Science Teachers’ Organization Refuses To Accept Copies of Inconvenient Truth

[donsu]

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/25/oil-propaganda/


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. …

here was one more curious argument in the e-mail: Accepting the DVDs, they wrote, would place “unnecessary risk upon the capital campaign, especially certain targeted supporters.”

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:


The first line of “Fuel-less”: “You’re absolutely not going to believe this, but almost everything I have that’s really cool comes from oil!” (Watch a video clip.) As Laurie David notes, an API memo leaked to the media in 1998 explains the motivation behind such videos: “Informing teachers/students about uncertainties in climate science will begin to erect barriers against further efforts to impose Kyoto-like measures in the future.”
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so the teachers have taken the oil/gas baron's bribes. how disgusting.

we need the names of these bribed teachers so actions can be taken against them.

[xchrom]

1. this expresses my fear re: corporatism and american society

and the future of politics.

how will we be able to ask the public to turn away from corporate power whe it has leaked so deeply into american institutions, paychecks and culture?

the presense of ''big oil'' is easier to spot -- and to some extent ''big pharma'' -- but these are tips of the ice berg.

these are difficult issues that may lead us back to a clinton{not necessarily hillary} -- which i would hate to see -- because that simply avoids the crisis.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. This is at least the third time this has been posted in 24 hours

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2799540

I will say the same thing about this that I said yesterday. As long as we refuse to adequately fund public education, this crap will happen. When corporations with agendas are there with money for schools and teachers, they get to dictate the curriculum.

We have no money and no copy paper at my school. If Fred Phelps came to me offering me copy paper, I would have a hard time turning even him down.

If you want this movie shown in classrooms, then buy a copy and donate it to a science teacher.

[stepnw1f]

3. Who Runs This "National Science Teachers Association"?

The people who made this decision are not there to help students learn. They need to be replaced.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. I suspect it is run by textbook publishers

From the NSTA website:
The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), founded in 1944 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, is the largest organization in the world committed to promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. NSTA's current membership of more than 55,000 includes science teachers, science supervisors, administrators, scientists, business and industry representatives, and others involved in and committed to science education.

And their leadership group can be found here: http://www.nsta.org/nstaleadership

I also found a link to this organization on their website http://acswebcontent.acs.org/home.html

and to this one http://www.stemedcoalition.org/

[MasonJar]

4. This is shocking! The film would be such an important addition

to the education of our students. I am sure very few students went to see it in the theaters. As a teacher, I know all too well the type of movie teens prefer, but they would flip over it in the classroom. This film is so important for our next generation of leaders to see. Kudos to Laurie. She should be awarded a medal. Now what can we do to get this to our children? Number 1 we need to get rid of the decision-makers at the NSTA. They need to go immediately; these charlatans clearly do not have the best interest of the future of America and its people in mind. Are they getting rich under the table? It is time for the internet to react! I am an English teacher, but I have tried to contribute in a small way. Before Thanksgiving vacation after re-reading Earth in the Balance, I gave a lecture on its content. I then had my seniors write an editorial using the information. (We were studying transactive writing such as editorials and feature articles and speeches.) Now I would like to join all of you in getting this movie into all the classrooms. What has this to do with paper by the way? This was to be a free gift.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

6. I think they're probably right not to.

It *is* a film made by a past and potentially future presidential candidate, about an issue that will probably be important if he were to ever run again, putting forward views that aren't universally accepted in America (and it's that, *not* "are they true", that's the definition of "controversial").

However scientific its content, it probably shouldn't be in schools. There are lots of other good educational materials on global warming that aren't made by politicians out there.