By Dennis Ambler, SPPI Blog

On April 12th, the National Park Foundation announced their 2012 Parks Climate Challenge Program Grantees.

So what is the Parks Climate Challenge Program?

This is from the press release:

“Since 2009, the Parks Climate Challenge program has encouraged the use of national parks as classrooms to educate students about climate change through funding and facilitation.  The ability to learn about this important issue through hands-on, science-based field curriculum, has proven a positive model through which to reach students. 

“Climate change is a profound problem and the youth of America need to be at the forefront of the solution,” said Neil Mulholland, President and CEO of the National Park Foundation. “The Parks Climate Challenge is just one of our programs that empowers our youth and strengthens our parks.”

Now in its third year, the program first connects with teachers, giving them the tools to create engaging curriculum to teach to their student on the subject of climate change.”

The Parks Climate Challenge website says that:

“This website serves as a resource to provide all teachers with the tools necessary to be successful in delivering national park centric climate change lessons.”

They describe their program by referring to the “Climate Literacy Principles” developed by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

“These are the guiding and organizing principles for our resource offerings and are the measure by which you can judge the progress of your student’s understanding of climate change.”

Following the links takes us to the follow-up projects where these climate warriors pass on their new-found knowledge to even more vulnerable youngsters:

“After spending a month in North Cascades National Park and three days in Washington, DC, each student partnered with an elementary school class and their local national park to lead service projects in their home communities.”

The press release states that:

“This project was made possible through the generous support of Inner Spark Foundation and individual donors, and is done in partnership with the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation.”

A search for the Inner Spark Foundation reveals that it is a charitable foundation with an address in San Franciso, set up in 2006, with their latest IRS return filed in June 2010. There is no web site, and only details of one “officer”, with no details of trustees or a board of directors. In other words, it looks like a front organisation to hide the real sponsors of this program, whoever that might be.

The board of the National Parks Foundation is chaired by Ken Salazar and has as members, Ellen S. Alberding, President of the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, where as a Senator, Barack Obama was a director and Peter Knight, President of Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management, New York.

A teacher’s comment on the Parks Climate Challenge website directs colleagues to the Alliance for Climate Education, ACE.

Who are they and what do they do?

ACE describe itself as the national leader in high school climate science education.

“We’re an award-winning national nonprofit dedicated to educating America’s high school students about the science behind climate change and inspiring them to do something about it -while having fun along the way. We’re based in Oakland, California, with educator teams in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, Atlanta, New England, Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

ACE delivers two core offerings: the ACE Assembly and Student Action Program.”

Who funds them?

“ACE is a 501 (c)(3) public charity. Our supporters play a significant role in the success of our work and we are honored to have the support of government agencies, private foundations, companies and individuals.”

The list includes Ebay, Google, Walt Disney, Walmart, McKibben’s 350, Saatchi and Saatchi, and many other organisations. They say about their donors:

“ACE will always be led by the world’s scientific consensus on climate change and will only accept funding if the prospective donor is committed to educating youth on the most updated climate science. The science ACE programs are built on will continue to be: (a) based on the most recent reports of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), some of the most heavily reviewed scientific work in history; and (b) reviewed by ACE’s Science Advisory Board - which includes some of the world’s leading climate scientists.”

It just so happens that their Science Advisory Board contains IPCC authors Kevin Arrigo, Reto Knutti and Terry Root from Stanford and AR4 WG1 lead author Susan Soloman from NCAR.

“ACE will never allow any funder to alter ACE’s commitment to educate students based on the world’s scientific consensus on climate change.

Any prospective corporate donation over $25K will be reviewed by a “Funding Review Committee” consisting of the ED, a staff member, a board member and an independent fundraising advisor. Before considering such corporate contribution, ACE’s Review Committee must determine that such corporation is committed to climate science education and curbing the causes of climate change.”

Another teacher-recommended link from the Parks Climate Challenge website is to National Geographic, where you can download a 124 page booklet called Changing Climate - A guide for teaching climate change in grades 3-8.

The National Geographic Education Foundation Board includes former EPA administrator William K Reilly. Mr Reilly’s other credits are as former President and Chairman of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and currently WWF Chairman Emeritus, Chairman of the Board of the ClimateWorks Foundation, Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University, Co-Chairman of the Bipartisan Policy Center Energy Project, Co-Chairman of the Board of the Global Water Challenge, and a Director of the Packard Foundation.

The European Version - Teachers Corner

These appalling propaganda pieces are for use with children up to the ages of nine years old. (H/T An Englishman’s Castle):  This book explains the causes and effects of climate change through the story of a boy who helps firemen extinguish a forest fire and save his friend Lila the fox.

This is the agenda that passes for climate science teaching in schools the world over and government agencies are all heavily involved in promoting the IPCC version of climate knowledge. Isn’t it ironic that the Heartland Institute was accused of attempting to “subvert the teaching of science”, when children are given such distorted information as fact by the education system.