Texas Textbooks Will No Longer Deny Climate Change
There is a lot of crazy in the textbooks that the State Board of Education is considering for approval this week, and which will be going to a final vote on Friday. They downplay the role of slavery in the Civil War, claim Moses was an early influence of democracy, gloss over the Inquisition and cite Islam as the source of all terrorism in the world, to name a few examples. But even if the textbooks are racially biased, misleading and full of conservative drivel, at least they won’t deny climate change thanks to relentless pressure from advocates.
In a striking turn of events, climate change denial will no longer be found in the social studies textbooks under consideration by the State Board of Education. Two textbook publishing companies – Pearson Education and McGraw-Hill – have submitted corrected textbooks.
The McGraw-Hill textbook previously stated, “Scientists agree that Earth’s climates are changing. Not all individuals, however, agree on the causes of these changes.” Given that 95 percent of scientists believe human activity is the cause, this passage was removed. The Pearson Education book struck similar passages suggesting that scientists disagree about the cause of climate change. Both publishers also corrected factual errors about the science behind climate change.
Texas Freedom Network led the charge against misleading textbooks, organizing an effort that resulted in over 116,000 signatures in support of accurate climate-change information in textbooks. “We applaud these publishers for responsibly listening to scholars and the tens of thousands of people from across the country who have signed petitions insisting that the textbooks put education and facts ahead of politics,” Texas Freedom Network Kathy Miller said in a statement. “We hope they will stand firm in their decision and resist pressure from politicians on the state board to lie to students about one of the biggest challenges facing our planet.”
Read more: http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/23107/texas-textbooks-will-longer-deny-climate-change
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