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The Critic's Resource on AntiEvolution

NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2016/07/15

(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)

Dear friends of NCSE,

A column from Barbara Forrest.

FORREST BLASTS THE LSEA AND CLIMATE CHANGE DENIAL

Writing in the Baton Rouge Advocate (July 7, 2016), Barbara Forrest
rebutted a series of misleading claims about the so-called Louisiana
Science Education Act of 2008. Far from wanting to improve science
education, she explained, the law's backers sought "to give
sympathetic teachers cover to undermine evolution and climate science
by using code language such as 'critical thinking' and 'logical
analysis' when teaching these subjects."

In the same column, Forrest also observed that representing "the
'Climategate' scandal" as an example of the politicization of
scientific inquiry is exactly backwards. "The truth is that thousands
of stolen e-mails were posted on the internet and subsequently used by
climate science deniers to undermine legitimate scientific research.
Nine separate investigations revealed no wrongdoing by the
scientists."

Forrest's column comes as the Louisiana Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education is undertaking to review the state science
education standards. A June 22, 2016, press release from BESE explains
that reviewers will be nominated by school districts and
organizations, selected by BESE in August 2016, work through the fall,
and recommend updates to the standards in March 2017.

A member of NCSE's board of directors and a recipient of its Friend of
Darwin award, Forrest is Professor of Philosophy at Southeastern
Louisiana University and the coauthor, with Paul R. Gross, of
Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design(2004). She
testified for the plaintiffs in Kitzmiller v. Dover, the 2005 case
establishing the unconstitutionality of teaching "intelligent design"
creationism in the public schools.

For Forrest's column in the Baton Rouge Advocate, visit:
http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_02c4dec2-43ad-11e6-9db3-170d7203c515.html 

For the press release from BESE, visit:
http://bese.louisiana.gov/documents-resources/newsroom/2016/06/22/bese-approves-process-for-science-standards-review 

And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Louisiana, visit:
http://ncse.com/news/louisiana 

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:

* Guest blogger Brandon Haught describing his trip down the Grand
Canyon with NCSE:
https://ncse.com/blog/2016/07/how-i-spent-my-summer-0018299 

* Stephanie Keep discussing a recent attempt to correct misconceptions
about evolution:
https://ncse.com/blog/2016/07/kind-well-said-at-least-places-washington-post-apes-humans-0018300 

* Glenn Branch debunking a myth about David Starr Jordan and the Scopes trial:
https://ncse.com/blog/2016/07/crossing-jordan-off-0017101 

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.
1904 Franklin Street, Suite 600
Oakland CA 94612-2922
510-601-7203
fax 510-788-7971
branch@ncse.com 
http://ncse.com 

Check out NCSE's blog, Science League of America:
http://ncse.com/blog 

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