Hey, welcome back to Movement Mondays in which I typically highlight a frontline community hit hardest by the effects of the climate crisis and then offer a quick action you can take on their behalf. Before I get to that, though, I wanted to share some good news:

Last week in the days following the massive March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City, (coincidence? I think not!) Biden announced the formation of the American Climate Corps which is a reboot of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)  of the Great Depression. Per the White House press release, “The American Climate Corps will focus on equity and environmental justice – prioritizing communities traditionally left behind, including energy communities that powered our nation for generations,…” The program aims to put 20,000 young people to work which is a number far short of what’s needed, but it’s a start. And hopefully, the program will be expanded after it gets going. You can read an article about it here and sign up at the American Climate Corps website to specify your areas of interest and learn more.

Okay, let’s get to the Green New Deal for Public Schools! This legislation is sponsored by Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Sen. Ed Markey and “would invest $1.6 trillion over 10 years to fund green upgrades that remove all health harms and carbon pollution from every public school in the nation while taking on environmental and racial inequities. It will unleash the potential of safe and inspiring public education for 50 million K-12 students in every neighborhood across the country. And, it will add essential staff to vulnerable schools, create 1.3 million good paying jobs annually, and reduce carbon emissions by 78 million metric tons each year— that’s the same as taking 17 million gas-powered cars off the road!”

About 150 high schoolers from across the US gathered in Illinois for a summer camp to hone their activism. Photograph: Heather Chen/Courtesy of Sunrise Movement

I’m excited about this legislation for a whole bunch of reasons, including that it would upgrade HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) which we should already have done during this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic! Good air quality is essential to good health and good learning. WHOA! In the time since I began writing this post, the number of co-sponsors for the legislation has risen from 48 to 54!

Want to make that number climb? Go here (scroll down) to personalize a short message to your representative and two senators, asking them to sign on as co-sponsors. That’s it!

Thank you for reading and adding your voice to these efforts. Solidarity! ✊🏽