Closing the loop on the West Virginia science standard "creditability" story from January, the state's Board of Education voted yesterday with a much better than expectedend result. That said, enough damage was done to warrant Junk Science tweeting that the standards are a "climate skeptic win over the forces of warmest brainwashing" and for CFACT to declare "victory."
But don't get too worried; in classic JunkScience fashion, the reality is much different from what they're pitching. In fact, the changes made are much less egregious than the original changes that cast doubt on climate science. The recent changes include temperature "rise" being replaced by temperature "change," as well as the addition of "natural forces" as a possible climate change contributor that scientists are currently studying. While the addition of natural forces may seem like a major coup to deniers, understanding natural climate signals is an important part of climate science and serves as an entryway to understanding which signals are natural and which are human-caused.
Junk Science thanked "all who helped" get this "win in West Virginia," while CFACT sent an email to members praising them for taking action and making a difference. This is ironic given that out of 7,000 public comments submitted, 6,468 supported the standards teaching kids that climate change is real and man-made. But when you ignore 97% of climate scientists on the consensus, it's no surprise they consider 6% a victory.
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