A national group claiming that the idea of global warming is "junk science" has targeted Mesa County, Colorado, for its first campaign against teaching climate change in schools. Rose Pugliese, an unsuccessful school-board candidate, presented a petition with 600 signatures to the Mesa County School Board asking science teachers to stop giving lessons on global warming, Nancy Lofhol of The Denver Post reports.
"Pugliese's efforts have made her the poster girl for the group Balanced Education for Everyone and have pinpointed Mesa County as a national test case for keeping the teaching of humans' influence on global warming out of science classes," Lofhol writes. Laura Kindregan, head of the Colorado branch of Balanced Education attended the meeting to promote the group's cause. "A survey showed two out of three kids were coming home thinking their world is going to melt away and all the polar bears are going to die," Kindregan told the school board. The school board took no action on the petition, and the meeting was attended by several scientists arguing against Balanced Education's position. (Read more)
The petition has already gained one vocal critic in the local newspaper, The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction, circulation just over 29,000. "Perhaps if Rose Pugliese and a few hundred other folks in School District 51 have their way, we’ll witness the spectacle of local science teachers recanting their belief in the notion of man-made global warming," The Sentinel writes in an editorial. "But we hope not. We hope the District 51 School Board has already dismissed the idea of taking action on Pugliese’s petition to stop teaching global warming in the district." The Sentinel agrees that local teachers shouldn't expound their political beliefs in the classroom, but concludes, "It is equally noxious to have one group of citizens attempt to dictate what may be taught in science classes in the district, based on what they think is politically appropriate." (Read more)
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