NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2014/09/12
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2014-09-12 13:59.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, NCSE's Glenn Branch discusses Ohio's antiscience bill. Sad news of the death of the theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg. Ben Santer is featured in a climate change social media extravaganza. Developments with Ohio's antiscience bill. And a milestone for NCSE's page on Facebook.
OHIO'S ANTISCIENCE BILL UNIMPROVED Ohio's House Bill 597 is still a threat to the integrity of science education in the Buckeye State, NCSE's Glenn Branch told Ohio Public Radio (September 8, 2014). As NCSE previously reported, a provision requiring the state's science standards to "prohibit political or religious interpretation of scientific facts in favor of another" was removed by the House Rules and Reference Committee, only to be replaced by a provision requiring students to "review, in an objective manner, the scientific strengths and weaknesses of existing scientific theories." Such "strengths and weaknesses" language, Branch explained, is invariably selectively applied to evolution, climate change, and similarly socially -- but not scientifically -- controversial topics. "You're surely not going to see the scientific strengths and weaknesses of osmosis or photosynthesis being presented under the provision of the bill should it pass," he commented. As for the status of HB 597, Ohio Public Radio reported, "The bill is still in a House committee -- no word yet on when a vote could be scheduled." For the Ohio Public Radio story (via WCBE), visit: http://wcbe.org/post/critics-argue-common-core-repeal-could-lead-creationism-schools And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Ohio, visit: http://ncse.com/news/ohio WOLFHART PANNENBERG DIES The distinguished theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg died on September 5, 2014, at the age of 85, according to his former student Philip Clayton, posting at the Theoblogy blog (September 7, 2014). Often described, as Clayton says, as "the greatest theologian of the second half of the 20th century," Pannenberg's wide interests included the relationship of science and religion. His writings on the topic include Wissenschaftstheorie und Theologie (1973; translated as Theology and the Philosophy of Science, 1976) and the papers collected in Toward a Theology of Nature: Essays on Science and Faith (1993) -- named as a central text of the discipline by the International Society for Science and Religion -- and Historicity of Nature: Essays on Science and Theology (2007). To the extent that Pannenberg was interested in the creationism/evolution controversy in the United States, he was dismissive of both the scientific and the theological legitimacy of creationism. In "Human Life: Creation versus Evolution?" (1998), for example, he wrote, "the theory of evolution still provides the most plausible interpretation of what is known about the history of organic life on this planet." Acknowledging that "the modern picture of nature ... is ... at variance with the image in the first chapter of Genesis that the whole order of creation was produced in six days and continues to exist unchanged," he insisted that the Bible also represents creation as a continuing process. "Such a conception of continuous creation does not have difficulties with a doctrine of evolution, according to which the different species of animals emerge successively in the long process of life's history on earth." Similarly, in a 2001 interview, Pannenberg recommended, "In criticizing the doctrine of evolution, our creationist friends among Christian theologians should read their Bibles more closely." In the same interview, he described himself, not as a theistic evolutionist, but as a Trinitarian evolutionist. Pannenberg was born in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland), on October 2, 1928. He attended the Universities of Berlin, Göttingen, Basel (where he studied under Karl Barth), and Heidelberg from 1947 to 1953, receiving his Th.D. from the University of Heidelberg in 1953. He served as professor of systematic theology at the University of Heidelberg from 1955 to 1958, at the Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal from 1958 to 1961, the University of Mainz from 1961 to 1967, and the University of Munich from 1967 until his retirement in 1993. He was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago, Harvard University, and the Claremont School of Theology. He received honorary degrees from the Universities of Glasgow, Manchester, and Dublin. For Philip Clayton's obituary of Pannenberg, visit: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/tonyjones/2014/09/07/wolfhart-pannenberg-1928-2014/ And for the 2001 interview of Pannenberg, visit: http://www.metanexus.net/essay/confessions-trinitarian-evolutionist SANTER IN 97 HOURS OF CONSENSUS Ben Santer, a member of NCSE's board of directors, was among the ninety-seven climate scientists featured in Skeptical Science's 97 Hours of Consensus campaign. Launched on September 7, 2014, the campaign featured an hourly statement on climate change from, along with a playful caricature of, ninety-seven leading climate scientists. Santer, a noted climate researcher, was quoted as saying, "We look at many, many different aspects of climate change and they're telling us an internally and physically consistent story. The message in that story is clear: Humans are affecting the global climate, and natural causation alone can't explain the observed changes that we see." Also included in the 97 Hours of Consensus campaign were Michael E. Mann (a member of NCSE's Advisory Council) and Richard Alley, both of whom received the inaugural Friend of the Planet award from NCSE in 2014 for their efforts to support NCSE and advance its goal of defending the teaching of climate science. The number 97, of course, alludes to the result of a study, published inEnvironmental Research Letters in 2013, that found that 97% of relevant papers on climate science accepted the reality of human-caused global warming; the purpose of the campaign is to help to publicize the existence of the scientific consensus on global warming. John Cook of the University of Queensland's Global Change Institute explained, "Less than 10% of Americans are aware of the 97% consensus on climate change. This 'consensus gap' matters. When the public aren't aware of the overwhelming agreement on global warming, they're less likely to support action to mitigate climage change." The 97 Hours of Consensus