WASHINGTON – The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and school textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, announced plans to teach America's youth environmentally literacy.

The Center for Green Schools says aims to make its "National Action Plan for Educating for Sustainability” available to students nationwide, and a graduation requirement around sustainability literacy by 2040. The group also sees it as tied into science and technology education efforts.

“Recent national calls to prioritize STEM education - science, technology, engineering and math -  are deeply enriched by the interdisciplinary nature Educating for Sustainability,” says David Sobel, senior faculty at Antioch University New England and lead author of the National Action Plan. 

“When the U.S. Department of Education published its Green Ribbon Schools award which called for all K-12 graduates to be environmentally literate, we received that as a directive for the community to band together and figure out how we will ensure that happens,” said Rachel Gutter, director of the Center for Green Schools at USGBC. 

The plan includes 11 sections to guarantee students receive sustainability education. Sections are written by education experts in various fields, with added content provided by schools and business contributors Office Depot and Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.).