The Twenty-One: The True Story of the Youth Who Sued the U.S. Government Over Climate Change

Teaching Activity Draft. By Matt Reed and Tim Swinehart. 2019.
Students learn the names and stories of dozens of climate justice activists.

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 13 pages.
Through encountering “clues,” students probe the dangerous link between fossil fuels, carbon, and climate change.

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools.
A role play introduces students to 23 individuals around the world — each of whom is affected differently by climate change.

Teaching Guide. Edited by Bill Bigelow and Tim Swinehart. Rethinking Schools. 2014. 400 pages.
Articles, student readings, and teaching activities to understand environmental problems and imagine solutions.

Article. By Bill Bigelow.
The story of how teachers, parents, and students in Portland, Oregon organized to demand that climate change be taught honestly and to pass a climate justice resolution.

Films. Directed by Jan Haaken and Samantha Praus. 58 minutes & 57 minutes.
Oil, Water, and Climate Resistance explores the work of attorneys, valve turners, and other water protectors in Minnesota. Climate Justice and the Thin Green Line examines climate resistance in the Pacific Northwest.

In the lead-up to an international conference on climate change in Copenhagen, climate activists organized a “day of action,” where millions of people gathered at thousands of events all over the world, demanding that governments and corporations work to slash CO2 emissions and enforce environmental protections.

The constitutional climate case Juliana v. United States was filed by 21 youth against the U.S. government. The defendants said that the government’s policies are causing catastrophic climate change and constitute a violation of their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property.

Young climate activists and students across the world organized school strikes for climate justice, culminating in worldwide strikes on March 15, 2019, demanding concrete plans to slash CO2 emissions.