Consideration of the Next Generation Science Standards by the West Virginia Board of Education (WVBOE) led to the surreptitious introduction of climate change denial language by one board member, Wade Linger. Thankfully, concerned educators, scientists, environmental activists and parents in West Virginia showed up before the board, wrote letters of support for sound science education and were successful in getting this language reversed from the standards. Since the last public hearing on the standards on January 14 the WVBOE received more than 7,000 comments during the intervening 30-day public comment period forcing the board to delay their final vote on the standards.
I was invited to submit an account of the incident in the Reports of the National Center for Science Education. My conclusion is that climate change denial and creationism have much in common. Both are assaults on reason that deliberately sow doubt of science, scientists and our scientific institutions to devalue scholarship and intellectualism in favor of narrow, ideological interests and neither have a place in the public classroom.
Read my commentary by clicking on the link below and let me know what you think.