Let’s face it: It wouldn’t be a session of the South Dakota Legislature without at least a few crack-pot legislators introducing a series of equally crack-pot legislation.
Anyone who remotely follows South Dakota politics is no doubt aware of those senators or representatives to whom reporters state-wide rely upon to spice up even the most mundane article. But more times than not, these legislators and their legislation fall by the wayside.
That’s why I quickly dismissed House Concurrent Resolution 1009 as soon as it was introduced. Though it was sponsored by more than 30 members of the House of Representatives and six senators, I assumed HCR 1009 was destined for the 41st day of the legislative session due to its subject matter: “(Urging) that all instruction in the public schools relating to global climatic change be presented in a balanced and objective manner and be appropriate to the age and academic development of the student and to the prevailing classroom circumstances.”
Just yesterday, however, I was proven wrong; the House adopted HCR 1009 as amended by the Senate by a vote of 37-33. What is particularly disturbing about this action is that the state legislature has now firmly planted itself against the vast majority of scientific community.
The second perambulatory clause of the amended version asserts “there are a variety of climatological and meteorological dynamics that can affect world weather phenomena, and the significance and interrelativity of these factors remain unresolved.”
What world are these people living in? A recent survey of 3,146 scientists conducted by academics from the University of Illinois found that 90 percent of the scientists surveyed agreed that mean global temperatures have risen compared to pre-1800s levels, and 82 percent agreed that human activity has been a significant factor in changing mean global temperatures.
Moreover, 97 percent of climatologists, i.e. those who study long-term climate trends, agreed that humans have played a role in climate change. Though this information comes from one study, a simple Google search will show that these numbers are replicated across the international scientific community.
The third perambulatory clause states, “The debate on global warming has subsumed political and philosophical viewpoints, which has complicated and prejudiced the scientific investigation of global climatic change phenomena.”
Is the South Dakota Legislature seriously trying to tell teachers not to teach something because there are conspiracy theorists out there who deny human involvement in climate change, regardless of the near-unanimous view of climatologists on the matter?
By this metric, the legislature should pass a concurrent resolution requiring high school civics teachers to instruct their students that Barack Obama is a closeted Muslim, per the 11 percent of Americans that believe this to be true in a 2009 PEW poll. Or perhaps government teachers should be required to instruct students in the belief of seven in 10 Americans that John F. Kennedy’s assassination was the result of a plot, not a lone actor?
The more one views the climate change debate brewing across the nation, the more one could easily draw a parallel between this current debate and the Scopes Monkey Trial of the 1920s. In a case that gripped the nation, science was pitted against religion in the debate over the law banning the teaching of evolution in Tennessee schools. Though HCR 1009 would not declare the teaching of climate change illegal, it does represent the legislature’s willingness to put politics and ignorance over empirical proof and reason, which is analogous to putting religious beliefs ahead of science.
Luckily, District 17 Representatives Sen. Jamie Boomgarden (District-17) (R) and Eldon Nygaard (D), as well as Sen. Ben Nesselhuf (District-17), voted against HCR 1009. Boomgarden, however, was one of only a few Republicans who voted against the concurrent resolution, representing a vote based largely on party lines.
It is quite obvious that this piece of legislation was aimed not at bringing about diverse viewpoints in the classroom, but furthering the ideological goals of the right wing of the Republican Party.
Apparently, the South Dakota Legislature is more interested in using the youth of this state as pawns in a political chess match than guaranteeing them a sound education.
Patrick Morrison is a candidate for SGA vice president, reach him at
Patrick.Morrison@usd.edu.
COLUMN: House Resolution 1009 is an embarrassment
Published: Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Updated: Wednesday, March 3, 2010
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