Here at Gristmill, we like to keep you ahead of the game on the outrage of the day. So here’s a little sneak peek at the next thing about which conservatives are going to be furious.
It seems that an environmental organization recently called together a group of 223 Oklahoma teachers for a workshop outlining ways in which the world could move to renewable power. The group was given teaching material and workshop ideas predicated on teaching the science behind the technology. The intention of the lessons was overt: get kids to understand the importance of renewable energy in the modern world. Get kids to embrace it. Here’s the mayor of Tulsa:
“What you’re going to hear today is the truth,” Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr. … said while addressing workshop participants at the Memorial auditorium. “We need you to get the word out. You have the hearts and minds of those children at your beck and call every day.”
The teachers embraced the curriculum, recognizing the importance of renewable energy to our nation’s future.
“It teaches kids when you see a [solar array] to go, ‘Oh stay away from that,’ ” [kindergarten teacher Margaret] Trahern said. “This really brings a lot of jobs; it’s what Oklahoma is all about.”
Exactly. But, of course, you can expect Big Oil and their allies and hard-line supporters to condemn the exercise in short order. After all, in 2009, Fox News railed against environmental “indoctrination” in our schools for a much-less-thorough curriculum. Once they find out about this, they’re going to go apoplectic.
Yeah, no they won’t. The seminar wasn’t about renewable energy at all. It was about oil.
That “[solar array]” in the teacher’s quote replaces “pumping jack.” The ellipsis before the mayor’s quote hides the fact that he is a “longtime oilman.” And the organization behind it all is pretty far from “environmental.”
From the Tulsa World article:
Give kids textbooks and they may learn for a day, but give them some dirt, egg shells and yolk, mix it up in a plastic bottle and they may learn for a lifetime.
Such is the premise of Oklahoma Energy Resource Board’s Energy Education Workshop held for 223 teachers Wednesday at Memorial High School. The educators receive training and kits for using games, books and experiments to teach students how the oil and gas industry works.
The only outrage at the “workshop” came from two isolated protestors. To Mayor Bartlett, that proved that he was doing the right thing.
“That is the first time that the OERB has ever been protested,” he told the crowd. “Once again, Tulsa leads forward.”
Leading forward straight into the 1850s. Just wait until Fox News hears about this. Bartlett will be a hero in no time.
