The massive wildfires in the Los Angeles area have been unspeakably horrific. Our hearts go out to all of the residents and their loved ones who face tragic loss. Countless people’s lives have been disrupted, the death toll is still unknown, homes, schools, and communities have been lost; as of this writing at least 2,000 buildings have been burned.
But it is no natural disaster. This is climate chaos writ large. And conflagrations like we are witnessing in Los Angeles will only become worse and more frequent with “drill, baby, drill” policies. Billionaires, politicians, and corporations still fail to be held accountable for their crimes against all of us whose lives depend on a stable climate.
Now is a time to make sure that our schools teach a climate justice curriculum that looks honestly at the social roots of the crisis, how unequally it is crashing throughout the world, and reflect on alternatives — especially on actions that young people can take to make a difference.
See our book, A People’s Curriculum for the Earth: Teaching Climate Change and the Environmental Crisis— the most comprehensive curriculum on helping young people make sense of what we see happening today.
Our online booklet Teaching for Climate Justice collects our best “Earth, Justice, and Our Classrooms” columns from recent issues of Rethinking Schools magazine.
And the Zinn Education Project — a collaboration of Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change — has a Climate Justice Campaign, featuring exemplary lessons, teaching stories, and more.
