The story of National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) refusing a donation of DVDs by Inconvenient Truth co-producer Laurie David is flying all over the blogosphere right now. The following post from the Think Progress blog has a great link to the kind of oil and coal industry curricula the NATA does accept (it’s about a teen girl who discovers what life is like without petroleum, such as no lipstick!). Just goes to show there is nothing “neutral” about education, or the media used for teaching. But this being a “teachable moment,” I hope educators will show the Inconvenient Truth and the oil industry video linked below to teach about bias, not only in media, but in energy consumption as well. I encourage clicking through to the Think Progress post to read the whole thing.
Think Progress » Science Teachers’ Organization Refuses To Accept Copies of Inconvenient Truth:
In tomorrow’s Washington Post, global warming activist Laurie David writes about her effort to donate 50,000 free DVD copies of An Inconvenient Truth (which she co-produced) to the National Science Teachers Association. The Association refused to accept the DVDs:
In their e-mail rejection, they expressed concern that other “special interests†might ask to distribute materials, too; they said they didn’t want to offer “political†endorsement of the film; and they saw “little, if any, benefit to NSTA or its members†in accepting the free DVDs. …
[T]here was one more curious argument in the e-mail: Accepting the DVDs, they wrote, would place “unnecessary risk upon the [NSTA] capital campaign, especially certain targeted supporters.â€
As it turns out, those supporters already include “special interests,†including Exxon-Mobil, Shell Oil, and the American Petroleum Institute, which have given millions in funding to the NSTA. And while the NSTA showed no interest in helping educators get copies of Al Gore’s movie (which scientists gave “five stars for accuracy“), it has distributed oil industry-funded “educational†content, like this video produced by the American Petroleum Institute: (click this link to see the video)
Technorati Tags: InconvenientTruth, LaurieDavid
Tags: Ecology, Education, Propaganda
Everybody should directly pressure the NSTA to act in the best interests of science education. Add a message to this discussion on the NSTA discussion board: http://www.nsta.org/main/forum/showthread.php?t=1867. You can also register a complaint at http://www.nsta.org/feedback.
YOUR OBVIOUS INSISTANCE TO SPREAD YOUR THEORIES TO YOUNG MINDS IS WHATS OUTRAGEOUS. GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE EXHAUST PIPES, AND READ REAL SCIENCE REPORTS ON GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGES.JUST BECAUSE MOST PEOPLE WITH NORMAL ABILITIES OF FACT FINDING CURIOSITY CAN GET AND COMPREHEND IT DON,T AGREE WITH YOUR GORE WORSHIPING BELIEFS YOU GO OFF THE WALL.GET THE TRUTH. YOU AND THOSE ADVOCATING ANOTHER DOOMSDAY, JUST CAN’T HANDLE ANY DISENGAGEMENT FROM YOUR LIES AND DISTORTIONS. GO TO JUNK SCIENCE.COM GOOGLE SOME FACTS. AND REAL SCIENCE REPORTS, NOT JUST THOSE FEW THAT ARE MAKING BIG BUCKS FROM GOVERNMENTS AND NGO’S WITH GRANTS.AND I’M NOT ONE OF YOUR OIL ENEMIES, JUST A WORKING STIFF. FIND SOMETHING REAL TO FIGHT FOR…
Gee, that kind of language and angry approach really makes me interested in your point of view…
Ancient ice shelf breaks free from Canadian Arctic
January 4, 2007
TORONTO, Ontario (AP) — A giant ice shelf the size of 11,000 football fields has snapped free from Canada’s Arctic, scientists said.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/12/29/canada.arctic.ap/index.html
Disturbingly warm winter we’re having, wouldn’t you agree?