Rightwing group seeks to strip climate change from US classrooms

[Ed Barrow]

Source: The Guardian

And so to Mesa County in Colorado where this week the first labour pains of what seems to be the birth of a new movement in the US were felt. Dozens of protesters attended a meeting of School District 51's Board of Education to hand over two petitions aimed at keeping political views out of the county's classrooms.

According to reports in the local press, Rose Pugliese, a local lawyer and failed Republican candidate for the board of education, authored both of the petitions. The first, which gained 600 signatures of support, simply wished for teachers not to express their "personal, political views" to pupils, whereas the second, which gained 700 signatures, sought to stop the teaching of global warming to children.

"(Global warming) is not a proven scientific theory. There is not evidence to support it," Pugliese told the board, according to a report in the Denver Post. It's unclear from the reports whether the petition explicitly called for any teachings about global warming to be stripped from schools, or whether it called for the "other side of the story" to be taught, as Pugliese and her supporters seemed to be arguing before the board.

Pugliese, who is also a prominent member of a local Tea Party group called the Western Slope Conservative Alliance, was supported at the meeting by a local PR consultant called Laura Kindregan, who is the Colorado representative of a national group calling itself Balanced Education for Everyone. It was launched in April to assist "concerned citizens around the country in challenging public schools to provide balanced education on the issue of global warming". It is itself an umbrella organisation of the Independent Women's Forum, a conservative group whose notion of feminism is a tad different to most Guardian readers' understanding of the term.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2010/may/28/rightwing-group-climate-change

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. These people are probably related to polluting companies

or hired by them or just plain stupid.

[madrchsod]

5. i`m going with just plain stupid.....

[Dappleganger]

2. All of a sudden they are paying attention to scientific evidence?

:rofl: :rofl:

[ixion]

3. They adore so-called "intelligent design", and loathe evolution and global climate change.

Those are some whacky folks. :crazy:

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Fundamentalists hate science. Evolution in schools has been a bone of contention for years.

[arbusto_baboso]

6. My Mormon SIL insists global climate change is false, but chemtrails are real.

She also couldn't find her own ass with both hands and a map.

[fascisthunter]

7. there it is... the right wing is nothing more than a bunch of black shirt fascist

poodles...

they are willing to fuck with a dangerous topic, and force feed out right lies down children's throats, than tell the the honest truth, so they as citizens one day can do something about it. As we all know, in order to deal with a problem by presenting a solution, requires honest, unbiased factual information.

They want people to grow up uniformed and why? For energy companies...

How much ya wanna bet most right wingers with money are heavily invested in oil? I'll bet ya the Gulf of Mexico.

[IndianaGreen]

8. It doesn't matter! Their Jesus isn't going to save them from climate change.

Bible Belt will get hit the hardest with rising sea levels and droughts.

Climate change will stress water resources.

Water is an issue in every region, but the nature of the potential impacts varies. Drought, related to reduced precipitation, increased evaporation, and increased water loss from plants, is an important issue in many regions, especially in the West. Floods and water quality problems are likely to be amplified by climate change in most regions. Declines in mountain snowpack are important in the West and Alaska where snowpack provides vital natural water storage. (p. 41, 129, 135, 139)

http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts/key-findings

[Downwinder]

9. Leading us back into the "dark ages." n/t

[southernyankeebelle]

10. You can get all the people you want to sign this petition but it still doesn't prove you are right.

[SpiralHawk]

11. The next Right Wingnut Target: Photosynthesis

RepubliBaggers object to photosynthesis because it's a big word.

They will demand that it be taken out of all school classes.

[NC_Nurse]

12. If something is proven, then it's not a theory. Duh. Of course. for it to be

PROVEN, we'll all have to suffer the consequences, since by then it will be too late to alleviate it.

Dontcha just love these flat-earthers? Sheesh!

[flyingfysh]

18. proof only exists in mathematics

Then you are talking about theorems. When you deal with the real world, you are always dealing with a simplified model of the world, and you deal with evidence and probability. Any scientific idea can be overruled by new evidence. Fundamentalists hate the idea that science is uncertain in this sense.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. What's next? Photosynthesis? The water cycle?

These people are downright insane.

[callous taoboy]

24. Gravity replaced by "Intelligent falling."

[daleo]

14. They are like human ostriches

If you don't talk about it, it magically goes away.

[marions ghost]

15. these anti-global warming people are spreading

this stuff far and wide. And people are believing it because they want to. I know several intelligent!?! people who are global warming deniers. It's not all knuckle draggers by any means.

Denial, denial.

[glinda]

16. My money is on "fear". They are afraid to face reality.

[marions ghost]

17. yes

fear is behind it. Because why would you DENY it? If you didn't believe it you would just be neutral, keep an open mind, right? Say, "I don't know, we'll see, I hope it isn't true." But these people feel it necessary to fight AGAINST the very idea, despite the mounting evidence. Yes, their manipulators are counting on that anxiety. Easier for black/white thinkers to characterize it as a liberal lie. Then they can reject it. Whew. Problem solved.

These ostriches are leaving it to others to face the reality of it. It's a childish response to deep-seated fears. Big Daddy's telling them, "Everything is O...K..."

People who are able to understand and confront the issues of Global Warming are those who must lead the way. So it's not so much about intelligence as it is about having the mental stamina for dealing with truth.

[glinda]

22. Would make an interesting case study. That would put an end to it.

[sakabatou]

19. Marching proudly backward, aren't they?

[Bozita]

20. Balanced Education for Everyone? ... Why not Fair and Balanced Education for Everyone?

[jimlup]

21. THese people are ZOMBIES

They clearly are not capable of thought.

[defendandprotect]

23. Yep -- keep 'em stupid = keep 'em right wing -- !!

[DBoon]

25. and we hear about this from a UK newspaper?

sad.