Texas School Board Rejects Climate Textbooks, Approves Fossil Fuel-Friendly Alternatives

Texas's Republican-controlled education board voted against including several climate textbooks in the state science curriculum for eighth-graders. The rejected textbooks were criticized for their negative portrayal of fossil fuels, a major industry in the state. Despite Texas adopting standards that require teaching the basics of climate change, some argue that the measure does not go far enough. The decision also contested the inclusion of lessons on evolution. Texas is one of six states that has not adopted the Next Generation Science Standards, which emphasize the reality of climate change and its human causes.