Does BP Have an ACE Up Its Sleeve on Climate Education?

(This article is re-posted from PRwatch.org.)

In May, PRWatch reported on a controversial new group, “Balanced Education for Everyone” (BEE), that is trying to stop public schools from teaching kids about climate change science. BEE argues that teaching climate change is too scary for kids and “unnecessary.” But BEE’s efforts also raised other questions, like what are kids learning about climate change in school, anyway, and who is influencing it?

It turns out that the issue of who is influencing climate change education in public schools has been flying under the radar screen. Especially now, as school budgets are being slashed and schools are increasingly desperate for resources, it is also an area ripe for corporate exploitation or influence, and that may be just what is happening.

Enter, “ACE”

In July of 2008, a new nonprofit organization called the “Alliance for Climate Education, Inc.” (ACE), zoomed onto the scene to suddenly become a huge player in the much-overlooked field of climate education. ACE offers high schools free multimedia assemblies on climate change that utilize “cutting-edge animation, music and video.” In short, this is not the usual low-budget presentation that school assemblies are known for.

On the surface, ACE’s effort seems laudable, but questions remain about the messages ACE is giving youth using the free access it achieves to kids during school hours. ACE’s featured web content on BP‘s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may be telling in this regard. The site does not even mention “BP,” although it concedes the unimpeachable fact that the spill is a “disaster.” Carefully-chosen images connected to the disaster include a swimming dolphin and a rescued pelican, alongside a clean-up worker and a photo of the effort to extinguish the Deepwater Horizon rig fire.

ACE’s site suggests a list of lukewarm activities young people can engage in to address their feelings of helplessness about the spill. “Get your hair cut,” ACE urges, and donate your hair to a group that makes hair-filled booms to soak up oil. (The government’s Deepwater Horizon Response office rejected the use of hair-filled booms in the Gulf months ago.) Another suggestion: “Find a beach and participate in Hands Across the Sand — a big demonstration in favor of protection of our coastal economies, oceans, marine wildlife and fishing industries.” Other ideas include “Write a letter to Congress and ask them to fully fund larger coastal restoration projects” and “share info online.” None of these activities would seem to interfere with the goals or sensibilities of big energy companies, including BP.

To read the full investigation by PR Watch, click here.