Contact: EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)

WASHINGTON (August 4, 2022) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, celebrated the 2022 Presidential Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) and the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) Awards Ceremony. Each year, our nation's youth are recognized for their outstanding dedication to environmental stewardship and our teachers are honored for promoting environmental awareness and education.

“We’re excited to celebrate the climate action and environmental stewardship of our outstanding students and teachers,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “Acting on climate and environmental problem-solving starts with education, I am looking forward to seeing what our awardees do next.” 

“We all have a role to play in finding solutions to the climate crisis and environmental injustice - including in our classrooms through environmental education and stewardship," said White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory. "Congratulations to these outstanding students and educators for their ideas, creativity and leadership in finding solutions to protect their local environments and create more sustainable communities.”

Since 1971, the President of the United States has joined with EPA to recognize young people for protecting our nation's air, water, land, and ecology. The PEYA program recognizes outstanding environmental stewardship projects developed by K-12 youth.

This program honors and brings to light a wide variety of projects developed by these young students, school classes and clubs, youth camps, and youth organizations to promote environmental awareness and action in their schools and communities. The PEYA program promotes awareness of our nation's natural resources and encourages positive community involvement.

PIAEE is another program recognizing outstanding K-12 teachers who employ innovative approaches to environmental education and use the environment as a context to engage their students. With each teacher providing informal hands-on environmental education to students, helping to advance their knowledge of real-world environmental issues while at the same time allowing the teachers to bring creative ways into the classroom to teach their students about the environment.

To read about the winning projects in detail, visit: https://www.epa.gov/education/presidents-environmental-youth-award-peya-winners and https://www.epa.gov/education/presidential-innovation-award-environmental-educators-piaee-winners.