Kids are being indoctrinated*

Back in February, World Ahead Publishing was looking for manuscript submissions for a children's book about global warming. If you recall, this is what Eric Jackson (president of World Ahead) had to say:

“Since Scholastic and the UN are publishing kid’s books that represent the liberal view on global warming, we’d like to give concerned parents an alternative.Our company is calling on writers of children’s books to pick up their pens to support intellectual diversity. We’re inviting scientists, professionals and the public at large to submit thoughtful, well-documented manuscripts that present a balanced perspective on climate change.”

He also said that: "[N]uanced, logical thinking is seldom present in books written by liberal authors". Jackson and World Ahead Publishing are responsible for such nuanced and logical books, such as Help Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed. Well, anyway, they found their author and have published a book that "deal[s] honestly with the subject, utilizing provable facts about the nature of our changing world while debunking the fabrications, hysteria and anti-growth agenda propagated by the far left" (from actual their submission specs). Yep. It is called: The Sky's NOT Falling: Why It's OK To Chill About Global Warming.

In their press release, World Ahead says:

Los Angeles, CA (Sept. 28, 2007) -- School has started. Unfortunately, right along with it comes the usual indoctrination about the "threat" of global warming. Perhaps your kids are already saying…

* "I'm scared that every time I ride in the car, I'm hurting polar bears and other animals."

* "I'm afraid that people just like me are causing global warming."

* "I'm afraid that my favorite outdoor places are going to disappear."

Oooh, the liberal education system! Look at what it's doing to the children! The children, they are scared! Mean, evil liberal public school and its sinister agenda. We hates it! But, it actually gets better. And by better, I mean crazy:

Holly Fretwell, adjunct professor at Montana State University, mom of 2, natural resources allocation expert and author Sky's NOT Falling: Why It's OK To Chill About Global Warming knows that kids are getting an earful in school about global warming. Unfortunately, all too much of that information is misleading or just plain wrong.

The Sky's NOT Falling is the product of her concern not just for the environment, but for the millions of kids being handed an environmental bill of goods in class. As an educator, a mom and an optimist, Ms. Fretwell envisions a world that is wealthier, and so healthier for all. To get there, however, our kids need to become critical thinkers. And too much of what is passing for "truth" when it comes to the issue of global warming is anything but.

[...]

Bringing honesty and balance to the issue of global warming is why Holly Fretwell wrote The Sky's NOT Falling: Why It's OK To Chill About Global Warming. "I wanted to show kids the connection between our freedoms and environmental quality. It's those freedoms that let us choose the best methods when it comes to improving the environment, and it's those same freedoms that allow human ingenuity and creativity to be unleashed." It's also those same freedoms that we are may lose if we fall into the policy recommendations many advocate as a response to global warming.

...[T]o say that 'the science is decided' when it comes to the issue of global warming is just plain wrong. Author Holly Fretwell wants kids both to hear the truth and learn how to find it for themselves.

Let's look at Ms. Fretwell's credential of "natural resources allocation expert". Ms. Fretwell is a senior fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC). PERC used to be the "Political Economy Research Center". PERC, according to its site, is:

PERC (the Property and Environment Research Center) is a nationally recognized think tank focusing on market solutions to environmental problems. Founded in 1980, PERC is one of the pioneers of free market environmentalism.

We believe environmental quality can be achieved by managing our resources based on property rights, private initiative and voluntary activity. Free market environmentalism offers a genuine alternative to excessive government control and regulation.

Is it any wonder why World Ahead chose Ms. Fretwell? Anyway, here are their tenets:

Private property rights encourage stewardship of resources.

Government subsidies often degrade the environment.

Market incentives spur individuals to conserve resources and protect environmental quality.

Polluters should be liable for the harm they cause others.

Here are some of their research studies:

Fisheries
Ocean fisheries: Moving toward full property rights
Donald Leal

Public lands
Public lands: The surrealism of resource subsidies
Holly Fretwell

Other
Pollution easements
J. Bishop Grewe

According to this watchdog site:

PERC promotes "free-market environmentalism." Major issues include property rights and "reforming" the Endangered Species Act.

PERC is a member of the Cooler Heads Coalition and has been listed as a "networking participant" in the Alliance for America, the "wise use" umbrella group. Executive Director Terry Anderson was a member of George W. Bush's presidential campaign environmental advisory staff, as was current Secretary of the Interior and former PERC fellow Gale Norton. Kathryn Ratte of PERC addressed the Petroleum Association of America on "a more grassroots approach to telling the industry's story in the nation's public schools." She stated that the problem is that "politically correct environmentalism invaded U.S. public classrooms years ago, and is helping to hold the door shut on your message." Another problem is that "children resonate with environmental topics." Ratte recommended tailoring industry materials to all subjects, including language arts to get at students from all possible angles. Ratte also recommended that industry hold teacher workshops "in resorts or campuses in pleasant surroundings" to get educators to use their materials. At one point, the meeting turned into a fund raising event. The presenters recommended industry also form partnerships with organizations such as the Foundation for Teaching Economics and PERC because "If it has a corporate logo on it, it is propaganda... You need a foot in the door where somebody else is pushing he door open for you...The people best able to push open the door are non-profit education organizations that teachers already think of as being credible," reasoned Ratte (American Oil and Gas Reporter December, 1998).

Interesting, eh?

Yes, World Ahead chose an author who could present such an unbiased, honest, nuanced and logical point of view for their children's book, didn't they?

The goal of the book, World Ahead and Ms. Fretwell say, is to "educate not indoctrinate". If irony was gold, oh how wealthy they'd be.

*title of the press release email, I shit you not