and enormous parking lots. It makes me sad.

On Memorial Day this month, I will be joining local legend Donna Minter on her Grammy Ride, to cycle from New Orleans to Tallahassee to raise awareness about the climate crisis, to witness its impacts on the Gulf Shore, and to listen to local folks on their experiences with climate change. I am hoping to raise $10 for each mile I cycle — $4,600 total for 460 miles. Please join me and sponsor a mile, or ten.

Have you gotten your bike out this spring? Do you cycle to work? Do you cycle for fun? Did you know that May is National Bike Month? Here is your call to get your bike out, pump up the tires, oil up the chain and ride your bike to save the planet!

Susan Phillips
Executive Director

The post Cycling for the Planet appeared first on Climate Generation.

Cycling for the Planet

Thirteen nonprofits and six municipalities said they filed suit after they were forced to furlough employees and pause programs intended to benefit farmers, communities and public health.

By Amy Green

A federal judge said Monday he would order the Trump administration to restore $176 million granted by Congress to 13 nonprofit groups and six municipalities nationwide.

Federal Judge Orders Trump Administration to Restore Environmental Grant Funding

I have developed and updated 15 resources in my four years at Climate Generation. However, the 2025 update of Next Generation Climate for grades 6-8 (NGC) felt significantly more challenging. For the first time, I faced an atmosphere of federal pushback against the validity of climate change science and education. I struggled to find alternative sources for data sets and graphs that I would normally access from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Resources I wanted to share, like the 2024 Climate Literacy Principles, disappeared from websites as quickly as I found them. I wrote words like “climate justice” and “equity”, wondering how many educators would avoid downloading NGC due to anti-DEI policies. Honestly, the process was disheartening at times. The chaos sowed by the federal government created uncertainty, as intended.

However, amidst the uncertainty exists a more powerful feeling: a conviction that climate change curricula like NGC are more needed than ever.

As government agencies like NOAA and the EPA are dismantled, limiting their abilities to inform the public about climate adaptation strategies and protect us from environmental threats, it is crucial that our students have access at school to information about how climate change impacts their daily lives and futures. Education is a climate solution because an informed public is one that can make the necessary changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to local climate impacts.

Beyond climate science and data, the updated NGC builds on previous versions to bring a more human-centered approach. Our students need inspiration to take localized climate action to create safer, more equitable futures. In the 2025 edition, you will see:

• Discussions of the social, economic, and political causes of climate change;
• Examples of leaders in climate justice movements;
• More guidance for how to take climate action; and
• Opportunities for reflection and mindfulness to support students’ mental health.

Education is not only a climate solution; it is now an act of resistance.

Teaching concepts like climate change and climate justice can oppose the oppression and cruelty we’re witnessing at the federal level. Educating about what’s really happening, what people experience every day, is necessary for students to feel safe, secure, and supported, so that they don’t feel that they alone care about the crises facing our world. We need to show students that most people care, and that together we can leverage our efforts toward making the world a better place for all. We need educational resources that center our collective humanity; foster empathy for all of life; celebrate working for the common good, not individual gain; and give students opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills, confidence, and motivation to live into their values and take positive action.

We know that in some states, the reality of censoring words and concepts like climate change has existed for some time. It can be risky to teach directly about climate change in some places. For those whose states follow the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), remember that the standards directly mention human-caused climate change and offer foundational concepts for understanding it. NGC includes a table of the NGSS performance expectations most closely associated with the lessons. For others, we must remember that we are a collective. We can all contribute in some way; some of us can say climate change, and some of us can talk about the weather. Some of us can use the full NGC curriculum, and others may incorporate small ideas from it.

Restrictions in education aren’t really about specific words; they’re about controlling narratives, erasing truth, and amassing power against the people. It’s hard work, but in times of uncertainty, it can help to focus on what we can control.

As educators, we can influence what happens in our learning spaces:

• We can localize climate change so that our students see the personal effects and tangible opportunities for change.
• We can integrate community science so that students can participate in researching and communicating about climate issues and solutions.
• We can discuss the root causes of climate change (even without saying climate change) — how our global legacy of hurting the many to enrich the few has impacted everything from wars to housing stability to the air and water we need to live.
• We can facilitate civic engagement in everything from writing to legislators, to planting trees, to creating public art with a message.
• We can share stories with our students that inspire them to be kind, honest, fair, and brave.

We hope that NGC provides enough inroads that everyone can find a path to introduce their students to climate change, particularly the ways in which we can take action together to protect and nurture ourselves and our environment.

In the final week of editing NGC, I triple-checked a link to a graph from NOAA; one that depicts the data collected since the 1880s showing the substantial increase in land and ocean temperatures over the past century. Not surprisingly, the link no longer exists. I left the graph in Appendix B with the citation to a broken link; to me, this data tells an essential story that we cannot fully appreciate with another figure. This administration is trying to overwhelm us, to silence us, to exhaust us to the point of inaction. But they will not succeed; they cannot, for the sake of our planet and the next generations after us.

Moments of uncertainty are an invitation to determine what you are certain about.

What and whom do you value? What are you going to do about it? Climate Generation will continue to do this work as long as we are able. While we always advocate for rest and self-care, we also encourage you to find ways you can plug into everyday actions. We hope that, for many of you, it might look like downloading NGC and facilitating the activities with your students. Together, we can make a positive impact on our present and future. No matter your situation, Climate Generation’s staff and resources will support you along the way.

Marie grew up in Wisconsin on the ancestral and contemporary lands of the Menominee, Potowatomi, and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ and the contemporary lands of the Oneida. Marie’s fascination with human relationships to the earth led her to study Environmental Education and Spanish Language at UW-Stevens Point and later earn her master’s degree in Environmental Studies and Environmental Education from Antioch University New England. She’s pursued her varied interests at multiple nature centers and an aquarium in Minnesota; community gardens in New Hampshire; and as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua. At Climate Generation, Marie loves creating resources that encourage people to be curious, connect deeply, and work collaboratively. When she’s not writing curriculum, she enjoys hiking, cross country skiing, reading, and spending time with her husband and her dog, Merlin.

The post What does the “Next Generation” Require of Us? appeared first on Climate Generation.

What does the “Next Generation” Require of Us?