Tombstone Blues

The Post's, Valerie Strauss, wrote a great article today about the National Science Teachers Association's reluctance to distribute 'An Inconvenient Truth' to schools around the country. Laurie David, the producer of the movie, approached the association in response to a number of requests from educators nationwide. She claimed that majority of the letters she received discussed the fact that there is an absence of teaching tools available to those who seek to teach their pupils about global warming and it's harmful effects. When the organization said they would not distribute the film, she generously opted to give away 50,000 copies to those teachers that asked for them.

Upon first glance, I thought that Ms. David was engaging in shameless self-promotion. However, after careful consideration, I changed my mind. The NSTA should absolutely endorse this film. This is a group who aims to enhance the science curriculum of our nations science students. Global Warming is arguably the most important scientific issue in our nations history. AIDS does not matter if the world is covered by water. Nothing will! That's the point of this whole issue.

In pondering potential solutions, I came up with a few things that we can all do to better the situation:

1) Press your local government to make recycling easier (In Boston, we don't even have recycling bins)
2) Turn down the heart during periods of low usage (night time/ when you leave your house or apt.)
3) Put pressure on the auto industry to make smaller cars safer. With the influx of SUV's on the road, many soccer moms
have been scared shitless by the prospect of being crushed by these vehicles.
4) Start teaching our children the benefit of keeping the earth clean.

Al Gore has spent almost 30 years compiling these cold, hard, irrefutable facts. He took the material that was buried deep in science journals and EPA laboratories and made it available to the common man. We as a nation should be harnessing the power of this excellent teaching tool. As we have seen with phenomena such as racism, it is normally taught at a young age. If we instill children with proper attitudes towards the environment, I guarantee the state of our global environment will be improved.

You're either part of the problem of part of solution. I myself have decided on the latter.