Questioning mankind’s role in climate change isn’t yet illegal, although 20 climate scientists and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse have asked the White House and Justice Department to investigate the possibility of using the RICO Act act to prosecute corporations and other organizations that have “deceived” the American people about the risks of climate change.
Portland Public Schools is getting ahead of the game by resolving to eliminate the use of materials that question the existence of climate change and man’s contribution to it, reports Jessica Chasmar of the Washington Times.
Oregon school board bans books that question climate change https://t.co/zvkgqrtqE8
— Jessica Chasmar (@JessicaChasmar) May 20, 2016
@WashTimes I'm surprised they're not burning them. #fascism
— BoxAndOne ?? (@MPShrike) May 20, 2016
https://twitter.com/sixchained/status/733702801096908800
How can we have science with all this dissent? https://t.co/kiPmGV4Z8O
— ?It's?Almost ⛄️Christmas? (@jtLOL) May 21, 2016
@LunaticRex I'm old enough to remember when science was driven by uncertainty.
— Craigé Ciaramella Schmuckatelli (@CraigR3521) May 21, 2016
The school board voted unanimously this week to pass the resolution, the text of which is posted on the district’s website:
All Portland Public Schools students should develop confidence and passion when it comes to making a positive difference in society, and come to see themselves as activists and leaders for social and environmental justice—especially through seeing the diversity of people around the world who are fighting the root causes of climate change; and it is vital that students reflect on local impacts of the climate crisis, and recognize how their own communities and lives are implicated…
…
Portland Public Schools’ oft-stated commitment to equity requires us to investigate the unequal effects of climate change and to consistently apply an equity lens as we shape our response to this crisis…
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You read that correctly: The school district is no longer selfishly concerned only with the impact of climate change, but wants students to recognize how their own lives and communities are implicated in creating the climate crisis, preferably by meeting with local “climate refugees” and others hardest hit by global warning.
Portland school board freezes out climate-questioning materials https://t.co/ITsGw0dgMV
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) May 21, 2016
Legal Insurrection notes that Bill Bigelow, a former Portland Public Schools teacher who was active in presenting the resolution, is the editor of a book called “A People’s Curriculum for the Earth.”
Meanwhile, the board member who introduced the resolution, Mike Rosen, leads the NW Ecoliteracy Collaborative. Bigelow expressed his concern that many of the district’s current texts are “thick with the language of doubt,” adding, “We don’t want kids in Portland learning material courtesy of the fossil fuel industry.” Rather, the school district aims to prepare students for the many “robust job opportunities in green technologies” awaiting them.
We’d be willing to bet a lot of kids in Portland get to school each day courtesy of the fossil fuel industry. Maybe home schooling would be best for everyone, cutting back on exposure to toxic emissions from both school buses and public school teachers.
So ignorant are they that they don't know they're authoritarian fascists. It's not taught.
— Son of Liberty (@davidcmcalpine) May 21, 2016
@WashTimes Who's anti-science again?
— A Xen0 (@MrXen0m0rpH) May 20, 2016
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