A December 28 story in the West Virginia Gazette has gotten considerable traction, with a follow-up story on January 4 featuring quotes from national groups and a number of reaction pieces from the left and right. The gist of the story is this: a member of the West Virginia Board of Education, Wade Linger, requested that changes be made to the state's science standards. More specifically, Linger sought to adjust the portion on climate change, insisting that the Department of Education change the standards so that students must analyze "climate models to assess their creditability [sic]." He also sought to insert language about "natural forces such as Milankovitch cycles."
Ultimately, the changes are minor and will be covered/rebutted easily by teachers and students. But the kicker was Linger's explanation for the changes: "West Virginia coal in particular has been taking on unfair negativity from certain groups."
So in order to protect coal's image, students in West Virginia will need to cover two standard denier memes, while also figuring out if climate model credibility is the same as "creditability."
Apparently Linger's spelling is as accurate as his science, which is to say that he's not very creditable.
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