Proposed American School Textbooks in Texas Reportedly Deny Climate Change Proof
A Texas Board of Education member is pushing for books that teach schoolchildren to doubt climate change, a decision that is up for a vote by the 15-member board in November.
The National Journal reported that David Bradley said, "Whether global warming is a myth or whether it's actually happening, that's very much up for debate. Don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise."
The board will vote on books for all grades, and with respect to climate change, the proposed books will teach students that the link between greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity and global warming as an unsubstantiated and controversial theory, NJ reported.
The excerpt from a textbook by McGraw-Hill, one of the largest textbook publishers, reads, "Scientists agree that Earth's climate is changing. They do not agree on what is causing the change. Is it just another natural warming cycle like so many cycles that have occurred in the past?"
And another book by Pearson, another major education materials publisher, reads, "Scientists disagree about what is causing climate change."
And this isn't the first time that the state has approved of such books, according to watchdog group The Texas Freedom Network.
They commissioned a review of the books by the National Center for Science Education and discovered out of 19 books at least seven included misrepresentations of scientific fact.
And though the spotlight is on Texas, overall there are a variety of groups pushing back against such theories and denials.
Standards have been set and endorsed by major scientific and education organizations nationwide, but that hasn't stopped states like South Carolina from denying adoption of the standards.
"It's really an insult to science," Minda Berbeco, the National Center for Science Education's programs and policy director, told NJ. "The old line was that global warming didn't exist. Now we're starting to see more people say it exists but human activity isn't responsible. That's just denial by another name."
Though the teachers are not required to purchase the textbooks, they do have to show compliance with the standards set by the state -- so whatever material chosen will have to reflect climate-change doubt if that item is put into effect in November.
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