Executive Summary
- Environmental education is an important component of public school education.
- Unfortunately, there is strong evidence that students are being exposed to only one side of the argument on environmental issues.
- Most textbooks and children’s books that deal with the environment contain significant exaggerations and fallacies.
- Not all scientists accept that global warming is caused by man-made CO2 emissions, as there are other more plausible explanations for climate change.
- Despite this fact, students are normally only exposed to the accepted view on global warming.
- Most college students believe that the Earth’s environment is deteriorating despite the fact that the evidence shows there have been marked improvements in air and water quality over the past 30 years.
- Students are required to participate in recycling programs despite the lack of evidence for their effectiveness.
- Balance in environmental education needs to be restored if students are to develop the critical thinking skills necessary to deal with this important issue.
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