Support Environmental Education

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to request that your organization sign-on to two important letters to Congress in support of funding for environmental education at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). At a time when Congress is considering drastic reductions in federal spending, it is critical that we show strong support for existing programs that support the field. Please see below for more information about how to sign on, the deadline is March 25th!

The attached letters will be sent to the relevant appropriations subcommittees in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in support of maintaining or slightly increasing funding for these critical programs in fiscal year 2012. We are requesting a $5 million increase over FY 2010 levels for EPA’s Office of Environmental Education to the authorized level of $14 million. At NOAA, we are requesting that the Environmental Literacy Grants (ELG) program remain at the FY 2010 funding level of $14 million (a high water mark for the program) and that the Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program be increased to $12 million, a $2 million increase over FY 2010.

Both letters connect the need for environmental education to the goal of ensuring that the United States remains globally competitive in an increasingly green economy. While the benefits of and bi-partisan support for environmental education are well-documented and continue to grow, the overall level of federal support for environmental education has been woefully inadequate. We hope you will join us in showing Congress the overwhelming support for environmental education.

Once again, to sign on, please email Jenna Peters at PetersJ@nwf.org with the following information by Friday, March 25th:

· Your organization’s name
· The state where you are based ONLY if you are not a national or regional group
· Whether or not your organization is signing onto BOTH letters or just one of them

Once you have signed on, please forward this request on to others in your network(s) requesting their signature as a show of support.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Best,
Julia Liljegren
Regional Education Advocacy Manager

National Wildlife Federation
Great Lakes Regional Center

Office: 734-887-7111
Cell: 734-545-3743
liljegrenj@nwf.org

www.nwf.org/greatlakes