The United States Senate is debating climate change education, and your senators need to hear from you!
At issue are three proposed amendments to a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965: one bad and two good.
The bad amendment, SA 2144 from Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), a notorious climate change denier, would direct the administrators of EPA and NOAA to provide "balanced, objective resources on climate theory." The description of the materials omits any mention of human influence on climate, and it seems likely that the intention of the amendment is to disseminate materials that omit or obscure the scientific consensus on the causes of recent climate change.
The first good amendment, SA 2175 from Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), is a non-binding resolution. The resolution refers to the scientific evidence for human-induced climate change as "overwhelming and undeniable," and holds that "instruction in climate science is important for all students and should not be prohibited by any unit of State or local government." This would put the Senate on record as firmly supporting climate change education.
Contact your senators and ask them to support climate change education.
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The second good amendment, SA 2176, also from Senator Markey, would establish the Climate Change Education Act. This act would establish a grant program aimed in part at developing and improving educational material and teacher training on climate change. This would put the federal government's money where its mouth is — and where, in a time when the effects of human-induced climate change are becoming more visible and more disruptive, it ought to be.
The Senate may be considering these amendments as early as next week. Speak out now to ensure your opinion is counted.
Tell your senators that you want the federal government to support scientifically sound climate change education. Tell them that you support Senator Markey's amendments, which promote sound science education, and that you oppose Senator Wicker's amendment, which undermines the integrity of science education.
Follow this link to find your senators.
Please also share this request with other concerned citizens as well. Together, we can ensure that students in the nation's public schools receive the accurate science education they deserve, untainted by ideology.
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