Coal Industry Paying Schools To Tell Kids: "Doubling Of Atmospheric CO2 Is Very Beneficial."

Bill Scher's picture

The Washington Post published an investigative report on how fossil fuel companies are "spending significant sums of money" to directly fund public schools that teach biased curriculums that promote their industries.

And the most brazen example is buried in the middle of the story: a coal-industry produced propaganda film for kids selling the lie that the atmosphere needs more greenhouse gas:

...the Coal Education Development and Resources foundation, known as CEDAR, offers small grants to teachers whose lessons dovetail with its industry-driven mission...

...CEDAR also offers a video to teachers called “The Greening of Planet Earth,” which says that “our world is deficient in carbon dioxide, and a doubling of atmospheric CO2 is very beneficial.” Mainstream scientists widely dispute that assertion.

Of course, scientists don't just dispute it. They have definitively debunked it over and over again.

Towards the end of the article, the Washington Post notes that fossil fuel companies "counter that environmentalists provide classroom materials all the time."

Yes, but they are not filled with lies. That's the difference.





Want this blog post and others like it delivered straight to your inbox in a daily digest? No problem! Just enter your email address below to sign up for our PM Update (mobile device-friendly):





Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future