The Texas Board of Education last month changed internal guidance to schools to emphasize the “positive” aspects of fossil fuels in science textbooks.
This change prompted a growing slump among scientists, educational professionals, and other Board members that the Commission decided to adopt policies that could lead to statewide textbook purchases that undermine basic tenets of climate change over the next few years. There are growing concerns that it is established.
The Republican-dominated board last month adopted a series of changes to its operating rules that could affect school decisions about book purchases. He rejected science, arguing that current teachings on global warming are too “negative.”
“If you’re touting how great alternative climate change is, you have to not only hit the fossil fuel industry, but also say all the bad things about it,” Hardy said in an interview Wednesday. Our schools are a little dishonest because they are mostly funded by the fossil fuel industry.”
The new guidelines also portray global warming as a result of natural variability — flying in the face of consensus among climate researchers that humans are causing it by burning fossil fuels. There is
Texas Board of Education member Rebecca Belmetro said the board’s decision was made because the state is one of the largest U.S. markets for textbooks and publishers pay close attention to Texas standards. The ramifications of the decision could ripple across the United States. change.
She said her Republican colleagues on the board were “undereducated” on climate change.
“They don’t really believe in the geological record. They don’t believe in science,” Bell-Metereau said.
The state commission’s operating rules are not legally significant, but formally designate the state’s educational priorities. That means you can influence how school districts approach classroom curriculum and textbook selection.
For example, new operational rules could discourage school districts from using textbooks that teach about climate change in a meaningful way, Lopez said. School districts that choose to use more rigorous science classes could face challenges from parents who point to operational rules and claim that teaching climate science is a form of political indoctrination. I have.
“It certainly discourages school districts. If you give them an informal opinion, they’ll try to make it safe,” Lopez said. No. It certainly deeply politicizes climate change.It politicizes science.”
The State Board of Education did not respond to a request for comment.
Hardy inserted language into the rules stating that educational materials must “present the positive aspects of the United States and Texas, and their heritage and abundant natural resources.”
While the subtle change in rules doesn’t outright refute the science that shows humans are warming the planet in a way that’s already wreaking havoc, Bell-Metereau said the school was unfounded. It states that it can be persuaded to buy a book that emphasizes climate change theory.
Hardy also inserted the phrase “recognizing the ongoing process of scientific discovery and change over time in nature”. It reflects a common climate denial argument that erroneously claims that climate change is responsible for global warming.
Critics of the change also found reason for concern in the language, which states that the book should “present factual information, avoid bias, and encourage discussion.”
Hardy told the board that educating children about fossil fuels and naturally occurring climate change can avoid stigma by presenting “both sides” of climate science.
“If it’s a controversial subject, present both sides of it, not just one side, to avoid bias.”
Scientists have published decades of peer-reviewed research showing that people’s use of fossil fuels has rapidly warmed the planet. The Earth’s surface temperature has risen about 1.1 degrees Celsius since 1900, more than half the warming scientists say is necessary to cause catastrophic changes. A few scientists argue that the scientific community overstates the risks, many of which are tied to energy companies.
Texas’ sheer size has had a major impact on the national textbook market as publishers want their books to be approved for use in Texas. About 10% of her 50 million public school students across the country live in Texas, according to national statistics. The Texas Board of Education has worked for years to ensure that textbooks used in Texas, such as evolution and climate, reflect conservative ideologies.
The move in Texas has seen prominent Republicans such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis use education to ban curricula on black history, LBGTQ, and climate change science, leading to a conservative culture war. It happens when you’re trying to move the problem forward.
Members of the Texas Board of Education include an attorney at Shell Oil Company and the CEO of an oilfield services company, both of whom are critical of the way climate science is taught. The 15-member Board is made up of 10 Republicans and 5 Democrats.
Katie Worth, author of the book Miseducation: How Climate Change Is Taught in America, published by Columbia University, says the oil and gas industry has long been the focus of how Texas kids are taught about climate change and fossil fuels. have been evaluated. .
“There’s really a red-blue divide when it comes to what kids are learning in the classroom,” Worth said. “If you were a kid, what you would learn about climate change would depend on who runs your state legislature and state school board. is.”
Andrew Dessler, a climate scientist at Texas A&M University, said the change could affect a generation of children who may be “grossly miseducated about serious risks.” .
“It seems to me that they have come to the conclusion that the highly educated public is opposed to their goals. is,” he said. Member of the State Board of Education.
a 2020 analysis From the National Center for Science Education, a non-profit organization that advocates for education on climate change and evolution, the state did not require basic climate science education in the classroom, giving Texas a F gave
Texas has since changed its policy to allow basic climate science to be taught.
A rule adopted last month by the state school board could reverse those moves by allowing the board to disapprove textbooks that teach climate science accurately, according to the National Center for Science Education. Deputy Director Glen Branch said.
“Texas is an outlier. Because there is a long history of trying to compromise scientific accuracy in favor of evolution or climate change,” he said.
Hardy said in an interview that the rule is already guiding outside reviewers to examine textbooks in Texas. Books that fall outside the new guidelines are likely to score lower and not be used in the classroom, she said. She hopes this change will have a national impact because the state of Texas buys so many educational materials.
Hardy told E&E News that Aaron Kinsey, CEO of the Texas Energy Council, a coalition of oil and gas companies, and American Patrol, an airfield services company, will work with newly elected board members on the change. said he worked on it.
The group’s goal was to eliminate “textbooks written by non-Texans who view fossil fuels negatively and electric vehicles positively.”
“People who make climate change their religion don’t want you to be heard if you don’t believe what they’re doing,” she said. “There is plenty of good writing to back up my position on climate. We need to look at both sides of the issue.”
Another member of the Texas Board of Education, Will Hickman, who works as an in-house attorney at Shell, previously blocked the implementation of a proposed science standard that would teach students about the benefits of carbon reduction.
The Board’s priority is to: State Republican Platformseeks to teach climate change and evolution as a “theory”.
“We stand by the objective teaching of scientific theories such as the origin of life and climate change,” reads the platform. “These should be taught as challenging scientific theories that change as new data are generated.”
Board member Bell Metello, who opposed the change last month, said his board colleagues called on oil and gas officials and energy groups to testify about climate science, sometimes for hours on end with scientists and the public. said he was often given two minutes to speak.
“Regulations are important because they give parents more legal avenues to challenge, and that’s what actually causes a lot,” says Bell-Metereau. “It is a very organized minority of people with extreme views who have learned how to reach out to board members and legislators with very strict policies on all possible subjects of science and history. increase.”
She added that this small group of voices who reject climate science are impacting the educational opportunities of millions of children. spread across the state.
“These states are models for other states and are coordinating their efforts,” Bellmetro said.
Reprinted from E&E News with permission of POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2023. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environmental professionals.
