Posted on 09/24/2010 3:58:33 PM PDT by goldendays
Environment to be added to state curriculum
But state board puts off making it a graduation requirement
By Liz Bowie, The Baltimore Sun
6:39 p.m. EDT, September 21, 2010
The Maryland State Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to make environmental education a part of every student’s education, but put off making it a graduation requirement.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which had advocated for making environmental studies a part of the curriculum, had hoped for stronger requirements than what was passed by the board, but the nonprofit advocacy group said the board’s action was a “partial victory.”
Under the new regulation, high school students will not need to take any additional courses, but environmental education will be added into existing courses, such as biology. Every five years, school districts will have to report to the state on whether they have environmental subject matter in courses that every student must take.
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“The onus needs to be on the school system, not on the students” to prove that courses have been taken, said Donna Hill Staton, a board member.
Don Baugh, vice president for education at the bay foundation, said the organization would work with state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick to help address the school board’s concerns.
“This does not maintain the status quo,” Baugh said. “I think this is an infusion of expectation into schools … that environmental education is not considered optional. It is not fit in.”
Baugh said there are still school districts where students are not exposed to environmental science before graduation. But board members said they don’t want to add another requirement to the plates of high schoolers, giving them less flexibility in shaping their high school program. Financial literacy recently became a requirement.
“Every time we add something what does that take away?” Staton said. “I think we are starting to overwhelm the system.”
Board Chairman James H. DeGraffenreidt told the state Department of Education staff after the graduation requirement was defeated in a split vote that more work had to be done to improve the language in the proposed regulation.
But some board members said they would put a high priority on making sure students have environmental knowledge when they graduate. “I don’t know how many things are as important as people understanding the environment,” said board member Ivan C.A. Walks.
If the regulation had been passed, Maryland would have become the first state in the nation to have an environmental graduation requirement, according to the bay foundation.
How revolting.
Why? Don’t they already study fiction in lit?
In stark contrast to what Hillsdale is teaching. This is a recruiting tool for the special Olympics and depression/ADD medication proscriptions.
grounds for termination
END TAXPAYER FUNDED INDOCTRINATION PROGRAMS FOR THE ENVIROWACKOS.
END THE EDU.
SNV Joins the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves as a Founding Partner
SNV joins the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves as a Founding Partner, and pledges $250,000 over the next two years to combat climate change and improve livelihoods and health of women by promoting the adoption of clean cooking solutions
NEW YORK, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Improved cookstoves are a brilliant and simple way to improve people’s lives. As a Founding Partner of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, represented by Chief Executive, Dirk Elsen, participated in the official launch of the Alliance at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI).
The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is a public-private initiative that aims to create a sustainable global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions. SNV pledges to contribute $250,000, as well as provide its extensive expertise in renewable energy, to help the Alliance meet its goal of deploying 100 million cookstoves by 2020. The Alliance will work in cooperation with leading non-profit organizations, foundations, academic institutions, governments and UN agencies to overcome market barriers that currently impede the production, deployment and use of clean cookstoves in the developing world.
Exposure to smoke from traditional cooking methods causes approximately 1.9 million premature deaths annually, with women and young children being the most affected. Smoke from poorly ventilated cooking contributes to various chronic illnesses and acute health impacts such as pneumonia, lung cancer and bronchitis. This reality is highlighted by the World Health Organization’s estimate that smoke from cookstoves is the fourth worst overall health risk factor in developing countries. Reliance on biomass for cooking increases pressure on local natural resources, thereby contributing to climate change. It also obliges women and children to spend many hours each week collecting fuel while often facing personal security risks.
To address these problems, the Alliance aims to develop a global clean cookstove industry that constantly innovates to improve design and performance, while lowering the cost of stoves, thereby reaching thousands of the world’s poor with cleaner and more efficient household cooking solutions. More efficient cookstoves help reduce the amount of time spent collecting fuel, emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, and create revenues from carbon credits. Additionally, creating an efficient and sustainable clean cookstove supply chain – design, manufacture, and distribution — can help create jobs at the local level.
