NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2014/12/12
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2014-12-12 15:29.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Kentucky nixes tax incentives for a creationist theme park. NSTA Recommends likes NCSE's Mark McCaffrey's Climate Smart & Energy Wise. And a new survey assesses public attitudes toward evolution in Latin America.
NO TAX INCENTIVES FOR ARK PARK "Kentucky's Tourism Arts & Heritage Cabinet Secretary Bob Stewart informed representatives of the proposed Ark Encounter tourist attraction today that their project will not be eligible for up to $18 million in tax incentives from the state, due to their refusal to pledge not to discriminate in hiring based on religion," Insider Louisville (December 10, 2014) reports. As NCSE previously reported, in 2011, the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority voted to grant tax incentives -- in the form of retained sales taxes -- to the proposed creationist theme park in northern Kentucky, to be run by Ark Encounter LLC, a for-profit company, and the young-earth creationist ministry Answers in Genesis. The state agency's decision prompted concerns about whether it would be consistent with the federal and Kentucky constitutions for the state to grant the incentives to the project, but there was no consensus, and until recently all signs were that the state remained willing for Ark Encounter to benefit from the tax incentives. In Stewart's letter, dated December 10, 2014, however, he writes, with a notable choice of verb, that "it is readily apparent that the project has evolved from a tourism attraction to an extension of AIG's ministry that will no longer permit the Commonwealth to grant the project tourism development incentives." "There are two reasons for this conclusion," Stewart explained in his letter. "1) [T]he Commonwealth will not grant incentives to a company that intends to discriminate in hiring its employees based on religion; and 2) It is a violation of the Constitution for the Commonwealth's incentives to be used to advance religion." Daniel Phelps of the Kentucky Paleontological Society, a persistent critic of Answers in Genesis and Ark Encounter, told NCSE, "I am glad to see that Tourism did the right thing after the bigoted hiring practices of Ark Encounter and its convoluted relationship with Answers in Genesis and the Creation 'Museum' were exposed." For the article in Insider Louisville, visit: http://insiderlouisville.com/metro/lost-ark-kentucky-will-not-grant-tax-incentives-ark-encounter/ And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Kentucky, visit: http://ncse.com/news/kentucky KUDOS FOR CLIMATE SMART & ENERGY WISE NCSE's Mark McCaffrey's Climate Smart & Energy Wise: Advancing Science Literacy, Knowledge, and Know-How (Corwin Press, 2014) received a positive review from the National Science Teachers Association's NSTA Recommends. Citing the fact that "[t]he United States has a serious science literacy problem as witnessed by the statements made by local, state, and federal officials about global warming and other topics," the reviewer concluded, "This should be a valuable reference for those involved in science education." A sample (chapter 7: "Countering Skepticism, Denial, and Despair") is availableg on NCSE's website, and McCaffrey contributed a series of blog posts describing the chapters of the book to NCSE's blog. For the NSTA review, visit: http://www.nsta.org/recommends/ViewProduct.aspx?ProductID=22194 For the publisher's description of the book, visit: http://www.corwin.com/books/Book241767 For the sample chapter (PDF), visit: http://ncse.com/files/pub/evolution/excerpt--smart.pdf And for McCaffrey's series of blog posts about the book, visit: http://ncse.com/users/mccaffrey OPINION ON EVOLUTION IN LATIN AMERICA "Overall, Latin Americans embrace the idea that humans and other living things have evolved over time." That was the upshot of a Pew Research Center survey on "Religion in Latin America" which included a question about evolution: "Thinking about evolution, which comes closer to your view? Human beings and other living things have evolved over time, or humans at other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time." Preferring the evolution answer were 74% of Uruguayans, 71% of Argentinians, 69% of Chileans, 66% of Brazilians, 65% of Puerto Ricans, 64% of Mexicans, 63% of Venezuelans, 61% of Panamanians, 59% of Colombians and Paraguayians, 56% of Costa Ricans, 55% of Guatemalans, 51% of Peruvians, 50% of Ecuadorians, 49% of Hondurans, 47% of Nicaraguans, 46% of Salvadorans, 44% of Bolivians, and 41% of Dominicans. The report noted that "Catholics tend to be more accepting of evolution than are Protestants," with 20-point differences in the percentages of Catholics and Protestants who accept evolution in Peru and Venezuela. Urban respondents were generally more likely to accept evolution than rural respondents; respondents with more formal education were generally more likely to accept evolution than respondents with less formal education. The survey was conducted between November 2013 and March 2014. According to the report, "The survey was conducted via face-to-face interviews under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International ... . The survey is based on samples of non-institutionalized adults ages 18 and older." For each country, the sample size was at least 1500, with margins of error between plus/minus 2.8 points and plus/minus 4 points. For the Pew Research Center's Report (PDF), visit: http://www.pewforum.org/files/2014/11/Religion-in-Latin-America-11-12-PM-full-PDF.pdf For NCSE's collection of polls and surveys, visit: http://ncse.com/creationism/polls-surveys 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: * Steven Newton marveling at a creationist's critique of the Field Museum: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/12/do-you-know-how-complex-feet-are-adventures-creationist-at-0016042 * Glenn Branch discussing Theodore Roosevelt's letter to a creationist about evolution: http://ncse.com/blog/2012/12/two-theodores-0016037 * Josh Rosenau applauding a recent call to distinguish skeptics from deniers: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/12/standing-up-skepticism-0016044 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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