campaign used social media extensively. The quotes and caricatures were Tweeted each hour from the Skeptical Science Twitter page(@skepticscience) with the hashtag #97hour and also posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page, and the associated images are available on Imgur. For the 97 Hours of Consensus campaign, visit: http://skepticalscience.com/nsh/# https://twitter.com/skepticscience https://www.facebook.com/SkepticalScience http://skepticalscience.imgur.com/ For information about the Friend of the Planet award to Mann and Alley, visit: http://ncse.com/news/2014/04/friend-darwin-friend-planet-awards-2014-0015556 For the Environmental Research Letters study, visit: http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/8/2/024024/article And for NCSE's resources on climate science and climate education, visit: http://ncse.com/climate OHIO OUT OF THE FRYING PAN The antiscience provision was removed from Ohio's House Bill 597 by the House Rules and Reference Committee on September 4, 2014 -- only to be replaced by a provision requiring students to "review, in an objective manner, the scientific strengths and weaknesses of existing scientific theories in the standards." The same language is familiar from antiscience bills across the country, including Tennessee's "monkey law." Also added to HB 597 was a similarly familiar provision -- "Nothing in ... this section shall be construed to promote any religious or nonreligious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against a particular set of religious beliefs or nonbeliefs, or promote discrimination for or against religion or nonreligion" -- which is apparently intended to immunize the bill from the charge that it would violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. "If the sponsors of the bill are trying to reassure the public that they're not trying to open the classroom door to creationism, climate change denial, and pseudoscience of all kinds," commented NCSE's deputy director Glenn Branch, "they're not doing a good job." He added, "As a product of Ohio's public schools myself, I earnestly hope that the state legislature will not accept such a bill that would compromise the integrity of science education." As NCSE previously reported, HB 597, aimed primarily at eliminating Common Core, also contained a provision requiring the state's science standards to "prohibit political or religious interpretation of scientific facts in favor of another." A sponsor of the bill, Andy Thompson (R-District 95), explained that local school districts would be allowed to teach creationism along with evolution and global warming denial alongside climate science. The Cleveland Plain Dealer (August 22, 2014) warned, "Count on a serious court battle if a few state legislators have their way and Intelligent Design and other religious interpretations of science are allowed to be taught in public schools," and NCSE's Glenn Branch told the Cincinnati Enquirer (August 22, 2014), "It's a hugely bad idea. ... Some [local school districts] will be tempted to push the limits and teach creationism. If they do, they'll get sued over it." What are the prospects of HB 597? Matt Huffman (R-District 4), a sponsor of the bill and chair of the Rules and Reference Committee would not predict when the committee would vote on the bill, according to the Columbus Dispatch (September 5, 2014). The Speaker of the House was not willing to predict whether the bill would receive a floor vote in the House, and Gerald Stebelton (R-District 77) predicted that there were not enough votes for it to pass. For information about Ohio's House Bill 597, visit: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=130_HB_597 For the stories from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cincinnati Enquirer, and Columbus Dispatch, visit: http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/08/creationism_coming_to_ohio_classrooms_not_without_a_court_fight.html http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/education/2014/08/22/common-core-bill-reignites-creationism-debate/14477147/ http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/09/04/Common_Core_hearing.html And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Ohio, visit: http://ncse.com/news/ohio FACEBOOK: N > 80,000 A milestone: there are now over 80,000 fans of NCSE's Facebook page. Why not join them, by visiting the page and becoming a fan by clicking on the "Like" box by NCSE's name? You'll receive the latest NCSE news delivered straight to your Facebook Home page, as well as updates on evolution-related and climate-related topics. Or if you prefer your news in 140-character chunks, follow NCSE on Twitter. And while you're surfing the web, why not visit NCSE's YouTube channel, with hundreds of videos for your watching pleasure? It's the best place on the web to view talks by NCSE's staff, including the new series of activist workshop webinars. For NCSE's Facebook page, Twitter feed, and YouTube channel, visit: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse http://twitter.com/ncse http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd WHAT'S NEW FROM THE SCIENCE LEAGUE OF AMERICA Have you been visiting NCSE's blog, The Science League of America, recently? If not, then you've missed: * Glenn Branch discussing the definition of "theory": http://ncse.com/blog/2014/09/speculatin-theories-0015844 * Stephanie Keep reviewing the relevance of embryology to evolution: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/09/what-s-deal-with-embryos-0015851 * Glenn Branch telling the story of the Elmer Chubb hoax in Dayton: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/09/chubbed-part-1-0015854 http://ncse.com/blog/2014/09/chubbed-part-2-0015855 And much more besides! For The Science League of America, visit: http://ncse.com/blog Thanks for reading. And don't forget to visit NCSE's website -- http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on evolution and climate education and threats to them. -- Sincerely, Glenn Branch Deputy Director National Center for Science Education, Inc. 420 40th Street, Suite 2 Oakland, CA 94609-2509 510-601-7203 x303 fax: 510-601-7204 800-290-6006 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Check out NCSE's new blog, Science League of America: http://ncse.com/blog Read Reports of the NCSE on-line: http://reports.ncse.com Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: http://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd http://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! http://ncse.com/join
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