Dirk Elsen, SNV Chief Executive, stated, “The environment, renewable energy, and improved welfare of women and children are clearly defined SNV strategic concerns and each of our projects around the world is undertaken with them in consideration. Therefore, we are very excited about joining the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves whose mission and goals fit in perfectly with these SNV strategic priorities. As a Founding Partner in the Alliance, we intend to take an active role in helping define standards, encourage research, and set the vision for the global deployment of improved cookstoves.”
Neil Ghosh, Director of SNV-USA added, “Participating in the Alliance’s launch at the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative is a terrific opportunity for SNV to help promote the Alliance’s vision and begin sharing our expertise in bio-energy implementation with our co- Founding Partners and other CGI attendees.”
SNV has successfully promoted the implementation of biogas, biofuels and clean cookstove programmes in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is committed to using its expertise in developing market-based solutions and working with the private, public and non-profit sectors to ensure the worldwide dissemination of bio-energy technologies, thereby improving the health of women and children as well as mitigating the impact of climate change. As a part of the Alliance, SNV can leverage this experience to scale up efforts in the clean cookstove sector, which is reaching a “tipping point” thanks to advances in cookstove design and testing, new research on harmful effects of inefficient cookstoves, an increased awareness of the need to address climate change challenges and ability to reach scale via carbon finance.
SNV is one of the Founding Partners of the Alliance; other major Founding Partners include the United Nations Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of State, World Health Organization, U.S. Department of Energy and United Nations Environmental Programme amongst others. The Alliance is currently seeking additional partners and is looking to secure major funding support for its clean cookstove mission.
About SNV:
SNV is a non-profit international development organisation with headquarters in the Netherlands and staff in 35 countries. For over 40 years, we have worked with national, regional and local governments, entrepreneurs and citizen associations to alleviate poverty. Our advisory services are funded by public and private sources. With over 900 technical advisors and 100 local teams, we provide expertise in agriculture, renewable energy, education, health, water and sanitation, forestry, tourism, governance and private sector development.
About the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI):
Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Since 2005, CGI Annual Meetings have brought together more than 125 current and former heads of state, 15 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations, major philanthropists, directors of the most effective nongovernmental organizations, and prominent members of the media. These CGI members have made more than 1,700 commitments valued at $57 billion, which have already improved the lives of 220 million people in more than 170 countries. The CGI community also includes CGI University (CGI U), a forum to engage college students in global citizenship, MyCommitment.org, an online portal where anybody can make a Commitment to Action, and CGI Lead, which engages a select group of young leaders from business, government, and civil society. For more information, visit www.clintonglobalinitiative.org.
More information:
An overview of SNV’s work can be found at: www.snvworld.org
An overview of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves can be found at: www.cleancookstoves.org
SOURCE SNV Netherlands Development Organisation
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RELATED LINKS
http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org
Who cares if our school children can read or write or do arithmetic, but they’ll damn sure know how to recycle!!
Hey Arne! Any chance you could take a little time to teach them something like Reading, Math, Science and Civics while you’re at it?
It gets weird.
dumb as a rock, but good enviromental citizens none the less
> U.S. Education Secretary Vows to Make American
> Children ‘Good Environmental Citizens’
Yes, of course, that’s a *LOT* easier than making them academically competitive.
U.S. Dept. of Education ... 18,000 union workers with an $80 billion budget.
And what have they to show for it?
What do all those 18,000 people do, anyway?
HP has over 100,000 employees all over the world, with sales totaling $50 billion, $30 billion less than what it takes to run the Dept. of Education, ans HP shows a PROFIT.
I'd rather they learn economics and money management before they move on to having credit cards and signing on for college debt. How about skills for building a small business, both financial skills and abilities that can generate income?
Silly me. Let the kids figure out for themselves that trees are better than concrete.
Filthy rotten eco-whacko scum.
I guess a person really shouldn’t hope for another to bark in Hell for all eternity. That said, my loathing for this vile scoundrel burns with the fire of a thousand suns.
“appreciation of being a member of the global community”
Fark that. Those bastards don’t like us, and we should act accordingly.
And to clean up their own rooms first, before they take on cleaning up the rest of the planet.
must stop all money from tax payers
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