The Island of Doubt

When word came earlier this month that Washington state school board is refusing to present An Inconvenient Truth, Laurie David's documentary on Al Gore's climate change slide show, to its high school students, criticism was fast and furious. The main problem was the decision was taken in response to complaints from a creationist parent who demanded his somewhat less-than-scientific point of view be offered instead. ("Condoms don't belong in school, and neither does Al Gore.") I wrote to the school board and suggested that the students can handle the truth, so to speak. The reply I received was a curious one.

Here's the letter, from board staffer Bob Smith:

Thank you for taking the time to contact the Board. The decision was not to ban or censure the movie. The question that faced the Board was whether or not District policy was followed with regard to the use of said movie. The Board has requested that Superintendent Murphy investigate the issue and return to the Board on the 23rd to report his finding and suggest, if any, what changes or corrective steps need to be taken. There is some controversy surrounding the movie within the scientific community and it is incumbent upon us to insure accuracy in what is taught to all children.

The interesting part is the board believes there is "some controversy surrounding the movie." I wonder why this is a problem. I would argue that if there wasn't "some controversy" there would be little point in showing it to the students. If everyone agreed that climate change was the most urgent challenge facing society, then Gore wouldn't be giving his slide show and training a thousand people (including me) to do the same, Laurie David wouldn't have made the documentary, and environmentalists around the world wouldn't be anticipating with bated breath what Bush is going to say tomorrow on the subject in his penultimate state of the union address. Of course it's controversial -- that's why it's important the students see the film.

Perhaps, though, Mr. Smith and his board are worried the film doesn't accurately present the science of climate change. I suspect the reference is really directed at the notion that Gore 's slide show unfairly presents the scientific community as less divided than it really is. To that, I offer this quote from National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration chief James Baker:,

"There's a better scientific consensus on this than on any issue I know, except maybe Newton's second law of dynamics."

Or how about this one from David Kennedy, editor-in-chief of Science magazine:

"Consensus as strong as the one that has developed around this topic is rare in science."

Both quotes are featured in the full-length version of Gore's slide show. I'm forwarding a copy of this post to Mr. Smith.

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