Currently in Chicago — September 26, 2023: Rain followed by more rain

Monday night will be cloudy with a 30% chance of showers, with a low of 64°. Tuesday will start with rain and scattered thunderstorms, with a high of around 75°, and we’ll see more of the same off and on Tuesday night through Wednesday. Tuesday could bring up to half an inch of new rainfall, and Wednesday could easily follow suit. Don’t let the grey days get you down, though… there are some good people out there fighting climate change one tree at a time, like this Englewood group working with the Tree Ambassador Program. May the rain nourish these young trees to towering green canopies!

— Katje Sabin

What you need to know, currently.

There’s a new Green New Deal in town — this time, it’s for schools.

Over the past five years or so, the Sunrise Movement has led the push for a Green New Deal in the US — and has redefined what intersectional climate campaigns can look like. Now, the youth-led org has decided to focus on their peers — in an attempt to strengthen climate justice efforts in school districts across the country.

“We are prepared to do whatever it takes,” Portland, Oregon-based Sunrise Movement organizer Adah Crandall, 17, told the Guardian.

The new campaign focuses on electrifying school buses, providing sustainable and healthy food — for free — to all students, and providing pathways to climate-focused jobs after graduation, among other demands.

Earlier this summer, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child specified the obligation that countries have to protect children’s right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment — explicitly affirming the urgency to act amid the climate emergency, the collapse of biodiversity and pervasive pollution. In the US, a group of kids in the state of Montana won the first-ever state level constitutional lawsuit on climate change earlier this year.

The Green New Deal for Schools campaign needs help signing up new high schools, so if you’re connected to one, sign up here to help support the effort.

— Eric Holthaus

What you can do, currently.

Currently Sponsorships are short messages we co-write with you to plug your org, event, or climate-friendly business with Currently subscribers. It’s a chance to boost your visibility with Currently — one of the world’s largest daily climate newsletters — and support independent climate journalism, all at the same time. Starting at just $105.

One of my favorite organizations, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, serves as a hub of mutual aid efforts focused on climate action in emergencies — like hurricane season. Find mutual aid network near you and join, or donate to support existing networks:

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