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Letter to Congressional Appropriations Committee on Funding for NOAA's Office of Education and Sustainable Development The Campaign for Environmental Literacy extends its thanks to those organizations that chose to participate as co-signatories on this letter sent to Congress in late April 2005. Together, we are requesting restoration of funding for new educational initiatives at NOAA's Office of Education and Sustainable Development. The Honorable Frank R. Wolf, Chairman The Honorable Richard C. Shelby, Chairman Dear Chairman Wolf, Chairman Shelby, Ranking Member Mollohan, and Ranking Member Mikulski: We write to respectfully request that you restore level funding of $5 million in FY '06 for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of Education and Sustainable Development, including its Environmental Literacy Grants Program. These funds are critical to advancing ocean and atmospheric literacy in the United States, a major goal of both the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy Report and the President's U.S. Ocean Action Plan. As noted by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy Report, an interested, engaged public is needed to successfully address increasingly complex ocean- and coastal-related issues, balance the use and conservation of marine resources, and realize future benefits from the ocean. Similar arguments can be made with respect to the need for an educated public in regard to weather and climate. As such, the public must be armed not only with the knowledge and skills needed to make informed choices, but with a sense of excitement about the marine and atmospheric environments as well. Individuals should understand the importance of the ocean and atmosphere in their lives and should realize how individual actions affect the Earth system. Moreover, public understanding of human impacts on the marine and atmospheric environments should be balanced with recognition of the benefits derived from well-managed ocean resources and effective protection of the atmosphere. The connection between the ocean, the atmosphere, and the land also requires that inland communities be just as involved as seaside communities. Yet, regardless of this need for an engaged and informed public, the disheartening reality is that the ocean and atmospheric literacy gap is increasing--even at the very moment in time when we need it to be decreasing. As a recent national survey indicates, the American public has only a superficial awareness of the importance of the ocean to their daily lives, let alone its importance to all life on the planet[1]. For instance, nearly 60 percent of Americans do not realize that more plants and animals live in the oceans than on the land; 75 percent mistakenly believe that forests--rather than oceans--are the major source of oxygen on the planet; and 40 percent are unaware of the essential role oceans play in regulating climate and atmosphere. Furthermore, as the President's Ocean Action Plan notes, the nation needs a diverse, knowledgeable, and adequately prepared workforce to enhance understanding of the marine environment and make decisions regarding complex ocean- and coastal-related issues--particularly given today's competitive world of knowledge-based, technology-driven economies with increasing demands on ocean and coastal resources. In addition, by helping to produce an environmentally literate and trained workforce capable of analyzing complex threats to our quality of life and economic vitality, this program promotes non-regulatory alternatives to environmental protection legislation and litigation. The public agrees on the importance and need for environmental education, which includes the critical topics of the atmosphere and oceans. In fact, public support for environmental literacy in general could not be higher in the United States: fully 95% of adult Americans believe environmental education should be taught in schools[2]. To that end, NOAA's Environmental Literacy Grants Program provides the direct support necessary for schools, teachers, students and community groups to be able to meet this demand. Additionally--and perhaps most importantly--the program maintains a focused effort on advancing educational rigor, teacher-training, and balanced perspectives. The FY '05 Consolidated Appropriations Act admirably provided authority for NOAA to engage in formal and informal education activities--including primary and secondary education--in support of the agency's mission goals. Given the support, resources, and structure provided by the initial $5 million dedicated to the program, it has been well received by the ocean and atmospheric literacy community, and you are to be commended for your leadership in making these funds available. In closing, it is quite significant that the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy Report itself has noted especially salient remarks: "It is particularly important that funding for ocean-related education be sustained over time (for periods of at least five years) to allow programs to become established, produce results, and identify potential nonfederal funding sources. Continuity of funding ensures that successful education efforts can be continued, expanded, and replicated. A dedicated, secure, sustained source of support for formal and informal ocean education efforts is needed to supplement existing low levels of ocean education funding." Again, similar remarks could be made in connection to the need for significant and sustained funding for atmosphere-related educational programs. Thank you for your consideration of this request. We hope that it will meet with your approval. If you have any questions, please contact Marialanna Lee at 202-478-6187 or marialanna@fundee.org Sincerely, National Organizations Alliance for Earth Observations American Meteorological Society American Zoo and Aquarium Association Biodiversity Project Campaign for Environmental Literacy Council for Environmental Education Earth Day Network EarthEcho International Earth Force Ecological Society of America Education for Sustainability Western Network Global Environmental Alliance National Audubon Society National Council for Science and the Environment National Marine Educator's Association National Marine Sanctuary Foundation National Wildlife Federation North American Association for Environmental Education Ocean Alliance Ocean Foundation The Ocean Project Second Nature World Wildlife Fund
Regional Organizations Alabama A&M University - Center for Environmental Research & Training Alaska Conservation Foundation Antioch New England Graduate School - Department of Environmental Studies Center for Environmental Education Online Chesapeake Bay Foundation The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education Florida Atlantic University - Florida Center for Environmental Studies |
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