In a development that will shock anyone who has ever met a teenager, more than 1,200 Colorado students have earned a statewide climate literacy seal on their diplomas - proving that young people can grasp a scientific consensus faster than certain branches of the federal government.
The seal, approved by Colorado lawmakers in 2024, pairs climate-focused coursework with hands-on community service. To earn the endorsement, students must complete at least two advanced courses covering Earth's climate systems and an approved project tackling a climate issue in their community. Since its approval, 26 of the state's 179 school districts have adopted it, according to Lyra Colorado, the education non-profit advocating for the seal.
Take Anthony Muñoz, who attended a high school near Denver's main airport and wondered whether jet fuel from planes overhead was harming living things. Reasonable question. Instead of waiting for a government study, he partnered with a local university to build an "ozone garden" at his charter school, Vista Academy, filled with native plants that can detect ground-level ozone pollution. He worked with climate scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, who directed him on what data to collect, what leaf condition reveals about air quality, and why milkweed matters for monarch butterfly migration.
"One garden's a very good data source," Muñoz said. "Colorado's so beautiful, and I would hate to see it wilt away."
The model is now spreading. Maine adopted its own climate seal earlier this year. California just signed a bill to establish one for graduates. Youth coalitions have pushed for the policy in Hawaii and Minnesota, with varying success.
Proponents argue the seal prepares students for a rapidly expanding green workforce - solar grids, climate-resilient farms, water resource management, urban heat mitigation - and offers anxious teenagers a sense of agency. Laura Schifter, a senior fellow with the Aspen Institute's This Is Planet Ed, called it "a really promising policy," noting climate change is rarely covered in depth in K-12 classrooms.
Still, the seal has hurdles: tight school district budgets, concerns about new burdens on schools, and a federal government that has attempted to refute climate science. Funding remains a challenge - state lawmakers provided less than $20,000 for the rollout. Many students fund projects out of pocket or secure grants; Muñoz co-wrote a $1m grant proposal to the city to pay for his school's gardens. Lyra created its own grant program for teachers' time, student projects, and even graduation cords.
The idea originated with Lyra Colorado, whose CEO Mary Seawell said rural students and educators wanted to explore climate change as a daily reality, not just a dense textbook unit. To earn the seal, students complete two climate literacy classes - one must be a science class such as environmental studies, biology, or earth science; the other can be in any discipline, including humanities or fine arts. This year, Denver public schools will build climate lessons into its state-mandated civics course. Student projects have addressed beaver dams, trail building, snow science, and forestry management.
Muñoz, now a sophomore studying mechanical engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, is vice-president of the college's environmental club. "Are you going to think beyond yourself and help not only those in need but the environment, or will you sit back and wait for someone else to change the world for you?" he said.
Rylan Neumann graduated last year from the Boulder Valley school district and enrolled at UC Berkeley to study environmental economics. She joined an eco-club and boarded a train to Sacramento to lobby lawmakers in support of California's pending climate seal bill. "Getting more students involved in climate action and how they'll be impacted in the future is essential," she said. "We're the ones growing up in this world."
In Hawaii, a student member of the state board of education championed the endorsement. The Minnesota Youth Council recommended it during this year's legislative session. Maine adopted the seal directly to avoid legislative debate. Teddy Lyman, a K-12 climate education specialist in Maine, expected roughly a dozen students to apply during a spring pilot across nine high schools. Nearly 57 seniors did.
Melissa Luetje teaches science at Freeport high school near Casco Bay, where warming and rising sea levels have eroded coastal infrastructure and flooded surface streets. Her seal-approved research class has students monitoring woodlands for insect damage, developing composting methods, commodifying an invasive crab species, and working on a sustainable fishery. "How climate impacts the coastal community is very different from the interior or a city," she said. "It's up to each community to figure out what they value and how they want to roll this out."
As the seal expands, proponents are connecting it to green workforce pipelines. Lyra Colorado has partnered with institutions like Colorado Mountain College to align it with certifications in heat pump installation, solar grid maintenance, and sustainable agriculture, hoping universities will offer partial minors or course credit for incoming students with the endorsement.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has attacked the climate crisis as a "hoax," and federal scrutiny of renewable energy projects threatens philanthropic support. The treasury department and Republicans in Congress have targeted the tax-exempt status of non-profits supporting climate causes, which Seawell said created a chilling effect among donors. The administration has also tried to pull funding from and dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research - the same center that helped Muñoz with his garden. He called the proposed cuts "devastating."
Still, Muñoz remains focused. He met virtually with students pushing for the seal in Minnesota. He spent his first college break back at Vista Academy, helping younger kids in the garden - they recently finished an elevated box designed for gardeners in wheelchairs. And he's writing code to help Vista students keep collecting ozone garden data, even if it's unclear when or whether NCAR scientists will get to use it.
This story about climate literacy was produced by The Hechinger Report, a non-profit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger's climate change newsletter.